Payroll legislation changes on 6 April each year, which we include in the year end software update each year.

Before you start processing payments for the new 2026/2027 tax year, you need to install Sage 50 Payroll v32.

If you've already started to process in the new year and you're using an earlier version, you need to:

1. Roll back all employees to the beginning of the new tax year.
2. Install the new tax year update.
3. Reprocess the payroll.

Take a backup of your data

Before you start reprocessing, it's important that you save where you're up to at the moment by taking a backup.

Click File, then Backup, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Print reports

Ensure you have a copy of the employees' payslips or reports to use to re-enter their payments for each period. For help with doing this, follow the re-print payslips article.

Roll back all employees to the beginning of the tax year

1. From the Outline pane, click All Employees.
2. Click Tasks, then click Rollback.
3. Click Next, select the required employees, then click Next.
4. Select the earliest pay period, then click Next.
5. Click Finish.
6. To clear this information, click Yes, or to retain these values, click No.
7. To confirm receipt of the successful message and return to the Sage 50 Payroll desktop, click OK.

Install the new tax year update

To ensure your software includes the legislation details for the new tax year, you must download and install Sage 50 Payroll v32.

Once you've updated your software, the legislation for the new tax year is in place, and you can continue to the next step.

Update the employees' tax codes

When you roll back to the beginning of the tax year, employees' tax codes change back to what they were in the previous tax year. You need to update these for the new tax year again.

HMRC sometimes sends you tax code changes for individual employees, either in an electronic format or on a paper list.

If you've received any such notification, you must amend the tax code for the relevant employee again.

Reprocess the payroll

Reprocess the payroll from the beginning of the new tax year for all employees.

Check that any changes you made, such as pension contributions, or National Insurance (NI) category changes are correct when you reprocess.

As you reprocess, print new copies of your reports so that you can compare the new values to what you initially processed and paid.

Full Payment Submission (FPS) adjustment

Once you've reprocessed any payments in the new version, you need to send the new values to HMRC. To do this, submit an FPS adjustment.

For help with doing this, visit our full payment submission (FPS) adjustment - the basics article.

After you've reprocessed the payroll

1. Compare the original payslips to the new ones since you reprocessed.
2. Note the difference in the amount of each employee's net pay.
3. Make a post tax, post NI payment or deduction on the relevant employees' next payroll to account for any difference.
4. Reprint the P32 report for each period you reprocessed.
5. Compare this to what you've already paid to HMRC. You need to pay, or recover, the difference between these from HMRC.
6. Process your next payroll as normal and submit your FPS.
7. If applicable, you must also repost the nominal link or export it to a file.