Sage 50 Payroll and Sage 50 Payroll Professional are great for processing your payroll and great for taking the pain out of the Year End procedures. There are lots of "idiot" guides including a great on-screen "hand-holding" step-by-step guide within the software. However, some clients want the complete peace of mind that all of the necessary reports and procedures are completed, and therefore, I have been asked to attend their offices to assist them with this process over many years.

So… P11s are to be printed and checked, P32s printed and reconciled against the payments that have been made during the year to the HMRC, P35s (all parts) are to be checked, reconciled and submitted electronically to the HMRC and P60s distributed to the employer's staff (by 31st May 2012).

This year, I have attended a wide variety of client's premises to assist them and, for all of them except one particular client, the Sage 50 Payroll Year End completed without a hitch. I even visited an Arab Sheikh's private residence and he had  four staff, these being his butler, chauffeur, chef and personal assistant.

The client's Sage 50 Payroll Year End that did not go quite according to plan caused several enormous problems for the client. I hasten to add that these problems had not been caused by the Sage 50 Payroll software itself but rather the payroll processing completed by the client during the year.

I attended this client last year and completed the Sage 50 Payroll Year End for them without a glitch. The payroll administrator then went on a much-deserved holiday and left the completion of the weekly payroll to a trusted member of staff. The payroll administrator called the office whilst he was on holiday to check if everything was OK  and was told that the first weekly payroll after the Year End had been successfully completed and the staff had all been paid. The payroll administrator then relaxed, sipped Pina Coladas and enjoyed the rest of his holiday, knowing that he did not have to worry about the processing of the payroll whilst he was away.

When the payroll administrator returned from his holiday, he was assured that everything had gone well with the payroll during the fortnight that he had been away. So, he then took over the payroll processing again and then completed each payroll run for the remainder of the 52 weeks and then awaited my attendance.

I arrived in good spirits on the day and was looking forward to successfully completing the Sage 50 Payroll Year End procedures for the customer. I started running off the P11 reports for the approximately 150 employees and then started checking them before moving on to the next stage.

It was then that I noticed that NONE of the employees had a week 1 showing on their P11s. After a few "searching" questions, I identified what had happened to cause this; the very first weekly payroll had NOT been updated and the person that had been completing the payroll whilst the main payroll administrator was away on holiday had just continued with processing the second weekly payroll. 

So…ALL of the reports were incorrect because the cumulative payroll figures were incorrect.  Also, ALL of the employees had been OVERPAID (in total by £'000s) and the HMRC had been UNDERPAID by £'000s. To add even more pain to the customer (for which I gained no satisfaction, I can tell you),  I then had to break the news to the customer that they would have to re-process ALL of the 52 weekly payrolls. I must admit that I think that he went a very pale shade of white as he then mentioned to me that each weekly payroll had taken about 3-4 hours to complete previously.

The customer then clung onto the hope that perhaps I was wrong and that there must have been an easier way to resolve the situation and together we waited patiently for the great folks on SageCover Support to answer his call for the "right" second opinion. I hoped that there would be a "magic solution" for him, I really did, but at the same time felt a little self-satisfied when SageCover Support agreed with the advice that I had given to my customer. Undeterred, the customer then called the HMRC to see if they might have a "magic potion" to save him, but they too gave him the same answer. So… my professional advice had unfortunately been correct and my client apologised to me profusely for his apparent lack of trust in my abilities.

The customer therefore finally gave up trying to find a "magic solution" and resigned himself to having to re-process the whole year's payroll and perhaps not seeing his family for the next month. I'm only glad that the member of staff that had incorrectly processed the first two weekly payroll runs had left the company as otherwise I am sure that the payroll administrator would have flown into a rage at them and perhaps I wouldn't have blamed them for this.

I'm going back to the same customer before the 19th May 2012 deadline to finally complete the Sage 50 Payroll Year End for them. I'm sure that they will never make the same mistake again. I'll try and be as diplomatic as possible and try not to rub it in any more than perhaps I have already.

