• New Sage Payroll Update v27.1 Released
    Includes ERR and CWPS enhancements
  • New Sage Payroll Update v27.1 Released

KB Category: Sage Payroll (Micropay)

What’s new in Sage Payroll (Micropay) v27.1

What’s new in Sage Payroll (Micropay) v27.1

Sage has released an update to improve ERR features, validating employees approaching 66, CWPS and ERR History as follows:

1. Enhanced reporting improvements

To help you with the Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR), in v27.1 we’ve made the following improvements based on your feedback:

2. Improved validation and messaging for employees approaching 66 years old.

3. CWPS – Fix for exporting file with the incorrect year.

4. Invalid History error when sending corrections following ERR submission. You can amend any new Payroll or ERR submissions made in v27.1.

 

Download and install the latest version of Sage Payroll.

Installing software on a virtual server (terminal server)

Installing (Sage payroll/Micropay) software on a virtual server (terminal server)

You must put a Terminal Services server in Install mode to install or remove programs on the server. You can put a Terminal Services server in Install mode by using the Add/Remove Programs tool in Control Panel or by using the Install Application on the Terminal Server tool in Control Panel.

  1. Changed the install mode to install by using cmd>Change user /install
  2. Installed software update to Sage Payroll
  3. Changed the install mode to execute by using cmd>change user /execute
  4. Users test to ensure there is no install issues.

Sage Payroll Year End 2023

Payroll Year End 2023/2024: 

This article show you what to do for year end for the 2023/2024 tax year in Sage Payroll.

Processing your year end in Sage Payroll has never been easier. Follow our simple guides to complete your year end tasks and get ready for the new tax year.

We have some useful resources listed below which can assist you to complete your year end which will include:

  • 2023 Year End Update: You can Download the 2023 Year End Update (V26.3 & V27.0 )by Clicking Here .
  • 2023 Year End Booklet: You can Download the 2023 Year End Booklet by Clicking Here.
  • 2023 Year End Checklist: You can Download the 2023 Year End Checklist by Clicking Here.

Your Payroll Year End booklet will have information on important changes to your year end software including :

  • ERR – Enhanced Reporting Requirements is not part of the year-end, but it is a new feature in the year end software and a new reporting requirement that will commence on Jan 1st 2024.
  • CWPS – From Jan 1st 2024, the CWPS calendar will revert back to Jan to Dec. This means that the new calendar must be set up now and the CWPS balances and history cleared prior to setting the first period of 2024.

 

Recorded Webinar Demonstrating the Payroll Year End Process

Pimbrook hosted a number of live webinars where we stepped through the Payroll Year End process from start to finish, if you missed these a recording is available here Sage Payroll Year End Webinars 2023

 

For more information on the above Additional Helpful links can be found here:
We have also put together some other articles which you find helpful as you work through the payroll year end.
Click on the links below to view each one.

 

Medical Insurance eligible for tax relief

Medical Insurance eligible for tax relief

 

If you pay medical insurance premiums on behalf of an employee, you must include how much of this is eligible for tax relief on your P35 submission. Your medical insurance provider tells you how much this is for each employee. You must then enter this in their records before you create your P35 returns for Revenue.

If you have a large number of employees to update, to save time, you can import medical insurance eligible for tax relief values directly in to Sage Payroll using the Data Import option.

 

Manually enter medical insurance eligible for tax relief values

1. Do one of the following:
  • From the menu bar at the top of your window, click Processing then click Employee Details.
  • From the process map in the centre of Sage Payroll, click Edit Employees.

2. Next to the Surname box, click browse and click the relevant employee.

3. Click the Pay / YTD tab.

 

4. Under BIK Year To Date, in the Medical Insurance Eligible for Tax Relief box, enter the amount.

5. Click Save.

6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for all relevant employees, then click Cancel.

 

 

Import medical insurance eligible for tax relief values into Sage Payroll

 

1. Click on the following link: BIKMEDTRS.zip >>

Depending on your Internet browser, the file automatically download to your Downloads folder or you’re prompted to save the file.

2. If prompted, browse to where you want to save it, for example, the Windows desktop, then click Save.

3. Locate and right-click the downloaded file, then click Extract all.

The Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders window appears.

4. In the Files will be extracted to this folder box, type C:\

5. Select the Show extracted files when complete check box, then click Extract.

Once successfully extracted, the folder BIKMEDTRS opens automatically in Windows Explorer.

6.  Open Sage Payroll and log in to the payroll as normal.

7. On the menu bar, click Reports then click Report Writer.

8. Click File, then click Open.

9. Browse to C:\BIKMEDTRS.

10. Select BIKMEDTRS.RPT then click Open.

11. Click Process.

A report listing all employees in your payroll appears on-screen.

