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I have already run several weeks of payroll using my old system. Will I be able to transfer the data to Primo Payroll?

Yes. If you are switching to Primo Payroll during the year, you should transfer P11 records and the total of any recoveries made. There is a data transfer facility built into Primo Payroll that allows you to easily import data from CSV files.

If I sign-up for the Standard Edition now, will I be able to upgrade to the Professional or Enterprise Edition without losing any data?

Yes.

Can I upload the employees’ information instead of manually keying in the data?

Yes, you can use the data transfer facility to import the employees’ records from a CSV file.

Can I customise the payslip layout?

You can choose from a list of standard layouts available in the system. In addition, you can choose the ‘Custom’ option and then upload a layout created for you. The layouts are created using Crystal Report designer. Our support team will be able to help you with this. Minor changes to existing layouts that take less than 30 minutes will be free. Beyond this free time, we charge just £35 per hour.

Will I be able to use security payslips?

Yes. There is an option to choose from four security laser payslips. However this will require you to purchase the payslip stationery from our recommended supplier. Please contact us for further information.

Is there a minimum contract period I have to sign up to?

You will sign up for a monthly rolling contract unless you choose to pay quarterly or annually. You will not pay a penny after the month in which you choose to cancel you contract.

Functionality

We pay our employees using the Faster payment method, but I don’t see the Faster payment option in the employee’s record. Can you help?

The payment method field in the employee’s record does not actually control how the bank pays. What determines whether the payment is made by Faster or the 3-day BACS system is the payment file format you choose on the ‘Company Settings’ screen. Make sure you select the appropriate ‘Payment File Format’ on the ‘Bank Settings’ screen.

I closed the payroll period by mistake. Can I re-open it?

Not at the moment. We are working on a feature to allow users to roll back. This will be available in the 2016 release. In the meantime you will have to contact our support team to resolve the issue.

Can I have a mixture of employees who are paid weekly and monthly?

Yes. Primo Payroll allows four popular payment frequencies – weekly, fortnightly, every four weeks, and monthly. You can have a range of employees who are paid at different frequencies in the same company.

We have a time and attendance system which records the hours worked by our factory workers. Is it possible to transfer the hours (standard and over-time) to Primo Payroll without keying-in manually?

Yes. This is a feature on the editions for group 2 & 3.

Some of our employees do not want to receive their payslips by email. How do I stop Primo Payroll from automatically emailing the payslips to these employees?

Select ‘Normal Post’ as the communication method for employees who do not wish to receive their payslips by email.

When processing maternity pay, the eight weeks average pay calculated by Primo Payroll seems to be lower than expected, and the HMRC calculator produces a higher level of average pay. Why is this?

The eight week average pay calculation is based on the number of days in the ‘relevant period’. There are occasions when the number of days can exceed 56. In such cases, the total pay during the relevant period should be divided by nine weeks instead of eight weeks, resulting in a lower average pay. This is the correct procedure and is prescribed by HMRC’s technical team.

One of our employees has requested that his user name in the employee portal is changed. How do I do this?

The username is unique and cannot be changed after it has been created.

How do I include Benefits in Kind (BIK) in the payroll calculations?

Set up a taxable payment element with the settings ‘Tax & NI Purposes Only’. This means the payment is part of the salary payment to the employee but is used to calculate tax and NI only.

We advance payments to our staff frequently. Is there a way we can recover the advance payments over a period of time automatically?

The best way to do this is to set up a deduction of the type ‘Loan’. Once the deduction element is set up, open the employee’s record, go to the deductions tab and click ‘Loan Setup’. Specify the amount advanced and how much you want to deduct per period. Once this is done, the payments will be automatically deducted until the full amount is recovered.

An employee who left our organisation a few weeks ago has joined us again. I had already issued a P45 to him. How do I reinstate their record?

You cannot and should not reinstate the same employee record. Instead you must create a new employee record with the relevant P45 figures.

Is it possible to temporarily remove an employee from the payroll processing procedure?

Yes, you can use the ‘On Hold’ facility in the employee’s record to prevent the program from processing their payroll. Any employee on hold will be automatically included for payroll processing for the last tax period of the year.

How do I make a tax free payment to employees?

Simply set up a payment element with the ‘Before Tax’ and ‘Before NI’ flags set as ‘No’.

How do I setup a net deduction?

Simply set up a deduction element with the ‘Before Tax’ and ‘Before NI’ flags set as ‘No’.

Real Time Information (RTI)

Will I be able to submit multiple Full Payment Submissions (FPS) for the same tax period?

Yes. You can submit several FPS for the same tax period. There are businesses that run a daily payroll and these businesses can submit FPS every day.

We are a construction business and incur Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deduction on payments we receive from our customers. Will we be able to claim the deductions incurred using Primo Payroll?

Yes. To claim the CIS deduction you must complete the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) every month and specify the CIS deduction figure for the tax month. This will reduce the amount of Tax & NI payable to HMRC.

Does Primo Payroll support Earlier year update (EYU) submission to make adjustments to RTI?

Yes.

Auto Enrolment

Which Pension Providers are supported by Primo Payroll

Primo Payroll supports all popular pension providers. Please click here for details.

I am a bureau business. My clients will not accept any additional cost but as a Bureau, automation is the key for my business. Is there a solution?

Yes! Choose our Smart Pensions solutions. It’s entirely free and fully automated. Click here for details.

I am a bureau business. Can I support different pension providers across my client base?

Yes, you can. The best option would be to use our solution with PensionSync. Click here for details.

We have already signed-up with NEST for auto enrolment. Is Primo Payroll auto enrolment module compatible with NEST?

Yes, Primo Payroll is compatible with NEST and also NOW. However, you must make sure the auto enrolment related tasks are run by you and files are exported and imported to NEST or NOW.

Does Primo Payroll support Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC)?

Yes.

How many pension schemes are supported by Primo Payroll?

You can setup as many pension schemes as you want. However, each employee can be linked to a maximum of two schemes at any one time.

Does Primo Payroll support staging date postponement?

Yes.

How I do process employee communications?

If you choose Smart Pensions as your pension provider, communication is handled by Smart Pensions platform. With any other provider, you can use the Auto Enrolment communication feature within Primo Payroll.