This sad tale is an extreme exception; Sage 50 Payroll and Sage 50 Payroll Professional manages the processing of payroll, the legislative reporting and required electronic submissions with ease.

If you would like to have a FREE Demo of Sage Payroll or Sage Payroll Professional or some assistance with your processing and / or your Payroll Year End procedures and therefore avoid yourselves having a similar Sad Tale told about you, then please contact us on 0845 8800767 or email us at rob@harleygrove.co.uk

A Regulator ruled that price controls would be withdrawn from first-class stamps, which paved the way for higher prices.

Well, the Royal Mail certainly haven't hung about.

First Class postage stamps are now 60p (yes, you did read it correctly) from the end of April 2012 !!!

Also, Second Class postage stamps are 50p from the end of April 2012 !!!

Until recently, first class stamps cost 46p and a second class stamp cost 36p. So… quite a big increase, don't you think ?

The regulator had previously said that changes needed to be made to price limits, because the future of the UK's universal, six-day-a-week postal service was "at severe risk" as people switched to using text messages, e-mails, and online messaging.

Be smart and stop accepting these insane price increases

Spindle Professional is a document distribution solution that allows your business to automatically send all communications via email and fax, without having to pay for postage, envelopes and expensive printing costs!

Award-winning Spindle Professional is designed to help your business create the right impression and save you time and money. It’s an ideal tool to streamline and automate communications in small to medium-sized businesses where time and resources are at a premium.

Using Spindle Professional can result in significant cost savings – on stationery, postage and staff administration. By automating routine communications, it also reduces human errors and frees up time for more important tasks. With Spindle Professional’s dynamic and flexible software you can instantly and easily merge information from business applications to produce documents that can be sent by email, fax, print and also archived.

For a more professional look, it allows you to add your company logo and branding to documents such as letters, statements, invoices, remittances, delivery notes and purchase orders. You can print directly onto plain paper, so there’s no need for expensive pre-printed stationery. It’s also flexible, allowing you to create and mail your customers with promotional offers and seasonal messages.

Where could Spindle Professional be used in your business?

Spindle Professional is versatile and equally suitable for use across a range of business applications.Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, Customer Services and Accounting functions can all benefit from a more streamlined and automated approach. Spindle Professional works with virtually any application that can print, including Sage 50, Sage Line 100, Sage 200, Microsoft NAV, Microsoft GP, and Microsoft Office.

Take a look at the list of software packages here that Harley Grove have successfully integrated Spindle Professional with over the years.

How much could Spindle Professional save your business?

The answer is loads of money. Click here and calculate the savings YOU could be making and obtain more information.

Now, it is hopefully going to become equally as well-known in the US and Canada and gain the same recognition as in the UK, since Sage plc have now re-branded their Sage Peachtree and Sage Simply Accounting software in their respective countries.

United States

Sage Peachtree has now been re-branded as Sage 50 – US Edition

So…now there will be the following:

• Sage 50 – US Edition (Complete Accounting)
• Sage 50 – US Edition (Premium Accounting)
• Sage 50 – US Edition (Quantum Accounting)

Canada

Sage Simply Accounting has now been re-branded as Sage 50 – Canadian Edition

So…now there will be the following:

• Sage 50 – Canadian Edition (First Step Accounting)
• Sage 50 – Canadian Edition (Pro Accounting)
• Sage 50 - Canadian Edition  (Premium Accounting)
• Sage 50 - Canadian Edition  (Quantum Accounting)

Why are Harley Grove even interested in this name change ?

Harley Grove DO NOT even deal with US or Canadian Sage software, so why do they care and why could they be of interest to you ?

Well… Harley Grove DO deal with software that integrates with most accounting software, including software used in the US and Canada, to enable documents such as invoices etc… to be sent more effectively.

Spindle Professional is a document distribution solution that allows your business to automatically send all communications via email and fax, without having to pay for postage, envelopes and expensive printing costs!

Award-winning Spindle Professional is designed to help your business create the right impression and save you time and money. It’s an ideal tool to streamline and automate communications in small to medium-sized businesses where time and resources are at a premium.