12. Click File, then click Save As.

13. Click the Save in arrow, then browse to C:\BIKMEDTRS.

14. In the File name box, type bikmedtrs.csv.

 

15. Click Save.

16. Close Sage Payroll, then browse to C:\BIKMEDTRS.

17. Right-click the file BIKMEDTRS.CSV, then left-click Open with.

18. When prompted, select Excel then click OK.

19. Under column D, enter the medical insurance eligible for tax relief value for each relevant employee.

20. For all employees that you don’t pay medical insurance premiums for, remove their values or delete the relevant row.

21. Under column A, check your employees’ numbers are correct. Edit, if required.

Each employee number on the import file must match the exact employee number in Sage Payroll. For example, if the employee is set up in Sage Payroll as number 0054, the import file won’t accept 54 as the employee’s number. For more information about how to create custom number formats in Microsoft Excel, read our guide.

22. Click File, then click Save.

23. Open Sage Payroll and log in to the payroll as normal.

24. Take a back up of your payroll data.

25. From the menu bar at the top of your window, click Miscellaneous, point to Data Import then click Data Import.

26. Browse to C:\BIKMEDTRS.

27. Select BIKMEDTRS.IMP then click Open.

You’ve now successfully imported medical insurance eligible for tax relief values directly into Sage Micropay. To check that these values appear correctly within your employee records, complete steps 28 to 32.

28. Do one of the following:

  • From the menu bar at the top of your window, click Processing then click Employee Details.
  • From the process map in the centre of Sage Payroll, click Edit Employees.

29. Next to the Surname box, click browse and click the relevant employee.

30. Click the Pay / YTD tab.

31. Under BIK Year To Date, in the Medical Insurance Eligible for Tax Relief box, check the value is correct. If it’s not, you must manually edit the value now and click Save.

32. Repeat steps 29 to 31 for all relevant employees, then click Cancel.

 

 

 

 

 

Sage Payroll – Unable to open Audit Trail/Error opening PAYAUDIT files

When you’re setting a new pay period or processing your payroll, the following messages may appear:

        ‘Unable to open Audit Trail’  or

        ‘Error opening PAYAUDIT’

To close this message, click OK. This issue occurs if the payroll’s audit files are too large to clear down within Sage Payroll. This is caused by:

  • The Audit retention setting for this payroll being too high or not set at all.
  • Additional files, such as backups (PAYBACK.CTL, PAYBACK.CRC & PAYBACK.001) and reports being saved into the Payroll folder.
  • A combination of both of the above.

To resolve this and prevent it re-occurring, you must replace the existing audit files with a clean set.

To replace the PAYAUDIT files

Download the 2 PAYAUDIT files from links below:

Locate the files in your downloads folder and highlight both together and copy.

Browse to and open the company payroll folder you want to replace the audit files for eg Weekly.

Right-click your mouse on a blank area of the window and left-click Paste.
When prompted, click Copy and Replace.
Close and reopen Sage Payroll.
Once you’ve done this, then remove any files that should not be in the Sage Payroll payroll folder. For example, PAYBACK.CTL, PAYBACK.CRC, PAYBACK.001, .pdf, .csv, or .xls files.  The Archive folder found in the Payroll folder contains all previous period archives which are made up of the three PAYBACK files. These files should not be removed. Only those PAYBACK files found in the root Payroll folder should be removed. 

What’s new in V26.2 Sage Payroll (Micropay)

What’s new in V26.2 Sage Payroll (Micropay)

  • Enhanced Password Security
    • You will be prompted to change your Admin password when logging into the software.
    • Must be at least eight characters in length.
    • Must contain at least one letter.
    • Must contain at least one number.
    • Must contain at least one special character/symbol.
  • If your payroll or user password doesn’t meet the password requirements it will prompt you to change these also.
  • New Payment type added to Sage Payroll
    • An Expenses payment type has been introduced to support the Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR) Coming into effect from 1 January 2024.
    • You’ll need to process payments that will be reported under ERR using an Expenses payment.  This includes payments for small benefit exemption, remote working daily allowance and certain travel and subsistence items.
    • ERR functionality will be available in your Sage Payroll 2024 update.
  • CWPS rates
    • CWPS rates have increased effective from 18th September.
  • One4all vouchers
    • Minimum and Maximum limits have been applied to the vouchers.

 

Follow Sage’s guide to Download and install the latest version of Sage Payroll.

 

Previous Employment Figures include this Employment values

Problem: Previous Employment Figures coming in on RPN but are also in This Employment when you re-instate an employee and transfer to another payroll to be paid

 

This happens when the employee has been working elsewhere in between employments with your company.

When you reinstate the employee and retrieve rpns in the same payroll, revenue recognize that this matches the previous employment they have for this employee. But when you retrieve rpns in a different payroll with a different reference and frequency, it does not recognize it as a previous employment with the same company and sends all previous employment figures added together instead of just the ones for the employment outside your company.

Solution Options:

  1. Restore both payrolls involved in the transfer to the period prior to the re-instatement and transfer ie when the employee had a status as “Left” and re-run the payroll without transferring the employee.  In the destination payroll, set the employee up as a new starter.
  2. Contact Revenue and ask them to remove the previous employment figure for your company for this employee as you have these figures in your payroll as current employment figures
  3. If payroll has been processed for one or more periods and restoring is not an option, then go to the ETP of the employee and remove the transferred figures i.e. usually period 1. Check control summary figures before and after this and make note of why the Cl balances last period do not match op balances this period.