Concluding your payroll year end processes in a timely manner is an ideal way to show you’re bossing it. However, the past 12 months have thrown up a series of challenges that will try and slow you down. The impact of coronavirus has resulted in a need to access and check data from furloughed staff and your employees who are working remotely. But there’s no need to worry, you’ve got this – and we can help, too.
Payroll year end processing and key dates
Despite coronavirus, HMRC hasn’t announced any payroll filing deadlines. You need to complete your end of year submission by 19 April, regardless of when you pay your employees for the last time in the 2019/20 tax year. Ensure your payroll software and employee payroll records are updated from 6 April. Make sure your employees receive their P60s by 31 May. And report expenses and benefits to HMRC by 6 July.
Want to stay in control? Don’t leave things to the last minute. Give yourself plenty of time to manage your year-end processes – and do things prudently to avoid mistakes. There’s even a way to work quickly, accurately and efficiently – automate your processes. Cloud payroll solutions are your friend here.
If you miss deadlines due to coronavirus, get in touch with HMRC. It’s said it will consider the pandemic as a reasonable excuse for missing deadlines on a case-by-case basis.
Job Retention Scheme challenges
The Job Retention Scheme has really helped businesses. But it’s led to an additional set of admin tasks for you. While you’ve no doubt bossed the requirement of processing furlough claims, big challenges come in the form of keeping up with HMRC’s timeframes for making claims – it’s usually a couple of weeks after the end of each month – and regular changes to guidance.
Making sure furlough claims are accurate and completed on time is a priority for you, especially when remote working is thrown into the mix. A cloud-based payroll solution will help you work from anywhere and at anytime to ensure you can stay on top of your duties.
Getting P60s and P11Ds to your people
Another challenge linked with remote working is the need to get P60 and P11D payroll documents to your employees. Got information filed manually at your office? You’ll need to retrieve it – but let HMRC know if you can’t access it due to coronavirus restrictions. Again, a cloud-based payroll solution will help to avoid this in future as you can easily access and update information, no matter where you are.
An extra benefit is you can produce key payroll documents – the likes of payslips, as well as P60s and P11Ds – and send them to your remote-working employees securely, while remaining compliant with data protection regulations.
Taking on the challenge and winning
With the time ticking to complete your year-end requirements, the right technology and good planning will keep you on track to boss your payroll processes.
To find out how you can boss your payroll, visit the Sage website.
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