Email subject line: Late payroll

‘Dear Colleague, the management team hope you are looking forward to the weekend, thanks for all the hard work this week, we managed to exceed our target.

Unfortunately due to an unforeseen technical issue, we regret to inform you that the payroll file was delayed in being sent for processing, which will result in your pay not arriving into your Bank Account until Monday maybe Tuesday next week.

There is little we can do and are obviously very sorry that this has happened, but it is very much outside of our control.

We look forward to seeing you all on Monday, we have just been told we have secured our largest order which needs shipping by Thursday next week. Plenty of extra hours for us all’

Managing the risk

So what are the ‘unforeseen’ technical issues that could cause such a Payroll Nightmare?

Lack of access to the building – this is by far the biggest concern of any business, not being able to access the systems means no-one will be paid on time. Lack of access can be caused by severe weather, blocked road or building fire.

Lost or broken smart card – Smart Cards do get lost and they do break, your smart card is made of the same plastic that everyone else’s is, so don’t think it wont happen to you

Internet failure – look out of the window, are any of the surrounding roads being dug up, this is a cause for concern.

Lack of correct personnel. How many smart card holders to you have in the building, how many back ups?

Just forgetting to send the file – this is more common than you may think. In the busy and repetitive world we live it, we can sometimes just forget to send the file. How often have you left your wallet or handbag at home, or even the laptop!. We are HUMAN and we do make mistakes!

Why not spend 40 minutes with me to help you understand the risks that you are open to with regards to sending your payroll and important payments? contact me matthew.tully@employerservices.co.uk

thanks for reading

Matt

There are 5 main components of a successful Bacs process.

Finance Software

this can be either payroll or accounts payable software. How stable is it, where is it located, can you access it from home or a remote office?

Bacs Software

either installed on a stand alone PC in the corner of the room, or on a server somewhere. Most Bacs software cannot be accessed from home, there are rules that prevent this happening, so don’t assume it will just work.

Smart Card

a small plastic card with a security CHIP – normally kept in the top drawer by your desk, or in the smart card reader itself. These cards are easily broken or lost, they also have an expiry date on them.

Office Environment

Workmen digging the road up, or severe weather. Either way the biggest risk to a company is lack of access to the building. If you can’t access the building, you can’t access your smart card and you can’t access the Bacs software.

Staff

Sickness, lateness or not being able to get into office can all contribute to a file not being sent to Bacs. Last years bad weather contributed to many late files, there was no huge fire that burned the building down, there was no huge terror attach that prevented access, it was the snow.

Eliminate all the above risk by moving over the justBACS and emergencyPAYMENTS service, not only will you save money, you will also access the service from home in the event of bad weather or lack of access to the office.

Naturally as a visitor to the building I looked at my host and asked if this was a test – he shook his head and we began the evacuation process from the third floor.

While we were walking down the stairs, I turned to him and gently asked him what was his plan if he couldn’t get back into the office (payroll was due to be sent within the next day or so), he confidently told me that they had a back up office they could go to in the event of situations such as this.

They had spent several tens of thousands of pounds on a ‘hot’ site that key and core workers could go to in the event of restricted access to the main building.

Money well spent you may think? Not really as no-one had thought to take their Bacs smart card with them. Without this there could be no way to create Bacs payment files, authorise their Bacs payments and submit them!

In the words of Homer Simpson – Doh!

If you have a disaster recovery plan get someone to look at it, and then test it, have a dry run.

How can Employer Services help your company’s plans? Click here to take a look or contact  matthew.tully@employerservices.co.uk

What’s RTI? It stands for Real Time Information and will be the new way to submit data about your employees to the tax office.  The HMRC is asking all employers to clean their payroll data in preparation for the change.

So how will the changes affect you?  Instead of sending the PAYE information in annually after the end of the tax year, all employers will have to submit the payroll data online every time the payroll is run. This will allow HMRC to understand who is being paid what amounts, and what PAYE is due, on a real-time basis.  That will particularly help them to identify people with  The details of employees’ pay will be passed to the Department for Work & Pensions, to allow the amount of Universal Credits (which are replacing Tax Credits from October 2013) paid to workers to be adjusted on a monthly basis.

RTI will be compulsory for all employers and pension providers by October 2013. The submissions will be made electronically. As a client of Employer Services, we are already making sure you’ll be compliant.

However, before payroll data can be accepted under the RTI system it must be ‘clean’. That means having an accurate date of birth, full official name (not just initials or nick-name) and correct National Insurance number, for each and every employee. If the data for one of your employees does not agree to that on the Tax Office computer, the submission of the payroll data under RTI may fail, and you may get fined. On a larger payroll, this may take some time so involve your HR team and start checking data now, perhaps with payslip messages or a letter that goes out with this year’s P60s.

The Employer Services Team were honoured to both present an award and to be nominated as finalists. Over 300 of the UK’s payroll elite attended the evening at the Hilton London Bridge last night. Chris Fitzgerald, MD at Payroll World magazine, advocates that payroll is a profession that should be championed and the awards highlight the achievements of an often undervalued function. Without payrollers, the UK’s workforce wouldn’t be paid. Payroll is a critical service. 

Our host for the evening was comedian Dominic Holland who seemed quite mystified by the payroll industry. He asked “so, we get paid one day in the month….what do you do for the other 28 days?” If only he knew!

We were thrilled to sponsor an award, Payroll Rising Star. The judges were looking for an outstanding individual with service and achievements beyond that expected of someone with less than 3 years in the business.  Stuart Hall, MD at Employer Services, presented the award to Evi Garoufi, from Searcys. Our warmest congratulations to you Evi.

