Resources
10 Things To Consider When Choosing Payroll Software For Your Business
By Lorna Keogh, Senior Digital & Marketing Operations Specialist at Sage
When choosing a payroll software there are a number of things to bear in mind to ensure that you find the right solution for your needs. Many of these will be standard considerations but there will be some that are unique to your business needs and the industry in which you operate.
So – where to start? Let’s start with the most obvious factors and work from there.
1. Number of companies and users
In essence – how many different companies will you need to process payroll for? It will be important to ensure that any software you purchase includes a licence for the required number of companies. Likewise if you plan to install the software on a server to allow multiple users to access it from a local or remote network, ensure you choose a software package and licence that allows for this.
2. Employees
How many employees do you need to process payroll for this year? When working out this figure include seasonality and any resulting staff. Also include starters and leavers because if someone leaves, their details will need to remain on your payroll software for the year as they will need to be included in year-end reports. Many payroll solutions will be priced and divided out by employee number bands so it is important to have this figure in mind when researching potential suppliers.
3. Payroll Frequencies & Types
How often do you need to pay employees? i.e. weekly, monthly, every two weeks? Also – does every employee get paid in the same manner or do you have for example some employees who are paid monthly and some who are paid weekly?
In terms of the type of payroll are employees paid a salary or by the hour or have you a mixture of both? Ensure to check that any potential payroll solutions can cater for the payroll frequencies and type of payroll that you need. Also consider how employees holidays are calculated – do they get a set amount of days a year, a third of the working week or a percentage of hours worked? If tracking holidays is currently a manual task, check which payroll packages can help you to manage this.
Posted under: Growing Your Customer Base: A FREE Guide
By Beatrice Whelan, Social Media & Content Specialist at Sage
Every business owner understands how important customers are to their business but it can be challenging to understand how to find new customers and improve relationships with the ones you have.
The first step to building your customer base is knowing who your customers are and where you can find them.
Armed with this information, you can manage your customer relationships more effectively to increase sales to existing customers and to acquire new ones.
Our free Ebook offers advice on how to grow your business, including:
- What you should know about your customers
- Why you should concentrate on your most profitable customers
- Recording customer information
- Building good relationships with existing customers
- How to generate repeat business
- Acquiring new customers
- How and when to run special offers and promotions
Download the Ebook here and let us know if you found it useful for your business.
PYE Is Creeping Up. Are You Ready?
By Paul Thompson – Payroll Support Team Manager
So it’s that time of the year again…the time when we all panic because we haven’t started our Christmas shopping and also the time when we frantically prepare for Payroll Year End. You’d think that we’d all be well used to these yearly occurrences but for some reason they always seem to creep up.
For the last three and a half years I have been managing the Sage 50 Support Team but recently I took over the management of the Sage Payroll Support Team, so this is technically my first PYE as manager of the team. Having worked in Sage for the last six years I am well used to what PYE brings but this year I will be looking at it from a completely different perspective. I can’t wait for the challenge.
Sage has been working hard behind the scenes to ensure that this PYE is the best yet and to make sure that the whole process is as good as we can possibly make it for our customers.
What should you do to ensure that PYE 12 runs smoothly?
1. Do your homework – Understand your obligations as an employer. Most employers will need to submit a P35 return online to Revenue, and provide employees with P60s.
2. Important dates:
- Your Payroll Software Budge Update will be available through Auto Update and www.mysage.ie – Mid-December 2012
- P35 Returns via ROS – 23rd February 2013
- P60s to employees – 15th February 2013
3. Set aside enough time to prepare for PYE. Use the PYE checklist. The checklist itemises what to do.
- Micropay Professional PYE Checklist
- Quickpay PYE Checklist
4. Knowing who you should contact – Some queries can only be answered by the Revenue. To get a list common Revenue queries and common Sage queries go to www.sage.ie/pye2012.
5. If in doubt, get expert help – Payroll rules can be complex, and your circumstances are unique. If you are unsure then you should contact Sage, your professional advisor or the Revenue.
Sage Wins Best Support Team At CCMA Awards
The Sage Payroll team won Team Of the Year at this year’s Irish Contact Centre and Shared Services Awards. The CCMA Awards were held on Saturday 17th November in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin. The awards, hosted by CCMA Ireland, recognised the organisations that demonstrate best practice and ongoing commitment to excellence in the Irish Contact Centre and Shared Services sector.
The Payroll Team plays a core role in the Sage Ireland Technical Support Centre and manages over half of its customer contracts, supporting customers on Sage’s two payroll products (Sage Quickpay and Sage Micropay). Each year the team face a challenge of peak demand for their support service at year end with call volumes up 300%. This year in addition to extended opening hours, a blog and video tutorial were offered to assist customers at peak times.
From L to R: Rutendo Matarutse Software Support Specialist, Ciara Simon Software Support Representative Finola Mahon Payroll Support Team Manager, Aoife Brannigan Software Support Specialist
R&D Tax Credits, Do You Qualify?
