April represents the beginning of the tax year and is often considered to be the best time to move your payroll. Here we explore the reasons why it may be so and what to do if you want to move mid-year.
Arguments for moving payroll in April
It’s a much simpler handover
When processing payroll, year to date figures are crucial for calculations and PAYE submissions to HMRC. This can be fiddly if the right processes are not in place and if accurate data is not provided, which in turn can lead to errors that are difficult to undo.
It’s a clean slate
You are effectively starting from scratch at the beginning of the tax year. Mid-year, any issues that arise might be best dealt with by the provider who processed the payroll and has access to the details of what was processed and how.
Statutory payments can get messy
In order to calculate statutory parental payments accurately (such as statutory maternity pay), specific pay details are required. These are usually picked up from the system based on what was processed within specific months. This information needs to be accurately provided during a handover to ensure pay and reporting is correct.
How to handle mid-year handovers
- All year to date information must be provided in full as requested
- Ensure FPS and EPS submissions reflect all of the correct year to date payroll information including statutory payments and student loan figures
- Parallel runs: these help to ensure that the new provider has all the information required. A parallel run will highlight any missing data.
At Willow Pay we have a robust onboarding process build to handle mid-year handovers. We work with current providers and onboard new clients all through the year. Contact us at info@willowpay.co.uk or 0208 941 6464 if you are thinking of changing your provider and would like to understand our process better.