Manually migrate your payroll data

Summary

How to manually add all your payroll data from another system in Sage Payroll.

Resolution

You must follow these steps before you complete your first pay run.

This article covers:

How to migrate payroll data from another system part way through the tax year
Help set up Sage Business Cloud Payroll with your existing payroll information and employees

If you want to import your employee data automatically, see our article Import employees using an FPS file.

Watch a video

When to migrate your data

Make sure your Full Payment Submissions (FPS) year to date values match with HMRC records. To do this:

Migrate your data at the start of a new tax month or quarter
Make sure all pay runs have been completed in your previous software
Depending on how often you pay HMRC, enter the total payroll values in Sage Business Cloud Payroll up to that date

A tax month runs from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next.

The first tax quarter runs from 6 April to 5 July then every three months after that.

Example:

If you have processed the first two weekly pay runs of the current tax month in your old software:

Process the remaining weekly pay runs of the reporting period in the old payroll system
Make the relevant online submissions
Migrate to Sage Business Cloud Payroll at the beginning of the next tax month or quarter

Before you start

Collect the following information from your previous payroll system.

Complete all the steps below and save your changes or you'll lose your data.

NOTE: The information must be accurate to ensure consistent reporting to HMRC.

P11 reports	P11's give you totals for PAYE, NI, Student Loan, and statutory payments to enter. You need a P11 for every employee this tax year. This includes leavers, starters, directors, students, and casual employees.
P45 or P46 information	For employees who started in the current tax year, you need their P45. The P45 contains figures from their previous employment.
Start dates	The start dates of current employees.
Leaver dates	If anyone has left during the current tax year, you need the date they left.
Statutory payments information	For employees who got statutory payments this tax year, you need their YTD values. Find absence dates and average weekly earnings on the P11 report.
Directorship details	The date they became a director.
Your employees RTI Pay ID	If you already submitted information to HMRC, you need to have the correct RTI Pay ID for each employee. If you enter the wrong ID, this could duplicate HMRC records for the employee. If your previous payroll system didn’t use an RTI Pay ID, you must enter an ID of your choice. You should inform HMRC that you are moving software systems and do not have the original RTI ID’s already used
P32 reports	You need P32 reports for the pay runs processed in the current tax year in the previous payroll system. You need these to enter statutory pay or employment allowance you’ve claimed during the year. You also enter Class 1A Employers NI payments made on redundancy payments over £30,000. You should keep the P32s for your records.
Detailed Reports	You need these reports if you paid over £30,000 in termination payments to more than 1 employee in a P32 period. You get the breakdown of Class 1A Employers NI made for each employee.

Enter your employee payroll data

On the Summary screen, select Manually Migrate.

Choose your P32 reporting details as follows:

P32 Reporting Frequency

Choose whether you pay HMRC monthly or quarterly, as appropriate. If you’re unsure, please contact HMRC’s payment enquiry helpline.

P32 Payment Method

Choose whether you pay HMRC by cheque or bank transfer.

Last completed P32 reporting period

Choose the last tax period you completed and paid to HMRC, using your previous payroll system.

The first pay run you process in Payroll is at the start of the next reporting period.

Choose when your employees get paid by checking the appropriate frequency boxes.
For each pay frequency you’re using, choose the day of the week or month you want to pay your employees.
Payroll will adjust dates that fall on weekends and bank holidays to the preceding work day. Select the Avoid Public Holidays and Weekends check box, then select Next.
To create a record for an employee you’ve paid this tax year select Add Employee.

Before completing your first pay run, complete the following sections for each employee.

TIP: You can leave the setup at any time before fully completing all sections. Select Save then Next.

To save your entered details in the program, select Submit on the next screen. If you do not select Submit then the information you have entered will not save.

TIP: To return to the setup and complete the employee information go to Summary, then select Review.

Personal Details

Enter your Employee details.