Using Spindle Professional can result in significant cost savings – on stationery, postage and staff administration. By automating routine communications, it also reduces human errors and frees up time for more important tasks. With Spindle Professional’s dynamic and flexible software you can instantly and easily merge information from business applications to produce documents that can be sent by email, fax, print and also archived.

For a more professional look, it allows you to add your company logo and branding to documents such as letters, statements, invoices, remittances, delivery notes and purchase orders. You can print directly onto plain paper, so there’s no need for expensive pre-printed stationery. It’s also flexible, allowing you to create and mail your customers with promotional offers and seasonal messages.

Where could Spindle Professional be used in your business?

Spindle Professional is versatile and equally suitable for use across a range of business applications.Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, Customer Services and Accounting functions can all benefit from a more streamlined and automated approach. Spindle Professional works with virtually any application that can print, including Sage 50, Sage Line 100, Sage 200, Microsoft NAV, Microsoft GP, and Microsoft Office.

Take a look at the list of software packages here that Harley Grove have successfully integrated Spindle Professional with over the years.

How much could Spindle Professional save your business?

The answer is loads of money. Click here and calculate the savings YOU could be making and obtain more information.

If you submit your year end returns between 6pm Tuesday 3 April and 6pm Friday 13 April your online submission acknowledgement will be delayed. You will not receive your acknowledgement from HMRC until Friday 13 April.

We strongly recommend that you wait until 14 April or later to make your submission. This ensures that you will receive a full acknowledgement from HMRC and Sage Payroll can provide and display your unique correlation ID number for your successful submission.

If you try to submit from 6pm on Tuesday 3 April to 6pm Friday 13 April, Sage Payroll will continually wait for an acknowledgement from HMRC and your software will be unresponsive. If this happens you should press Ctrl+Alt+Del.

If you close your submission without waiting for a response, you will not receive a unique correlation ID for your submission, which proves that your submission has been successful and can be used to trace the submission, if required. You will receive a generic email response from HMRC on Friday 13 April, which confirms if your submission was successful. This identifies the company the submission was received for but it doesn't contain your correlation ID number.

With Sage 50 Payroll, you can make a start on your 2012/2013 processing before you make your submission and complete your year end. Simply make sure that you complete all the steps in the Starting the 2012/2013 tax year chapter of your year end guide then you can get going.

Please remember that you have until 19 May 2012 to submit your year end return to HMRC.

With Sage 50 Payroll, you can make a start on your 2012/2013 processing before you make your submission and complete your year end. Simply make sure that you complete all the steps in the Starting the 2012/2013 tax year chapter of your year end guide then you can get going.

A Regulator recently ruled that price controls will be withdrawn from first-class stamps, which paved the way for higher prices.

Well, the Royal Mail certainly haven't hung about.

It has now been announced that First Class postage stamps will be 60p (yes, you did read it correctly) from the end of April 2012 !!!

Also, Second Class postage stamps will be 50p from the end of April 2012 !!!

A first class stamp currently costs 46p and a second class stamp costs 36p.

The regulator had previously said that changes needed to be made to price limits, because the future of the UK's universal, six-day-a-week postal service was "at severe risk" as people switched to using text messages, e-mails, and online messaging.

Be smart and stop accepting these insane price increases

Spindle Professional is a document distribution solution that allows your business to automatically send all communications via email and fax, without having to pay for postage, envelopes and expensive printing costs!

Award-winning Spindle Professional is designed to help your business create the right impression and save you time and money. It’s an ideal tool to streamline and automate communications in small to medium-sized businesses where time and resources are at a premium.

Using Spindle Professional can result in significant cost savings – on stationery, postage and staff administration. By automating routine communications, it also reduces human errors and frees up time for more important tasks. With Spindle Professional’s dynamic and flexible software you can instantly and easily merge information from business applications to produce documents that can be sent by email, fax, print and also archived.

