Working with employees

Sage Help Centre

Whether you only have a few or a lot of employees in your business, keeping their details up to date is important.

You can keep all of the relevant information about your employees within Sage Micropay, making it quick and easy to update.

Benefits of using employee records

You can use the employee records in Sage Micropay to:

  • Get a detailed breakdown of your employees' pay history.
  • Allocate your employees to specific departments and cost centres for cost analysis reporting.
  • Record and track holiday entitlements and absences.
  • Easily update your employee's tax codes and allowances.

Sage Micropay training

We know it can be difficult to make time for training, so we offer a range of training options that fit around your busy lifestyle, including:

With Sage, you can train at a pace and in a style that's best for you.

 

Getting your employee's information in to Micropay is really straightforward. However, it's still important to make sure you have the right details and that you know where to enter them in your software. The following sections take you through the steps you must complete to do this. For more information, simply click the relevant option below.

1. Preparation

2. Add the employee to your payroll

3. Generate the new starter form

4. Submit the new starter file on the ROS website

1. Preparation

Before you start to enter your employee's details in to Sage Micropay, make sure you have the information you need:

  • Personal public service (PPS) number - Every employee should have a valid PPS number. If they don't, you need their date of birth and home address. Revenue use this information to match the new starter form you submit to ROS to the records they already have for the employee.
  • Your employee's P45 - If the employee provides you with a P45 from their previous employer, you need this information to generate a P45 (Part 3) new starter form for upload to ROS.
  • Year to date values - If you're moving to Micropay part-way through the year from another software provider and adding existing employees, you need their year to date values.

2. Add the employee to your payroll

Once you have all of the information you need to set up your employee record, you can enter the details into Sage Micropay.

Tip: If an employee leaves and rejoins your company in the same tax year, you don't need to set up a new record for them. You can simply reactivate their existing employee record.

To create a new employee record
  1. From the Employee Details window, select New > enter the employee's personal details.

    2. Tip: Every employee should have a valid PPS number. In the absence of a PPS number, you must enter their date of birth and home address.

  2. Click Next > browse through each of the tabs and enter the relevant options, as required > Save.
  3. Repeat the above steps for each employee you want to set up on this payroll > Cancel.
Open the Employee Details window now

To reinstate a leaver
  1. From the Reinstate Leaver window, locate the relevant employee > select the Re-Instate check box.
  2. P45 (Period Values) > Tax Status > choose Week 1.

    3. Note: Ignore the SCROP and Tax Credit options.

  3. Click Reinstate selected Employees.
  4. Repeat the above steps for each employee you want to reinstate on this payroll > Close.
Open the Reinstate Leaver window now

Once you have all of the information you need to set up your employee record, you can enter the details into Sage Micropay.

Tip: If an employee leaves and rejoins your company in the same tax year, you don't need to set up a new record for them. You can simply reactivate their existing employee record.

To create a new employee record
  1. Processing > Employee Details.
  2. New > enter the employee's personal details.

    3. Tip: Every employee should have a valid PPS number. In the absence of a PPS number, you must enter their date of birth and home address.

  3. Click Next > browse through each of the tabs and enter the relevant options, as required > Save.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each employee you want to set up on this payroll > Cancel.

To reinstate a leaver
  1. Processing > Reinstate Leaver.
  2. Locate the relevant employee > select the Re-Instate check box.
  3. P45 (Period Values) > Tax Status > choose Week 1.

    4. Note: Ignore the SCROP and Tax Credit options.

  4. Click Reinstate selected Employees.
  5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 for each employee you want to reinstate on this payroll > Close.

3. Generate the new starter form

  1. Reports > Payroll Reports > Employee tab.
  2. Files Exports > select one of the following options:

    • P45 (Part 3) to ROS - If the employee provides you with a P45 from their previous employer, select this option.
    • P46 to ROS - If the employee doesn't provide you with a P45 from their previous employer, select this option.

