Welcome to the August edition of Sage Payroll Support

Payroll Support News is a monthly communication that is specifically designed for our Sage Micropay Professional and Quickpay Sagecover members. This newswire is just one of the many benefits provided to you as part of your SageCover membership.  It provides vital information on payroll topics as they arise and we hope you find it informative and relevant.

 

To access the articles in the newswire, please have your Sage account number ready. You can find your account number on any invoice you have received from Sage.

In This Issue

1. Attention Payroll Bureau Providers using Sage Micropay Professional

2. Pension Link Setup in Sage Micropay Professional

3. Pension Link Setup in Sage Quickpay

4. Benefit in Kind (BIK) Setup

5. Sage Micropay Professional – CSO Mid year Setup

6. Sage Quickpay– CSO Mid year Setup

7. Upcoming Training Courses

8. Sage Micropay Professional v7.3 Service Pack Update

9. Sage 50 HR software from Sage

10. Contact us

 

1. Attention Payroll Bureau Providers using Micropay Professional

          This autumn Sage Ireland will release a new tool to assist you with collecting payroll data from your clients. The online application integrated with Micropay Professional will not only save on your administration overheads but will help differentiate your service from competitors.  We are currently seeking Product Development Partners to receive the software free-of-charge in exchange for feedback.

In order to avail of this brief window of opportunity, please email  jessica.mcintire@sage.com or call on 01 642 0885.

 

2. Pension Link Setup in Sage Micropay Professional

     If you run a Pension, PRSA or RAC Scheme through Sage Micropay Professional, you’ll need to have a Pension Link set up because this feature will link in any contributions the Employer makes towards an employees’ Pension, PRSA etc. The Pension Link is also used to create & Remit a Pension file to the Pension Provider setup on the Link.
     

 

To set up a new Pension Scheme in Micropay Professional:

1. Start Sage Micropay Professional and log in as the ADMIN user.
2. From the Tables menu, select Pension Link. The Pension Link screen will be displayed.

Fig 1: Example setup of Pension Link.

3. To create a new Pension Link, enter the Link number and select Find .
4. Enter the relevant information about the scheme in the fields provided. Those marked with * are mandatory for the purpose of creating a Pension Contribution file. If you are in any doubt as to what information should be entered here, please contact your scheme provider.
5. Once you have entered all of the Pension Link details, click on Save .

6.  The next step is to select Company on the top toolbar in your Sage    Micropay Professional and in the drop-down menu click on Deductions. On the Deductions screen you will see your Pension under title and the Link can be associated to the relevant Deduction  by clicking on the down arrow & selecting the Pension Link you setup earlier.
              

Note: Where the employer is paying a contribution to the Pension/PRSA, as a percentage or standard amount, it has to be entered as a Formula under the ER Formula section of the Deduction.

For assistance with the Pension Link setup or creating an Employee or Employer formula please contact Sage Support at 1890 946 771 or email your query to pye@sage.ie

 

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3.

Pension-Link Setup in Sage Quickpay

 

     Sage Quickpay allows you to setup deductions for Pension, AVC (Additional Voluntary Contribution) and PRSA (Personal Retirement Savings Account) with Employer Contributions showing on the payslip when you setup a Pension Link. You will also have the option to print a Pension Deduction Report and also create a Pension Contributions file for sending to the Pension Provider. 

 

To set up a new Pension Scheme in Quickpay:

    1.  Log into your Sage Quickpay and select Company Setup>>Pension Link to access the following screen.

 

     2. Give the Pension Scheme a unique number and enter the relevant details.      Your pension provider will supply you with the information necessary if you are submitting an electronic pension file to the Pension Provider.
                 
    
     3. When you have the Pension Link details updated click Save, then go to Company Setup>>Payments Deductions option and under the Deductions section associate the relevant Deduction to the link you have just created by selecting it from the Type drop down field.
                                
                                 
   
     4. On the same screen you have Hourly Payments & Allowances. The Basic Pay & Salary elements have to be ticked as ‘pensionable’. Do this by inserting a ‘Y’ in the Pens section and Sage Quickpay will deduct a Pension from any employee included in the Scheme.
               

 

    5. The next step is to update the employees’ details. So to set the Pension deduction of a fixed or percentage amount of the employee’s pay per period you need to open the Employees’ Details & Payments/Deductions Tab. The pension heading will be under the Deductions section so all that needs to be done is enter the Fixed or Percentage amount to be deducted each period. If the Employer is contributing towards the employees’ pension the period amount can be entered under Er Contribution.
                  
     If you have any query regarding the Pension Link or setting up the details for your employees’ please call us on LoCall 1890 946 771 or Email us at pye@sage.ie.
    

4. Benefit in Kind (BIK) Setup

 

There are two (2) types of Benefit in Kind (BIK) that can be processed through the payroll:

Gross BIK…The employee pays the Tax & PRSI on the allowance. This is the most common type of Benefit in Kind used.
Nett BIK… The employer pays the Tax & PRSI on the allowance. Please note an employee being paid on the Nett to Gross basis cannot have a Nett BIK processed on the same timesheet.

 

Sage Quickpay

These notional payments are setup under Company Setup >> Payments & Deductions >> Allowances. Instead of using the ‘Y’ under the Tax section you have to use ‘B’ to identify the payment as a Benefit in Kind.

