‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ is a rootin’-tootin’, Christmas carol. Each day represents a new gift, starting with ‘a partridge in a pear tree’ and ending with ‘twelve drummers drumming’. But if you work in payroll – how does this apply to you?
Number one, it can help get you into the Christmas spirit.
Number two, and most importantly at a time when you may be considering switching payroll software providers – we have used the same analogy to outline the crucial questions to ask your payroll software provider, so here goes:
12 Questions to ask your payroll software provider
1. P11D/payrolling on BIKs capability. Does your software give you the option to add benefits in kind? Can you payroll them, or produce a P11D and the P11Db or do you need to work out another way of doing these? Do they charge extra for this module?
On FreshPay both payrolling of Benefits in Kind and producing the P11D and P11Db are included on the employer module.
2. Switching between tax years. How do you switch between tax years? Do you need to create a new file for each tax year or is there a seamless link to switch?
In FreshPay, it’s as simple as pressing a button to switch between tax years. We are also building functionality to be able to choose your own date ranges for reports spanning multiple tax years.
3. User permissions and access. Can you grant users different access permissions? How many people can access the software at the same time?
FreshPay allows you to have multiple users accessing the same company file at the same time without causing corruption. You can also differentiate between users and grant them different access, therefore allowing team members across all skill levels to prepare different elements of the payroll.
4. CIS functionality. What CIS functionality does your payroll software provide and is this module included or do you need to pay extra?
With FreshPay, you can record both CIS suffered and CIS deducted. You can verify your subcontractors online and you can enter individual invoices with the labour/materials and VAT breakdowns if you want. You can also suspend CIS and will get reminders when suspension has ended. All included in one monthly price!
5. Built in employer and employee portals. Do you have employer and employee portals, and are they built into the software or are they stand alone? Do you have to pay extra for these?
FreshPay has built in employer and employee portals so the data is always current and accessible, all inclusive in the monthly subscription.
6. What additional costs do you have outside the software licence.
Do you need to pay extra for accessing portals or sending payslips? Are the P11D and CIS modules part of the licence cost or will these cost you more?
With FreshPay you pay one monthly licence fee per employer which covers all of these costs
7. What functions are automated?
FreshPay automatically sends reports and payslips to the portals, plus the RTI and EPS to HMRC and the pensions to the pension company (when synced). It will automatically calculate salary for leavers, starters and pay rises, even when they are mid-month. The software will automatically assess the employees for pension eligibility each pay period and will flag when someone needs to be enrolled. It will even remind you when Automatic Re-Enrolment is due and flag everyone who is due to be re-enrolled. FreshPay automatically pulls down tax code and student loan notifications and applies them to the relevant pay period, and will flag this to you so you can check.
8. Is your Director Pay automated? Or do you need to run this every month yourself?
FreshPay automatically does this after you have ticked the box. You will be notified if any changes come through from HMRC.
9. Do you integrate with any accounting software?
FreshPay has a seamless and thorough direct integration with Xero along with 2 tracking categories, and we are working on integrating with other software. There is also a payroll journal which can be pulled down into an excel sheet for you to post manually. You can also pull down a payment journal to upload to your payment portals such as Telleroo, Comma, Crezco and Modulr.
10. Do you have a bureau dashboard? How does your software help you manage your capacity? Can you see who is allocated to which employers, or how many employers and employees you have?
FreshPay has a bureau dashboard giving you all sorts of statistics and information at a glance.
11. What is your pricing model? Do you get charged per payslip, per employee, or an overall bureau licence cost?
If you are a bureau, FreshPay charges per employer, so you can manage your cashflow and when you take on a new employer, you know exactly what you are going to pay.
12. How do we contact you for support? Is there telephone support or is it LiveChat or email only? What are your opening hours?
FreshPay is open Monday to Friday and has a telephone line where you can speak to a real person, as well as LiveChat and email.
‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ is a rootin’-tootin’, Christmas carol. Each day represents a new gift, starting with ‘a partridge in a pear tree’ and ending with ‘twelve drummers drumming’. But if you work in payroll – how does this apply to you?