You will need:

Forename(s)*
Surname*
NI Number
Date of Birth*
Gender*
Address (Street 1 and Street 2 must be completed to prevent any future HMRC or pension submission errors)
Telephone number
Email Address

* compulsory field

Tax Details

Pay Cycle*	Choose how often you want to pay the employee.
Contracted weekly hours	Choose the number of hours the employee is contracted to work for you per week.
Works Number	If you use works numbers or payroll numbers for your employees then enter this here.
Start Date*	Enter the date the employee started working with your company.
Finish Date	If the employee has left your employment this tax year, enter the date they finished working for you. If the finish date is earlier than the current pay run, the employee isn’t available for payment. They don’t count towards your licence limit, but in your year end reports.
Payment Method*	Choose whether you pay your employee by cash, cheque, or bank transfer. If you select Bank Transfer then you can enter the employee bank details here, this is for your records only. Sage will not connect to, or instruct your bank to make any payments to your employees.
Tax Code*	Enter the employee’s current Tax code.
Week1/Month 1	If the tax code is on a week 1 or month 1 basis, select this check box.
NI Category*	Choose the employee’s National Insurance (NI) category (opens in a new tab).
RTI Pay ID*	This is a unique employee reference for your company which is included in your submissions to HMRC.

*signifies that this is a compulsory field

Opening Balances

Complete the areas that are relevant to each employee. Most employees will only require the section Paid this tax year section.

Paid this tax year

These values must include any directorship earnings throughout the tax year.

Gross Pay This Employment	The employee’s gross pay received so far this tax year for this employment. This includes any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) received. If the employee started work during this tax year, this value is for the current employment only.
Taxable Pay This Employment	The employee’s taxable gross pay received so far this tax year for this employment. This includes any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) received. If the employee started work during this tax year, this value is for the current employment only. You should add the P45 value to the Started During This Tax Year section.
Tax This Employment	The amount of tax paid to date by the employee in this tax year. If the employee started during the tax year, this value is for the current employment only. You should add the P45 value to the Started During This Tax Year section.
NI Category	The employee’s National Insurance (NI) category. You can record up to three NI categories if these have changed in the current tax year.
NICable Earnings	The employee’s total gross pay for National Insurance (NI) to date. This will be the same as their total gross pay unless the employee received any non NIable payments. To check this figure, add the values entered in the sections for ‘Earnings at the LEL’, ‘LEL to PT’, and ‘PT to UEL’ together. The total of these 3 fields is the value you use.
Total EE NI Paid	Total National Insurance (NI) paid by the employee to date this tax year for the current NI category. TIP: You can find this value in column 1e of the P11 Deductions Working Sheet.
Total ER NI Paid	Total National Insurance (NI) paid by the employer to date this tax year for the current NI category. You get this value by subtracting the employee NI from the total NI in this column. TIP: You can find the total NI value in column 1d of the P11Deductions Working Sheet.
Total ER Class 1A NIC paid	The value of any Class 1A Employers NI made on a Termination Payment over £30,000 TIP: This will be obtainable from the P32 and Detailed Reports. Generate the detailed report for the pay period you processed the Termination payment.
Earnings at LEL	The employee’s earnings up to the Lower earnings limit. TIP: This is the total of values in column 1a of the P11Deduction Working Sheet.
Earnings LEL to PT	The employee’s earnings above the Lower Earning Limit (LEL) and up to the Primary Threshold (PT). TIP: This is the total of values in column 1b of the P11 Deduction Working Sheet.
Earnings PT to UEL	The employee’s earnings above the Primary Threshold (PT) and up to the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL). TIP: This is the total of values in column 1c of the P11Deduction Working Sheet.

Is a Director

Select this if your employee is a Director of the company.

These values will be directorship earnings only.

Directorship Started	Choose when the employee became a director.
Enter Specific Date	If the directorship started in the current tax year, enter the date they became a Director.
Calculation Method	Choose one of the following options: Calculate NI Per Pay Run – This calculates the director’s NI liability in each pay run. It will calculate using the relevant weekly or monthly earnings thresholds Calculate NI Cumulatively – Use annual earnings thresholds to calculate the director’s NI liability each pay run. No NI paid until the total earnings during the tax year exceed the annual primary threshold In the final pay run of the tax year a revaluation of the director’s NI for the full tax year occurs. This calculation uses the year to date earnings thresholds.
Director’s NIC Details	Enter the director’s earnings and NI totals.

Received statutory payments this tax year

Select this if the employee has received statutory payments in this tax year. Enter the amount paid so far in the relevant boxes.