Here is an example of how the screen should look:

The BIK allowance will show on the payslip for the purpose of taxing the benefit, this is why BIK is called Notional Pay.

 

 

Sage Micropay Professional

     
      In Sage Micropay Professional the Benefit in Kind (BIK) allowance is setup under   Company>>Payments:

 

     

You will have the option to select Gross or Nett BIK from the TYPE drop down menu.

 

 

As can be seen here on the payslip the BIK is included in the Gross Pay for Tax & PRSI purposes & is then deducted again from the pay.

If you have any query regarding BIK Setup or any issue in relation to BIK please contact Sage Ireland Payroll at 1890 946 771 or Email pye@sage.ie    for assistance.

 

5. Sage Micropay Professional – CSO Mid-Year Setup
   
When setting up the CSO Report Feature mid-year it is important to remember that all of your employees’ previous period payments will be classified as ‘Other Pay’ on the CSO tab in employees’ details.  All the Employment Information has to be entered on each employee’s CSO tab that will then update the employees’ record when you click on the ‘Fill Blank History’ button.
           

     When you have the CSO details updated you will see the next period will allocate the pay correctly to ‘Regular Pay’
     To correctly update the CSO Report you should manually re-enter the pay for the previous periods’ under the ‘Regular Pay’ section & then delete the pay amounts from the ‘Other Pay’ section. Please refer to the payslips for the relevant pay periods for an indication of what types of pay (Regular, Overtime, Irregular) may be applicable.

 

     Note: An upcoming release of Sage Micropay Professional, due out in September, will enable the programme to automatically apply the correct amounts to the relevant sections.

 

6. Sage Quickpay– CSO Mid year Setup

     
IMPORTANT NOTICE
For the CSO Report Feature Option you must be running Sage Quickpay Version 8.1.
When doing a mid-year CSO setup you will need to enter the CSO information for the previous periods. As no employees have been assigned any CSO Employment Information this tab will be blank.

You will first need to follow the initial steps for setting up the CSO Feature.

1. Assign all of your payments with a CSO Type (If you are unsure, contact the Central Statistics Office to determine which CSO Types should be selected.) and update the employees' Employment Information section on the CSO tab. Click the ‘Fill Blank History’ button to update the CSO History screen.
    
      
All values to-date will be entered into the ‘Other Pay’ section and you will need to manually enter correct details into the other sections as required.
      Please refer to the payslips for the relevant pay periods for an indication of what types of pay (Regular, Overtime, Irregular) may be applicable.

 

When you process your next period the details will default to the correct sections because your ‘Payments’ have a CSO Type & the Employment Information is updated.
                                                                                                        
                                                                      
Note: An upcoming release of Quickpay, due out in October, will enable the programme to automatically apply the correct amounts to the relevant sections.

7.

Upcoming Sage Payroll Training Courses

 

       
                                      

DAY	DATE	TRAINING COURSE
TUESDAY	19 AUGUST	Sage Micropay Professional Stage 1
WEDNESDAY	20 AUGUST	Sage Micropay Professional Stage 2
THURSDAY	21 AUGUST	Sage Micropay Professional – Advanced Report Writer
FRIDAY	22 AUGUST	Sage Quickpay
MONDAY	1 SEPTEMBER	Introduction to Payroll
TUESDAY	2 SEPTEMBER	Sage Quickpay
THURSDAY	4 SEPTEMBER	Sage Micropay Professional Stage 1
FRIDAY	5 SEPTEMBER	Sage Micropay Professional Stage 2

 

For more information on course content or to secure your place on one of these courses, please contact our sales team by free phoning 1890 88 20 60

8. Sage Micropay Professional v7.3 Service Pack Update

 

    The Sage Micropay Professional version 7.3 is an optional service pack update that is now available to download from sage.ie/pye. Note:
    The download is 59 MB so may take several minutes to install. Changes include:
     -Now ready for integration to Sage 50 HR
     -Address Field extended from 24 to 30 characters   
     -Email Field extended from 36 to 100 characters
     -Post Code Field added
     -Mobile Number Field added

     -Telephone Number Field added

9. Sage 50 HR software from Sage
      
People are the most important part of any business, so they’re worth looking after.  And that means keeping the right records and having the right procedures in place.  Sage 50 HR can help. Sage 50 HR helps you manage your people by recording, storing and tracking key information on performance, training and working patterns all in one place and provides different access rights to ensure that information remains confidential.

Manage your people

• Record the employee information you need to comply with current employment law
• Manage performance and appraisals
• Manage training and qualifications
• Record and report details and evidence of disciplinary action

 

Manage your business

• Identify skill levels and shortages
• Monitor costs and attendance rates for training courses
• Monitor employee working patterns
• Manage holidays and absence
• Schedules- follow up reminders on HR tasks

For further information call Our Business Advice Team on 1890 88 20 60.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Contact Us

Should you require further assistance with any other technical queries, please contact Sage Technical Support:

• Low-call – 1980 946 771
• By fax - 01-6420895
• By email – pye@sage.ie
• On our website – sage.ie
• Submit an enhancement request online

We strive to provide an efficient and cost effective support service, now offering you a new lo-call phone number 

1890-946-771

We listen, because we care.

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