Nationwide, managers responsible for payroll year-end are busy preparing for the end of the 2022/23 tax year on 5 April 2023.

As document automation specialists, we support many clients in removing manual tasks that take up their crucial time. This is precious time they need to successfully prepare for payroll year-end in readiness to report to HMRC on the previous tax year.

Opportunities to automate manual PAYE year-end processes can relieve pressure on payroll departments and improve overall productivity during busy periods.

In this blog, we will cover the following:

• How to improve efficiency by using payroll automation
• The benefits of online payslip portals at year-end
• How our online payslips portal, Epay can be used to automate other payroll documentation
  Improving the PAYE year-end process
• We recognise that processes must be effective at all points in the payroll calendar.

Online payslips portals, such as Epay, facilitate the delivery of payroll information throughout the year.

Using a tool to help with the payroll process removes distracting repetitive manual tasks. With each pay run, teams deliver documents online or send them to print and post automatically, eliminating an entire block of manual workload.

Instead, staff can focus on higher-value projects. Payroll professionals regain time to use their skills to identify potential risks and streamline tasks. For example, allocating time to review data flow from end-to-end prevents costly and inconvenient mistakes or inaccuracies in pay.

Can payroll technology improve year-end?

Business automation and payroll processing technology provide massive efficiency gains.

Payroll software now routinely automates pay calculations, deductions, reporting and payments. Payslip portals eliminate the manual tasks of creating, processing, and sending payslips, P45s, P60s, P11Ds and rewards statements.

Consequently, a strategic approach to payroll software facilitates more efficient year-end processes and resources.

Is an online payroll portal useful at tax year-end?

The short answer is ‘yes’.

An online payslips portal is a simple and secure way to connect employees to payroll, HR, reward and pension documents. Payroll teams can remove unnecessary manual tasks at any point in the financial year.

At year-end, however, the paperless benefits of online payslips come into their own.

With a secure online portal, payroll teams can send P60s or company information to a whole organisation within minutes. Employees needing a P45 or P11D can access their documents online on any device, 24/7.

Digital payslips have no printing, distribution or postal costs. Still, if an employee prefers a hard copy, portals can integrate with third-parties, like Datagraphic, to print and deliver printed payslips.

Furthermore, payroll technology complements information security policy to reassure leadership that tighter data controls are in place.

What are the benefits of online payslip portals at year-end?

Whether called electronic payslips, online payslips or epayslips, employees prefer their payslips as digital documents.

At important dates of the payroll calendar and especially at year-end, there are lots of benefits of having an online payslips portal:

• Savings. Organisations save workload, time, printing and postage costs by delivering important information as digital payroll documents.
• Security. Documents are delivered safely and securely within minutes, allowing teams to concentrate on other time-sensitive tasks.
• Convenient. Employees can access online documents 24/7, which can reduce disruptive inbound queries for payroll and HR teams.
• Two-way communication. Payroll and HR teams can facilitate better, important internal communications, such as a year-end payroll memo to employees or P11D forms with guidance.
• Historical viewing. The Epay portal stores documents for up to 7 years, so employees don’t need to keep paper documents, which are easily lost. For queries, mortgage applications or tax returns, the recipient simply needs internet access.

About Epay

We work with clients to alleviate some of the manual stress in hitting each of the payroll year-end deadlines.

Datagraphic’s secure electronic payslip portal, Epay, is a ‘bolt-on’ to your existing payroll systems. It integrates your current data and payslip formats to go live within weeks.

Speak to one of our experts to learn how digital payslips can benefit your payroll team at year-end.