By Jim Coyle, Product Test Manager at Sage
Everyone likes to be in receipt of tax credits because the more you are entitled to (and claim for, obviously) the less tax you pay to Irish Revenue. Since 1997, a Research and Development (R&D) tax credit has been available to all companies in Ireland, who undertake research and development activities within the E.U.
Various governments have continued to support this initiative because they want to create the conditions for high end technology companies to succeed, and even more so in the current economic times because the IT industry (for example) has remained remarkably resilient during these turbulent few years.
But as with individuals, companies will miss out unless they claim these credits. Let’s face it – no one is going to do it for you, not unless you pay an external company for this service, and that cost may be prohibitive.
So, what to do? Well first off, does your company qualify for this tax credit? If your R&D activities tick 1-5 below, then the answer is yes and you really should sit straighter in your chair because last time I checked this tax relief was running at a healthy 25% (with 2003 as a baseline).
R&D Qualifying Activities
- Systematic, investigative or experimental activities
- In a field of science or technology
- One or more of the following categories of research and development:
Basic research (are you doing this for the sake of increasing your knowledge?)
Applied research (are you doing this to solve a problem?), or
Experimental development. - Seek to achieve scientific or technological advancement, and
- Involve the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty.
Helpful PYE 2011 Checklist & Frequently Asked Questions
To get a head start on the Payroll Year End 2011, we have provided information relating to the checks that need to be done on your payroll before processing your end of year (EOY) returns to Revenue.
Please be aware we have provided a preparation checklist to ensure your payroll product is ready.
Among the other helpful information provided are:-
- PYE Frequently Asked Questions
- Installation notes for the System Administrator who maintain the Sage Payroll Software
- Extended opening hours for Support over the PYE period.
For further information, please go to http://sage.ie/support/payroll-support/payroll-year-end-2011.aspx
Update requires Microsoft .Net framework 4 to be installed to continue with installation
When running the PYE update for either Quickpay or Micropay Professional, you may be prompted to install Microsoft .Net Framework 4 if it is not already installed on your PC.
This is because some components of the latest Quickpay & Micropay Professional updates are dependent on .Net Framework 4 running on your computer. Also please note, this is a separate installation completely from the PYE update.
You can download the Microsoft .Net Framework 4 free from the following website: – http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17851 or by clicking the link on the warning message that appears when you run your payroll update.
You will need an internet connection & administrator rights to install this.
After installing the Microsoft .Net Framework 4, you can install the latest updates of Quickpay and Micropay Professional.
If you have any queries, please contact support on 1890882060 or pye@sage.ie
Payroll Year End 2011 Update is now available for download
Just a quick note to let you know the PYE Update for 2011 is now available to download & install. This makes your payroll system ready for PYE tasks such as USC recalculation, creating P35 to ROS files and setting up tax year 2012.
This year, the update is available through your payroll system’s Auto Updates feature. The update is also available to download from the Sage Payroll Website.
Just so you are aware, there won’t be any CD in the PYE pack when you receive it in the post.
Note: it is important to run the PYE installation prior to setting your last pay period to ensure any changes to end of year calculations are applied to your payroll.
If you haven’t already received the update automatically through your payroll system by now, select the Help – Check for Updates menu option.
Before running any software updates, best practice is to make sure that you have taken a complete backup of your payroll data & to make sure you have the necessary administrative rights on your pc. If the updating of your payroll’s software is looked after by a System Administrator or an IT Professional, please contact them before you proceed with running the update.
Also please note the Budget 2012 Update is a separate download completely which will be released as soon as possible following the budget announcement on December 6th.
If you have any queries, please contact support on 1890882060 or pye@sage.ie
Payroll Software Customers – Budget update for Tax year 2012
The Budget update for tax year 2012 will be released in the coming weeks so here are a few hints and tips to get you ready for it :-
- Firstly make sure you have run your PYE update first and have an icon on your desktop for either ‘Quickpay 2012’ or ‘Micropay Pro 2012’.
This is available through the auto updates on your payroll program & on the Sage website: – http://www.sage.ie/pye - Make sure that the budget update is run before you start processing on your 2012 payroll.
If you do not run the update, the figures calculated will be incorrect.
Please note, the budget update is only going to be available via download.
We are no longer distributing CDs in the post. You will receive an automatic notification on your payroll software when the Budget Update is available for installation.
Install the Budget 2012 Update file as soon as it is available. You will receive a ‘News Feed’ message in your payroll software letting you know when it is ready for download. Click on Help – Check for Updates. You do not have to wait until 2012 to install this update.
If you want to check for the budget update manually, go to the below web page and enter your Sage account number. : – http://www.sage.ie/support/payroll-support/downloads.aspx
If you have any queries, please contact support on 1890882060 or pye@sage.ie
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