Find this on the employee P11 report.

You can’t recover SSP paid to employees. You can’t include any SSP the employee received during the tax year in these amounts. Any SSP received this tax year is already in the Taxable Pay This Employment section above.

Has paid student loan repayments this tax year

Select this if the employee made student loan repayments in this tax year. Enter the total value of these repayments for the tax year to date.

Find this on the employee P11 report.

Started employment this tax year

Select this if the employee started working for you during this tax year. Choose the relevant starting basis:

EmployeeDeclaration: P45

Select this option if the employee had a previous employer this tax year. They also left that job and provided you with a P45 Part 3.

Enter the following additional information:

Leaving Date – The date the employee left their most recent previous employment in this tax year
Tax Code – The employee’s tax code from the previous payroll system
Total Pay to Date – Their total taxable pay to date from their previous employment during this tax year
Calculated P11 Tax – Their total tax recorded from their previous employment during this tax year

Employee Declaration: P46

Choose this option if the employee started working for you during this tax year. P46 declaration used as no P45 was available.

Leaving Date – The date the employee left their most recent previous employment in this tax year
Tax Code – The employee’s tax code from the previous payroll system

Select Save.
Repeat these steps for each employee.
To confirm and save these details select Next and Submit.

TIP: When completing your first pay run you can enter the dates of any employee absences in this tax year. This is for your records.

Auto Enrolment Pensions

Employer

If you have an Auto Enrolment pension in place then you need to set this up within the program. This is not part of the migration process and you cannot add year to date figures.

To set up the pension scheme, select Pensions.

If you need more help setting up your pension scheme, read our Set up Pensions article.

TIP: You must use the correct staging date when you set up your pension scheme. If you are not sure what this is, speak to The Pension Regulator (TPR).

Employees

With the pension added, set the employee's Workplace Pension status.

For this example, your employee is enrolled.

Select the Employee tab.
Select the relevant employee record, then Edit.
Select the Workplace Pensions tab.
In the Workplace Pension section, select the Status drop-down menu. Select Enrolled.
Enter the correct Enrolled Date, then select Save.

Repeat the above step for each employee, if required.

Enter your Employer Values

Enter the amount of Employer contributions for any statutory payment recovery and compensation that you’ve received so far, such as employment allowance values.

Enter this information before completing your first pay run

Select Next Steps in the Migrate Payroll Data wizard, or select Settings, and Migrate Payroll Data – Employer Values 2022/23.

Eligible for Small Employer’s Relief	Specify whether your business is eligible for Small Employers' Relief .
Statutory Pay Recovery Values	Record the amounts you recovered on your previous payroll system. Go only up to the date that you migrated your payroll data to your new Payroll. As a small employer, you can reclaim 100% of the statutory payment amounts you paid during the tax year. This is due to Small Employers' Relief. Otherwise, you can reclaim 92%. These values are on the Employer Payment Summary (EPS). These values reduce your PAYE, NIC, and Student Loan liabilities to HMRC.
Statutory Pay Compensation Values	If you’re classed as a small employer, you can receive an extra 3% small employers' relief from HMRC. You can claim back statutory payment amounts you paid to employees during the tax year. Record the compensation amounts you received from HMRC. Only use the value up to the date that you migrated your payroll data to Payroll.
Employment Allowance values	If you have been claiming the employment allowance in the previous payroll system. Ensure to enter the allowance into Payroll.
Allowance Applied	Record you were claiming the allowance in the previous payroll system. Choose Yes from the Allowance Applied drop-down.
Allowance Applied Mid-Year	If you started claiming the allowance at the start of the tax year, click No. In this situation, the allowance reduces your liability to employer NI contributions. If you started claiming the allowance at some point during the course of the tax year, click Yes. If yes, you can claim the amount you would have claimed up to that point since the beginning of the tax year. This is offset against employer NI liabilities. If there is a balance remaining this may be offset against PAYE liabilities
Allowance Used	It is important you enter the correct value here. The program will use this number to figure out how much more you can claim for this tax year. An incorrect value could result in you overclaiming the allowance. This could result in actions from the HMRC.

Once you have filled in the fields, select Save.

You’re now ready to process your payroll.