For a more professional look, it allows you to add your company logo and branding to documents such as letters, statements, invoices, remittances, delivery notes and purchase orders. You can print directly onto plain paper, so there’s no need for expensive pre-printed stationery. It’s also flexible, allowing you to create and mail your customers with promotional offers and seasonal messages.

Where could Spindle Professional be used in your business?

Spindle Professional is versatile and equally suitable for use across a range of business applications.Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, Customer Services and Accounting functions can all benefit from a more streamlined and automated approach. Spindle Professional works with virtually any application that can print, including Sage 50, Sage Line 100, Sage 200, Microsoft NAV, Microsoft GP, and Microsoft Office.

Take a look at the list of software packages here that Harley Grove have successfully integrated Spindle Professional with over the years.

How much could Spindle Professional save your business?

The answer is loads of money. Click here and calculate the savings YOU could be making and obtain more information.

A Regulator has ruled that price controls will be withdrawn from first-class stamps, which paves the way for higher prices.

The price of second-class stamps will be capped at 55p but this limit could rise with inflation over the next seven years.

A first class stamp currently costs 46p and a second class stamp costs 36p.

The regulator has said that changes needed to be made to price limits, because the future of the UK's universal, six-day-a-week postal service was "at severe risk" as people switched to using text messages, e-mails, and online messaging.

How your business can avoid the price hikes -

Spindle Professional is a document distribution solution that allows your business to automatically send all communications via email and fax, without having to pay for postage, envelopes and expensive printing costs!

Award-winning Spindle Professional is designed to help your business create the right impression and save you time and money. It’s an ideal tool to streamline and automate communications in small to medium-sized businesses where time and resources are at a premium.

Using Spindle Professional can result in significant cost savings – on stationery, postage and staff administration. By automating routine communications, it also reduces human errors and frees up time for more important tasks. With Spindle Professional’s dynamic and flexible software you can instantly and easily merge information from business applications to produce documents that can be sent by email, fax, print and also archived.

For a more professional look, it allows you to add your company logo and branding to documents such as letters, statements, invoices, remittances, delivery notes and purchase orders. You can print directly onto plain paper, so there’s no need for expensive pre-printed stationery. It’s also flexible, allowing you to create and mail your customers with promotional offers and seasonal messages.

Where could Spindle Professional be used in your business?

Spindle Professional is versatile and equally suitable for use across a range of business applications.Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, Customer Services and Accounting functions can all benefit from a more streamlined and automated approach. Spindle Professional works with virtually any application that can print, including Sage 50, Sage Line 100, Sage 200, Microsoft NAV, Microsoft GP, and Microsoft Office.

Take a look at the list of software packages here that Harley Grove have successfully integrated Spindle Professional with over the years.

How much could Spindle Professional save your business?

Click here and Calculate Savings and to obtain more information.

Perhaps all we can think of, or even worry about, is the almost inevitable over- crowding of the mainline and underground trains, the greater than normal traffic on the roads and the constant barging and shoving that is obviously going to be happening whilst these busy but patriotic events in 2012 are being held.

Don't get me wrong; I am really looking forward to everything that is happening during 2012. Great for the country and tourism and I am proud to say that my son has worked on some of the preparations.

But….do we really want to have to fight against the crowds just to get to work each day ?

Of course not ! However, many businesses haven't made it very easy for its employees to work from home perhaps because they are worried about the costs etc…

So…what are Harley Grove able to offer to businesses and individuals alike to make working from home / in the park / in the coffee shop a realistic and cost-effective option ?

How much does it cost to run ALL of your applications in your own Private Cloud ? 

Single User  Licence – £230.00

5 User Licence – £1134.00

10 User Licence – £2268.00

Any other options ?

Harley Grove are also able to offer several other options and a couple of them are shown below.

Need more information / download Free Trials or purchase software ?

You can contact us in the following ways:

0845 8800767   rob@harleygrove.co.uk harleygrove.co.uk

Alternatively, you can fill in our Email Enquiry or Request A Callback.

If you are just not interested or your boss has insisted that you work at the office?

