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Manually migrate your payroll data

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Summary

The information needed from your previous payroll software and how to enter this in Sage Payroll.

Description

Use this article if you've been using a different payroll system and have existing year-to-date figures. 

If you’re doing this at the start of the tax year, so don't have year to date figures, read Setup a new company. 

If you have a Full Payment Submission (FPS) file from your previous software, you can upload this into Sage Payroll. This will save you time by not manually entering the data. For more information, read Import employees - Import FPS file.

Resolution

If you prefer to watch a video on the process, select play below.

Watch a video

When to migrate your data

Make sure your 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 you complete all pay runs in your previous software
  • Enter your total payroll values in Sage Business Cloud Payroll up to that date

A tax month runs from the sixth of one month to the fifth of the next.

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

Example:

If you’ve 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

Once you’ve confirmed that this is the correct process for your situation, you must collect certain information from your previous payroll system.

This information must be accurate to ensure consistent reporting to HMRC.

▼A list of information you'll need

 

P11 reports

P11's give you totals for PAYE, National insurance (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 year-to-date values.  

Use their absence dates and average weekly earnings on the P11 report.

Directorship details

The date they became a director.

Your employees RTI Pay ID

When you've 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.

Inform HMRC that you’re moving software systems and don’t have the original RTI IDs 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 the statutory pay or employment allowance you’ve claimed during the year.

You also enter Class 1A Employers national insurance (NI) payments made on redundancy payments over £30,000. 

Keep the P32s for your records.

Detailed Reports

You need these reports if you paid over £30,000 in termination payments to more than one employee in a P32 period.

You get the breakdown of Class 1A Employers NI made for each employee.

Setting up

When you log in to Sage Payroll for the first time, you must enter details about your company. You then have to choose how you want to enter your employee details.

TIP:

You can leave the setup at any time before fully completing all sections. select Save and Next.

  1. Enter your company details in the Get started with Payroll screen and select Submit.
  2. Select Manually enter employees.
  3. Confirm your P32 reporting details and specify when your employees are paid.
    ▼How to confirm your P32 reporting details

    Select your P32 reporting details as follows:

    P32 Reporting Frequency Choose whether you pay HMRC monthly or quarterly, as appropriate. If you’re unsure, 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. 
    ▼Specify when your employees are paid
    • Select when your employees get paid by checking the appropriate frequency boxes.
    • For each of your pay frequencies, 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 checkbox, then select Next.

    For more information on pay calendars, read Set-up a pay calendar.

  4. Select Next to add employees.

Add employees

Select Add employee and enter the details listed below. Repeat this step for each employee you want to add.

When you've entered your employee's details, select Save then Next. You can then review the details and select Submit.

Enter employer and employment allowance 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 Employer Statutory Payment Values and Migrate Employment Allowance Values.

For more details on these steps read:

Extra steps

Although you’ve now completed the set-up wizard, there are other things to consider.

▼Pensions

Employer

If you have an Auto Enrolment pension in place, then you need to set this up within the program. This isn't part of the migration process and you can't add year to date figures.

For steps on setting up your pension scheme, read Set-up pensions.

TIP:

Use the correct staging date when you set up your pension scheme. If you aren't sure what this is, speak to The Pension Regulator (TPR).

Employees

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

In this example, you enrolled your employee.

  1. Select the Employee tab.

  2. Select the relevant employee record, then Edit.

  3. Select the Workplace Pensions tab.

  4. In the Workplace Pension section, select the Status dropdown menu. Select Enrolled.

  5. Enter the correct Enrolled Date, then select Save.

Repeat the above step for each employee, if required.

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