  3. To proceed, simply follow the on-screen instructions.
  1. Open the Payroll Reports window > Employee tab.
  2. Files Exports > select one of the following options:

    • P45 (Part 3) to ROS - If the employee provides you with a P45 from their previous employer, select this option.
    • P46 to ROS - If the employee doesn't provide you with a P45 from their previous employer, select this option.

  3. To proceed, simply follow the on-screen instructions.
Open the Payroll Reports window now

4. Submit the new starter file on the ROS website

For more information about how to do this, please contact the ROS technical help desk directly:

  • By phone - 1890 201 106, if you're calling from outside Ireland, dial +353 1 702 3021.

Note: Once Revenue receive the new starter form, they issue you with a P2C tax credit certificate specific to this employee. Once received, you must enter this information in to Micropay using the Tax Credit Import option.

No matter why an employee is leaving your business, you'll want to make sure everything goes smoothly. The following sections take you through the steps you must complete. For more information, simply click the relevant option below.

1. Preparation

2. Make the employee a leaver

3. Produce the employee's P45 file

4. Submit the P45 file on the ROS website

1. Preparation

Before you mark an employee as a leaver, make sure you:

  • Process the employee's final pay - This must include all outstanding payments and deductions. This includes payments such as overtime, and might include payments that wouldn't normally appear on their payslip, for example, holiday or redundancy pay.
  • Finalise your payroll values - If you're paying the employee their final pay this period, you must post the end of period values before you produce their P45 information. This ensures that the totals on the employee's P45 include the current period values and are up to date.

2. Make the employee a leaver

You can make someone a leaver in one of two ways:

  • If you're paying the employee their final pay in the current period, you can make them a leaver on their final timesheet.
  • If you've already paid the employee their final pay in a previous period, you make them a leaver within their employee record.

Read more >>		   Video 
Watch the video >>

You can make someone a leaver in one of two ways:

  • If you're paying the employee their final pay in the current period, you can make them a leaver on their final timesheet.
  • If you've already paid the employee their final pay in a previous period, you make them a leaver within their employee record.

To make the employee a leaver on their final timesheet
  1. Open the Time and Pay window > Entry mode > select Random > Continue.
  2. Employee finder button > select the relevant employee > enter their final pay details..
  3. Leaving > TP > select Yes.
  4. Date > edit the employee's finish date, if required.
  5. Save > Cancel.
Open the Time and Pay window now

To make the employee a leaver within their employee record
  1. Open the Employee Details window > Employee finder button > select the relevant employee.
  2. Tax / PRSI / USC tab > Finish Date > enter the employee's finish date.
  3. Finish Period > enter the last period the employee received paid for.

    4. Tip If you're unsure of what finish period to enter, review the ETP tab. The finish period should be the last period the employee was paid.

  4. Save > Cancel.
Open the Employee Details window now
Video 
Watch the video >>

3. Produce the employee's P45 file

You must provide anyone who leaves your company with a P45. If you use ROS, you can generate a P45 file within Sage Micropay and upload it to the ROS website. You can then print the employee's official P45 from the ROS website.

Note: If you're not registered with ROS, you must generate a P45 plain paper report. You can then manually transfer the details from this report on to the official Revenue P45 stationery.

Video 
Watch the video >>

You must provide anyone who leaves your company with a P45. If you use ROS, you can generate a P45 file in Sage Micropay and upload it to the ROS website. You can then print the employee's official P45 from the ROS website.

To generate the P45 file, from the Payroll Reports window:

Open the Payroll Reports window now

Note: If you're not registered with ROS, you must generate a P45 plain paper report. You can then manually transfer the details from this report on to the official Revenue P45 stationery.

Video 
Watch the video >>

4. Submit the P45 file on the ROS website

For more information about how to do this, please contact the ROS technical help desk directly:

  • By phone - 1890 201 106, if you're calling from outside Ireland, dial +353 1 702 3021.

Note: Once you submit the P45 file on the ROS website, you can print the employee's official P45 from your ROS inbox.

