Ready to take on the challenge and boss your payroll year-end?

Tackling your year-end might be tougher in 2021, but here’s how you can stay on top of your requirements

Wrapping up your payroll year end processes in good time is a great way to show you’re bossing it. But the past year has thrown up a series of challenges that will try and slow you down. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the need to access and check data from furloughed staff and your employees who are working remotely are key requirements. However, don’t worry, you’ve got this – and we’re here to help, too.

Payroll year-end processing and key dates

With no extensions from HMRC to payroll-filing deadlines, despite the impact of coronavirus, it’s business as normal. You’ve got until 19 April to complete your end-of-year submission, regardless of when you pay your employees for the last time in the 2019/20 tax year. Make sure your payroll software and employee payroll records are updated from 6 April. Ensure your employees receive their P60s by 31 May. And report expenses and benefits to HMRC by 6 July.

To stay in control, don’t leave things to the last minute. Give yourself enough time to manage your year-end process – and do things carefully to avoid time-consuming mistakes. By automating your processes, you can work quickly, accurately and efficiently. Cloud payroll solutions are your friend here.

It’s worth noting that if you do miss any 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 been a lifeline for businesses. But with it has come an extra set of admin tasks. While you’re no doubt bossing that of processing furlough claims by now, the big challenges come in the form of keeping up with HMRC’s timeframes for making claims – usually a couple of weeks after the end of each month – and regular changes to guidance.

Ensuring furlough claims are accurate and completed on time is an important job for you to maintain, especially when you throw remote-working into the mix. A cloud-based payroll solution will help you work from anywhere and at any time to make sure you’re able to stay on top of your duties.

Getting P60s and P11Ds to your people

And on the topic of remote working is the need to get P60 and P11D payroll documents to your employees. You’ll need to retrieve any information that’s filed manually at your office – 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 additional benefit is that you can produce key payroll documents – think payslips, as well as P60s and P11Ds – and send them to your remote workforce securely, while remaining compliant with data protection regulations.

With the clock ticking on the need to complete your year-end requirements, good planning and the right technology will keep you on track to boss your payroll processes.

To find out how you can boss your payroll, visit the Sage website

by Mai-Po Wan, Product Marketing Director, HR & Payroll, Sage