Small Payroll package

thesimpsons wrote: »

Question for you Collsoft -

In the screenshot you have attached above - are the missing submissions (the three in red) failing to send PSRs back to Revevenue or where do they come from ? I haven't come across any of these?

I'm using Collsoft for a number of years and I'm very happy with it. Small company payroll and very simple to use. Telephone support is always quick and friendly. Highly recommend it.

Hi Mr TheSimpsons - Love your username!!!

Ok, where to start.

Well first I should say this. CollSoft along with all of the other Payroll Developers have been working with Revenue on PAYE Modernisation for almost 3 years now.

The first two years involved a lot of discussions between the software developers and Revenue, but did not really involve any Employers.

We would have a lot of experience with software users who run their payroll on a daily basis. Revenue would have the opinion that the "Rules are the Rules" and that is how employers operate their Payroll - simply not true.

On many occasions I had arguments with Revenue where I would try and explain that the real world does not work according to their regulations.

For most businesses Payroll is something that they just have to do - it is not what they are in business for, and with the best will in the world, most Payroll operators are doing their best to be compliant with the regulations, but generally tey dont always fully understand their obligations.

Payroll software tries to bridge the gap between the regulations and the day to day reality that face our users.

So what am I trying to say????

Well, even though we had many years of experience in Payroll, and even though we put in 2 years of work before PAYE Modernisation went live, the simple fact is that we too have been learning more about how our users operate their payroll, and seen some of the issues that they can run up against.

With that in mind we have been adapting our software a lot over this year and we have been trying to help users with meeting Revenue's requirements.

One frightening fact is that almost 70% of the monthly statements issued by Revenue are not actually accepted by Employers. They are deemed accepted by Revenue on their behalf.

Now I know that there are some users who check their monthly statements, but just dont take any actions because they are correct. But my experience tells me that there are likely to be many employers who simply have not checked their statements.

If you have not checked, then how do you know that you are up to date?

When will you check.

So in the middle of November we launched our "Data Quality Update" which includes many new features, but the main aim is to ensure that employers dont have any outstanding submissions.

One of the features in our software that separates us from our competitors is that you can always go into a previous period and make a change. In many systems once you start the next period the previous one locks out - if you need to make a change you have to restore back to when that period was opn, and then you have to run all your payrolls forward again.

However, one problem with being able to edit a previous period easily is that it is also easy to make a change and forget to file it with Revenue, so we wanted to make sure that users didnt forget to file such changes.

When we launch a big update like that we dont just tell everybody on the same day - "Hey We have an Update, go and get it"!!!!!

20% of all submissions are made using our software and if we did a big bang launch like that then our phone lines would simply go into meltdown - and that upsets people and we want to try and avoid it.

So we take a staggered approach with a launch like this, and we notify users in tranches so we can deal with the support.

But even this update has created a lot of support, with people calling us asking "Why is Payroll saying I have Outstanding Payments".

The reasons are varied and many, but here are some of the common ones;

1) You ran your Payroll and submitted it. Later you realised that you made a mistake with a couple of ages and you correct them, but you forgot to file the corrections.

2) With everything going on you may have simply forgotten to file the entire submission

3) Revenue Systems go down sometimes, and you may have filed a submission t Revenue which was accepted, but Revenue never acknowledged the submission back to your software - so the software assumes it didnt go through.

4) You made a correction in Payroll but you filed the change manually through the Revenue screens - again, Revenue does not know if it was filed.


On top of all of that, Revenue have been analysing all of the data that has been submitted by employers. That is 5.5 million submissions and 70 million payslips.

They have developed about 12 different tests/rules that they run against the data, and if they spot something they will be in touch.

In our update we added the same tests so that you can verify if you have any such issues, and if so, you can fix them before Revenue get in contact.

AT the moment Revenue are being very helpful to employers. If you are making an honest effort to comply then they will help you correct any mistakes.

However, I expect that next Year Revenue are going to switch to compliance mode and there will be a little less carrot and a bit more stick.

I also expect that next Year Revenue are going to start checking calculations, and they may start asking employers, "Hey, why did you deduct that amount of tax, it looks wrong".

Long story short, we are adapting to what we are seeing that our customers need with PAYE Modernisation and we are trying to make things easier and better.

Anyway, if you didnt get the notification from us yet you can always download the update from our website at www.collsoft.ie

Hope this helps

Jason

thesimpsons wrote: »

thanks Jason - I got the notification of update but left it in the "I'll look at that tomorrow" folder

l have a look at the update and give helpline a buzz if I need help

btw - its Marge not Homer. Duh

Well Marge, I may be named after a Greek Hero, and I have read Homer's Odyssey, but I have to say that I am possibly closest in character to Mr Homer Simpson.

He is without doubt one of the most misunderstood characters of our time.

In spite of all his flaws, and everything that is stacked against him, he manages to survive.

What more can we hope for in Life????

Regards

Jason