Enjoy all of the major events that are happening during 2012 anyway. I'm sure I will as well, celebrating just being British.

One thing is for sure, though; I won't be fighting my way through the crowds.

Will you ?

A Day in the Life of a Credit Controller who is using Credit Hound

Click on the logo below for more information, request a demo by clicking on the FREE Web Demo icon or alternatively, make contact with us by 'phone, email or ask for a call back.

• Obtain a Credit Risk Assessment before you start trading together
• Keep monitoring the customer to be alerted to "danger" signs

Decide how much credit to give to your customers

• Formalize procedure for setting customer credit limits
• Money up-front, part payment or, rarely, reduced credit for first purchase
• Weekly, monthly or even daily limits to restrict initial credit
• Periodically review the credit limit
• Only raise credit limit by following same formal procedure as when limit first established

Today's Score  - Credit Control 0 Sales Dept 1 = Win for customer but could be a loss for YOUR business

• Sales are really only sales when the money from them is in YOUR bank
• Make sure that your Sales Team know about it when you are experiencing difficulties getting paid by THEIR customers
• DO NOT begin new work when there is doubt about getting paid for old work

Don't be a Pussycat OR a Tiger !

• Set up a formalised debt collection policy
• Create a sequence of letters and / or telephone calls (preferably automated)
• Keep copies of correspondence and record notes about telephone conversations
• Follow up promptly on any broken promises of payment
• DO NOT have too many steps before taking firm action
• Remain calm but assertive when chasing on the telephone; no need to shout but also no need to whisper
• NEVER threaten to take firmer action and then NOT do it.

Early warning signs that YOU won't get paid (on time or not at all)

• Rise in number and frequency of excuses, such as "signature not available" , "missed payment run" etc…
• Customers blaming others eg. "customers not paid yet", "postal problems" etc…
• Days taken to pay you keep increasing

NOT always your customer's fault

• Send your invoices to your customers straight after the goods have been sent or you have provided your services
• If your customer insists that you MUST have a specific reference number on any invoice that is sent to them, make sure that you DO include it
• NO use chasing a customer for payment of your invoices AFTER they have completed their monthly payment run. Find out when they perform this and contact them BEFORE they run it to make sure that YOU are on it
• Confirm in writing / email with your customer  who you should contact for payment when due BEFORE starting work with them
• Contact your customer BEFORE your invoice is due to be paid to confirm that they have received your invoice and that they have accepted it. If any problems at this point, they can be resolved to prevent delays in payment when you are expecting it

If your customer delays payment, what would YOU do about it ?

• Keep chasing them for payment in a consistent way that gradually becomes firmer
• Suspend the provision of further services to the customer
• Threaten legal action – ONLY if you would be prepared to follow through with it !

How can Harley Grove help YOU to make sure you get paid?

The field of Credit Control is pretty vast and we don't expect to cover every area within it in this blog post, rather to give the reader a "bit of a taster".

Harley Grove are able to provide the following services to help you improve upon your Credit Control function within YOUR business.

• Credit Guardian - Check your prospects and customers out for Credit Risk; FREE software and annual subscription based on the number of companies and linked with Experian
• Credit Hound - Chase your debtors with Self-Chasing Credit Control software and make sure that you get your money back
• Outsource your Credit Management  – Harley Grove offer a complete outsourced credit management service that ensures that outstanding invoices are collected quickly and efficiently in line with a client's agreed terms of business.

Please get in touch with us if you require any further information on our services.

Legislation Changes
Pension Reforms
Salary Sacrifice Schemes
Email P60s to your Employees
Solving Data Problems

Legislation Changes

As with every release of Sage 50 Payroll, this release of course accommodates the current UK Payroll Legislation regarding rates etc….