As well as simply storing your employee records in Micropay, there are a few ways you can use it to make things quicker and easier.

Update your employees' P2C tax allowances

During the tax year, Revenue may issue you with new or amended employee tax allowances. If you use Revenue Online Service (ROS), you can download a P2C file that contains this information from the Revenue website. To save you time, you can then import the file directly in to Micropay using the Tax Credit Import option.

Video
Watch the video >>

During the tax year, Revenue may issue you with new or amended employee tax allowances. If you use Revenue Online Service (ROS), you can download a P2C file that contains this information from the Revenue website. To save you time, you can then import the file directly in to Micropay using the Tax Credit Import option.

Import Tax Credits now
Video
Watch the video >>

Note: If you're not registered with ROS, you must enter these values manually.

Departments and cost centres

To help you track your company costs, you can set up departments and cost centres and assign them to your employees. You can then use costing reports, such as, the cost analysis report, to show how a particular section of your business is performing.

To set up a department

  1. Open the Departments window.
  2. If there are departments already set up in this payroll, to add a new one > click Add.
  3. On the next available line, enter a code and description > OK.
Open the Departments window now

To set up a cost centre

  1. Open the Cost Centres window.
  2. If there are cost centres already set up in this payroll, to add a new one > click Add.
  3. On the next available line, enter a code and description > OK.
Open the Cost Centres window now

To allocate the department or cost centre to an employee

  1. From the Employee Details window, select the Surname finder button > select the relevant employee.
  2. If required, complete the following information:
    3. Department Choose the department you want to apply to the employee.
    Cost Centre Choose the cost centre you want to apply to the employee.
  3. Click Save.
  4. Repeat the previous steps for each employee you want to assign a department or cost centre to > Cancel.
Open the Employee Details window now

Employee profiles

Employee profiles are a great way of keeping a set of employees together. For example, if you want to limit the number of payments that your part-time employees can receive, or you want to assign a pension deduction to a specific set of employees.

Once you assign a profile to a particular employee, only the payments and deductions that belong to this profile appear on their timesheet.

To set up a profile

  1. From the Employee Profiles window > enter a code to identify the profile > Find.
  2. To store the employee profile in your software > OK.
  3. Description > enter the profile name, up to a maximum of 19 characters in length.
  4. For each payment and deduction you want to include in this profile, select the relevant check boxes.
  5. Save > Cancel.
Open the Employee Profiles window now

To allocate the profile to an employee

  1. From the Employee Details window, select the Surname finder button > select the relevant employee.
  2. Payments tab > Profile finder button > select the relevant profile > Save.
  3. Repeat the previous steps for each employee you want to assign this profile to > Cancel.
Open the Employee Details window now

Emailing your employees

You probably already use email in your business, and sending emails from Micropay is a great way to save you time and money.

Track, accrue and process holidays

Everyone looks forward to their holidays, but if you're the one who has to keep track of them for your business, it can be time consuming. With the holiday options available in Micropay, you can quickly and easily track holidays, and much more.

  • Standard holidays - To save you time, you can use the Accrual option to record your employees' holidays and process their holiday pay.
  • Public holidays - To help you calculate your employees' public holiday entitlements during the year, you can use the Working Patterns option.

Store additional information about your employees

Employee notepad is a great way of storing payroll information for your references. If you want, you can set a reminder to do something when you set a particular pay period or open an employee's record. You can also add personalised notes to your employees' payslips.

To create a new employee note

  1. From the Employee Details window > select the Surname finder button > select the relevant employee.
  2. Click NotePad > New > complete the on-screen information > Save > Close.
Open the Employee Details window now

Here, you can find what you're asking us about managing your employees.

Can I submit information to Revenue online?

How do I deal with an employee who has more than one job?

Can I exclude an employee on long term absence from my payroll?

How can I pay an employee who's already left?

Can I pay an advance to one of my employee before I complete the current period?

Can I split an employee's pay between two or more bank accounts?

Do I need to do anything different when employing casual workers?

How do I delete an employee from my payroll?