How do I close a payroll period?

Summary

The following article explains how to close off a payroll period. This procedure must be followed when you have completed a period and you want to move into the next one. Please ensure you have run all the necessary reports and printed the payslips before proceeding.

Pre-Period Closedown Checklist

• Check that all Payroll amounts for each employee are accurate and correct, including any Sick Pay, Holiday Pay, Adoption Pay, Maternity Pay and Paternity Pay.

• Check that you have run all the reports that you want for this period.

More Information

Go into " Payroll Run Payroll Period".

• Click [OK] at the "Payroll Selection" window which opens the period you about to close.
  • If you run more than one frequency, e.g. a Monthly and a Weekly payroll, you must first select the period you would like to close by selecting [Yes] alongside the appropriate "Payroll Frequency", e.g. 'Monthly'.
• Make sure you have produced any "End of Period" reports you need.
• Press <F2> to "Close Current Period".
• A box will pop up asking you to be sure you wish to close the current period that says the following.

WARNING: The payroll period below is about to be closed. You should only close a payroll period when All payroll functions for that period have been completed.

• Click [Yes] to proceed with closing the period.

Additions to Period End Procedure for RTI Submissions

As of April 6th 2013 (after your year end) with the addition of RTI (Realtime) Payroll Submissions, there are some extra procedures that will need to be carried out. These are detailed below. Two of them, the EAS and the FPS, will be done automatically by your Platinum Software as part of the normal period end procedure; the EPS must be done manually once a month when necessary.

Full Payment Submission (FPS)

Platinum sends these automatically when you close off a payroll period. The confirmation message has an added button [Test] which can be used to send a "test-in-live" Full Payment Submission (FPS) without committing the details to the HMRC. Obviously if you do send a "test-in-live" submission, you must still close the period to send the "real" submission.

This follows the same process as the Test/Live drop-down in the previous End of Year submissions.

Employer Alignment Submission (EAS)

This is a special version of the Full Payment Submission which is only required the first time you file under RTI and under certain circumstances. See here for more details. Platinum will send the necessary information automatically on the first occasion when you close off the first period under RTI. In addition to the employees being paid, it includes all other live employees (i.e. with different payment frequencies) and includes details and year-to-date values (obviously all zeroes if the employer is starting RTI at the beginning of the year, like nearly all are).

It is important that the employee database is clean - e.g. no "test" employees in payment frequencies which are never run - as these will be included. All such employees, if any, must be put 'On Hold' to exclude them. It is important that the employer updates the tax codes for ALL employees before sending the first FPS or an EAS.

Platinum will not operate RTI, and HMRC will not accept submissions for RTI, until 6th April 2013. Employers can set up their payroll and print payslips and reports but it is important that you do not close off the first period until 6th April 2013 or later. For the HMRC guidance about this, see HERE.

Once all this is done this closes the period and moves you into the next one.

At this point if you use the Platinum Accounts Module (Sales Ledger, Purchase Ledger, Nominal Ledger) you will need to post a journal in the Nominal Ledger to account for your wages. See the See Also section below for how to do this.

If your system does not include Platinum Accounts but you are interested in getting it please don't hesitate to Contact your Platinum dealer or our sales team on 0116 230 1500 or by using our website sales contact page.

Employer Payment Summary (EPS)

There is a new option in " Payroll Payroll Procedures/Reports Monthly Procedures/Reports Internet Filing of Returns Submit Employer Payment Summary". This is the method by which you inform HMRC about any statutory payments that you have made and/or are recovering and should be used AT THE END OF EVERY CALENDAR MONTH for which you need to inform HMRC about any amounts of SSP/SMP/SAP/etc.

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THE LAST PAYROLL PERIOD OF 2014:  For the final month of the year you should tick the "Final submission for the year" box, which adds the Checklist and Declaration pages from the old End of Year submission screen and replaces that whole process.

This submission should be done after the current payroll period is closed, i.e. after the 2 submissions above (FPS and EAS).

There is no separate End of Year submission for next year ending 5th April 2014. For more detailed year end help and help with your last Payroll period prior to the current year end (5th April 2013), see HERE.

See Also

• Troubleshooting Payroll RTI Submission Errors
• How do I Post the Wages Journal?
• Payroll End of Year
• How do I Run a Payroll Period?
• How do I Run Reports at the End of a Payroll Period?
• How do I Delete a Payroll Period?
• How do I Add a New Employee to the Payroll?
• Entering P45 Details/New Starters

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Keywords AND Misspellings

Close, Closing, Payroll, Period