Statutory payment rates for the new tax year

• All employees who meet the necessary qualifying conditions for SSP will be eligible to receive a rate of £85.85 per week.
• All female employees who meet the necessary qualifying conditions for SMP will be eligible to receive:
• The higher rate of 90% of their average weekly earnings.
• The standard rate of 90% of their average weekly earnings, or £135.45 per week, whichever is lower.
• All employees who meet the necessary qualifying conditions for SAP and Ordinary SPP/SPP(A) are eligible to receive the standard rate of 90% of their average weekly earnings, or £135.45 per week, whichever is lower.
• All employees who qualify for Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) or Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP(A)) will receive the standard rate of 90% of their average weekly earnings, or £135.45 per week, whichever is lower.

PAYE rates and bandwidths

From 6 April 2012, the PAYE rates and bandwidths are as follows:

Note: There may be further changes to the PAYE bandwidths later in the tax year. 

NI rates and bandwidths

NI rates and bandwidths for the 2012/2013 tax year are as follows:

From April 2012

• Employees can no longer contract out of the state pension using a COMP scheme. These schemes use NI categories F, G and S. Employers should have been notified in advance about these changes. It may be necessary for you to change the details of the pension scheme you operate. You should also check the NI category used in the employee’s record. Please contact your pension advisor for advice.
• The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) is responsible for child maintenance in the UK. This includes statutory responsibilities for the Child Support Agency (CSA). From April 2012, deductions from earnings orders (DEO) for child maintenance will be issued by CMEC. 
• From 6 April 2012, the student loan repayment threshold rises by 5.3% to £15,975. 

Pension Reforms

If your company operates a pension scheme, you can set up your software so that the pension contributions are automatically deducted when your employees are paid. There are many different types of pension schemes, each with specific rules on how they operate. Before you set up your software, you need to know exactly what type of scheme your company operates.

With Sage 50 Payroll you can:

• Use the pension schemes provided for you, or create your own.
• Automatically calculate both employee and employer pension contributions.
• Deduct a fixed or percentage pension amount.
• Set up a salary sacrifice pension scheme. This is a feature of Sage 50 Payroll 2011 and above.
• Fulfil your employer obligations by operating a pension scheme that meets the conditions specified by the Pensions Regulator.
• Display the pension contributions on your employee payslips.
• Print a number of different pension reports. For example, details of all your company pension schemes. 

 Please bear in mind that:

• From April 2012 employees can no longer contract out of the state pension using a COMP scheme. These schemes use NI categories F, G and S. Employers should have been notified in advance about these changes. It may be necessary for you to change the details of the pension scheme you operate. You should also check the NI category used in the employee’s record. Please contact your pension advisor for advice.
• From October 2012 employers must ensure that all employees have the opportunity to save for their retirement through a suitable occupational pension scheme. To fulfil this requirement, the scheme provided must meet the conditions specified by the Pensions Regulator.

Salary Sacrifice Schemes

Salary sacrifice arrangements provide employees with the opportunity to exchange part of their gross salary for a non-cash benefit. These arrangements can be financially beneficial for both the employee and the employer, as they can reduce the amount of tax and NICs owed to HMRC.

Using Sage 50 Payroll, you can deal with the following salary sacrifice arrangements:

• Pension schemes.
• Childcare deductions (new for 2012/2013).
• Fixed amount salary sacrifice arrangements, such as cycle to work schemes (new for 2012/2013).

Email P60s to your Employees

If an employee has agreed to have their P60 and payslip emailed to them, you can now select the Send via email check box and enter the date it was agreed. Working with lots of employee records? You can do this quickly using the Global Changes option.

Enter the employee's email address as well as a password to protect the electronic document (PDF) in the email. The employee must enter the password before they can open the document.

To save time, you can set up a structure that creates the email address and password for you. The structure can be applied to more than one employee at the same time.

Note: If the employee has an email address entered in the Personal tab, the address appears in the Send to box. You can change it if required.

Solving Data Problems

Sage UK have now greatly improved the way that information about your Sage Payroll software is displayed and made it much easier for you to provide that information to either Sage's Support Team or your Sage Business Partner should you need to obtain assistance with your Sage 50 Payroll software. 

If you would like some more information, please get in contact by calling 0845 8800767, Request a Call Back, Request a Web Demo or Email your Enquiry .