The adrenalin was running high as our category, Innovation, was announced. One of three finalists, the competition was tough, but yes WE WON! That’s another gong to add to our growing collection and another exceptional endorsement that our easy online payroll service esPAY is the next step in the evolution of payroll. We proved significant benefits in payroll service provision and significant financial & process improvements.

No acceptance speeches on the night, but we would like to thank all the employees at Employer Services, our clients, Payroll World readers and judges and all our supporters for making this an amazing year.

Presents from our team at Employer Services

A BIG thank you to everyone who made a contribution to this year’s Operation Christmas Child. This year the payroll services teams at esl packed 34 boxes with goodies so well done to everyone who either provided a shoe box, wrapped a shoebox, filled it, or who made a monetary contribution.

The presents include toys, sweets, sports equipment, pens, pencils and colouring books for children in age groups from 2years to 14years old. Practical things like flannels, soap and toothpaste are welcome additions too.

34 boys and girls are going to be very, very happy this year!

Join us in supporting this wonderful charity – there’s still time to donate a shoebox. You can even do it online! Click here for their website for more details. Happy Christmas!

Stuart Hall, guest speaker at Payroll Forum

Stuart, who has recently developed and launched a pioneering online payroll service aimed at small businesses, is delighted at the accolade.

“It’s very satisfying for my work at esl to be recognised in this way. The company has recently won both regional and national awards for innovation as a result of our new online service, and we feel we’re changing the way small businesses do their payroll.

“This year has been very exciting for esl, with the launch of our new service, esPAY, which I believe will ‘take the pain out of payroll’. I think small businesses have had a rough deal with payroll provision for years, and I wanted to make what can be a complicated process easy to use and very affordable.

“But we’re not going to stop here. Next we’re going to look at other essential business payments and come up with a user-friendly, online service that will be affordable and convenient to use.  Being in business means always going forward, always providing a top-notch service and always putting your customers first.”

Based in Brentwood, esl employ over 40 staff, specialising in providing outsourced and hosted payroll solutions to local and national employers. For further information, visit www.employerservices.co.uk

Well, what an embarrassment of riches! We had no idea we would receive such an incredible recognition of our work when we entered these awards. It really is a fantastic endorsement that we are developing our products for the market of the 21st century. Both the payroll industry and the business world seem to agree.  Thank you again to everyone at Employer Services. Every individual makes a difference and contributes to our success.

Innovation Winners 2011.

Held after the national conference in Glasgow on 4th October 2011, MD Stuart Hall collected the prestigious award. The award has not been given for the past 4 years as only true innovation is deemed worthy of the prize!   

Innovation Finalists 2011

Sponsored by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) to showcase and celebrate successful businesses across the East of England.  

Innovation Finalists 2011

Payroll World, the UK’s leading payroll magazine, is hosting the awards scheme for the payroll and HR industry in 2011. The award ceremony will be on 16th November 2011.

Debbie is awarded her degree

Debbie, a senior member of our team of payroll professionals here at Employer Services,  has been studying hard for the past three years to gain her degree qualification. We are exceptionally proud of her.

Debbie said “I feel the Diploma in Payroll Management has helped increase my knowledge and confidence as well as giving a qualification to back up my experience.”

The degree goes beyond the day to day running of a payroll department and into the wider management of the payroll team, including understanding payroll customers and improving payroll services and operations. 

A high proportion of the Employer Services team are sponsored through the course and we are committed to every individual’s personal development. Our clients are assured of a level of service that’s hard to match anywhere in the UK market.

The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) founded payroll education in the UK over twenty years ago, and is today the benchmark qualifications provider, starting from short introductory courses, through to degree level with the Foundation Degree in Payroll Management, which leads to full professional membership.

Well done Debbie, it’s time for a celebration!

esl Essex Innovation winners

The award came for the company’s pioneering SaaS payroll system, esPAY, designed to ‘take the pain out of payroll’ for small businesses, conceived and developed by Managing Director Stuart Hall, who was delighted with the result. 

“Winning an award brings not only recognition for our company but an opportunity to push on to new heights.  The award is not just for me or for my fellow directors – it represents the hard work of everyone in the company. Without the teamwork from all departments this recognition could not have been achieved.” 

Although the judging panel said it was a very close call between the innovation award finalists, esl’s real commitment to building a long term business solution secured the award.”

Lorraine Phair and Daniel Begg, judges for the Innovation category,  from Pursuit Recruitment commented

“esl is a payroll service provider at the cutting edge of the industry and has provided outsourced services to companies of all sizes for 12 years.  esPAY, their new easy online service for SMEs, aims to ‘take the pain out of payroll’.  

ESL have devised a unique product offering the ability to run a company payroll through your phone. Their product has been so well thought out that no other product in today’s market can touch it. From the detail and energy of their presentation to us, to the marketing strategy, they are company who will achieve their goals.”

esl accept Essex Innovation Award

Daniel Begg added “You did extremely well amidst tough competition”.

At esl we are thrilled to receive business recognition, our first award in the company’s 12 year history. Everyone in the company has contributed to this success, no matter what their role and we very proud to have such an enthusiastic, commited workforce. We already provide excellence in outsourced payroll service to hundreds of companies. We hope to extend that to supporting the payroll of  small business owners locally in Essex and throughout the UK.

 esPAY is the first SaaS payroll solution of its kind in the UK, allowing business owners to run their own payroll online, 24/7 at exceptionally low cost. Our service is now available at www.espay.co.uk