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Payroll year end is just around the corner. With thousands of accountants in the UK providing a payroll bureau service for their clients, it’s likely that at least a few will be having some sleepless nights in the coming weeks! In order to help reduce the stress, Sage – a leading supplier of business management software, has pulled together some top tips for this time of year.

According to Lesia Gibbons, Sage UK’s Payroll Year End Manager, if you’re prepared and know where to go to find information, you’re halfway there.

Deadlines for Submissions are looming!

19 April

• HMRC should have received final PAYE and NI cheque payments for the 2007/2008 tax year

19 May

• Deadline for submission of your P14 and P35 forms to HMRC

31 May

Deadline for distribution of P60s to employees working for the business as of 5 April

Top Tips:

Be prepared

• You should have already started preparing your End of Year Returns now – and if you are submitting on behalf of a client you must ensure that you have an HMRC Agent reference and register for PAYE Online for Agents.  If you have acted as an agent before, you must check that your online client list and PAYE references are up-to-date by logging on to the PAYE Online for Employers service at www.hmrc.gov.uk.
• Customers submitting online for the first time need to register with HMRC for the PAYE Online for Employers service. It takes seven days to receive the activation PIN needed to activate the service ready for submissions, so if they haven’t already done so they need to register now! If they’re planning to submit through their payroll software, they should also confirm that their HMRC tax district and reference are correct and their PAYE Online for Employers service is active. From our experience last year, we identified that this accounted for over half of the failed submissions experienced by employers. Don’t forget that employers with 50 or more employees must submit their Year End returns online or face a penalty. 

Stock-up with stationery

• Make sure that you have sufficient P14/60 stationery to produce returns. In case of any print alignment problems or handwritten errors, I recommend ordering slightly more than you need. And remember, if you’re submitting online, you only need to print P60s.

Double check figures

• Before submitting your statutory forms, always check your figures. For details of the figures you need to submit, refer to HMRC Employer Helpbook E10.

Support – Help is there

• Ensure you know what support is available to you. For any tax related queries or confirmation about a submission you have made, contact HMRC – 0845 7 143 143 for experienced employers, 0845 6 070 143 for new employers, or 0845 60 55 999 for the Online Services helpdesk.

Continue processing over Payroll Year End

• If your software allows you to do so, you can reduce the pressure of payroll year end on your business by continuing to process in the new tax year before completing year end.

Software upgrades

• Delay installing any non-essential software upgrades you need until after you have successfully completed the Year End process.
• If you are a Sage customer, The Sage 50 Payroll Year End update CD for versions 11 and above should be installed immediately.  You do not need to wait until after you have completed the Year End process.

Link

Sage (UK) Limited