Paternity leave changes from April 2024
The UK government has implemented significant adjustments to parental leave rights to enhance the balance between work and family life. These modifications are outlined in the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, effective from 8 March 2024, accounting for a 28-day notice period. The focus is on enabling new fathers or partners to take time off upon the birth or adoption of a child.
The main changes are:-
Splitting Paternity Leave
Starting from April 6, 2024, fathers or partners have the option to divide their paternity leave into two separate one-week periods during the first year after the baby's arrival. Previously, they were required to take one or two consecutive weeks off within the initial eight weeks following the birth or adoption.
Giving Notice to your Employer
There has been a reduction in the notice period that fathers or partners must provide to their employer. They now only need to give 28 days' notice instead of the previous 15 weeks. Additionally, they can adjust their leave dates with the same 28 days' notice, providing them with more flexibility.
Impact on Employers and Employees:
With the implementation of the new regulations, employers must update their policies and ensure that staff are informed about these modifications. For individuals expecting a baby after April 6, 2024, understanding these fresh guidelines is crucial to maximize the additional flexibility provided.
Streamlining Data Management For Businesses
In today's fast-paced business landscape, efficient data management is crucial for staying competitive. For companies grappling with the complexities of data processing and IT management, leveraging specialised assistance can be a game-changer.
In today's fast-paced business landscape, efficient data management is crucial for staying competitive. For companies grappling with the complexities of data processing and IT management, leveraging specialised assistance can be a game-changer. Let’s explore the advantages of utilising agency, contractor, and bureau services to streamline data management processes and enhance operational efficiency.
Agency, Contractor, and Bureau Services: A Strategic Partnership
In data management, agencies, contractors, and bureaus need specialised expertise tailored to meet the unique needs of their business goals. These service providers play a pivotal role in optimising data processing, ensuring accuracy, and enhancing productivity. By outsourcing data-related tasks to experienced professionals, companies can focus on their core operations while reaping the benefits of streamlined workflows and improved data quality.
Harnessing The Power Of Live Data Portals
One of the key advantages offered by agency, contractor, and bureau services lies in utilising live data portals. These portals serve as centralised hubs that link directly to real-time data sources. Whether creating an invoice, generating a payslip, or updating contact information, all changes are instantly reflected and readily accessible through the portal interface.
Harnessing the Power of Live Data Portals offers numerous advantages for businesses seeking expansion. Here are five key benefits:
1. Real-Time Insights
Live data portals provide instant access to up-to-date information, allowing businesses to make informed decisions based on current market trends, customer behaviour, and operational performance. With real-time insights at their fingertips, companies can adapt quickly to changing circumstances and seize opportunities for growth.
2. Enhanced Collaboration
Live data portals facilitate seamless collaboration among teams, departments, and external partners. By centralizing data and enabling secure access from anywhere, these portals break down communication barriers and promote cross-functional synergy. This enhanced collaboration fosters innovation, accelerates project timelines, and drives collective efforts towards expansion goals.
3. Improved Customer Engagement
With live data portals, businesses can gain deeper insights into customer preferences, purchasing patterns, and feedback in real time. Armed with this valuable information, companies can personalise their offerings, tailor marketing strategies, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. By engaging customers more effectively, businesses can cultivate loyalty, attract new clientele, and fuel expansion efforts.
4. Operational Efficiency
Live data portals streamline business processes, automate routine tasks, and minimise manual errors. By digitizing workflows and centralizing data management, businesses can optimize resource allocation, reduce overhead costs, and increase operational efficiency. This newfound efficiency not only drives productivity but also creates a scalable foundation for expansion without adding unnecessary complexity.
5. Strategic Decision-Making
Live data portals empower business leaders with actionable insights and analytics-driven decision-making tools. By leveraging advanced reporting capabilities and predictive analytics, executives can identify emerging trends, evaluate performance metrics, and formulate data-driven strategies for expansion. With a comprehensive understanding of their market landscape and competitive positioning, businesses can navigate growth opportunities with confidence and precision.
Moreover, harnessing the Power of Live Data Portals equips businesses with the tools, insights, and capabilities needed to drive expansion initiatives effectively. From real-time insights and enhanced collaboration to improved customer engagement and operational efficiency, live data portals provide a strategic advantage in today's dynamic business environment.
Tailored Portals for Enhanced Accessibility
Each stakeholder in the data management process - be it an agency, contractor, or bureau - benefits from access to their dedicated portal. These portals are meticulously designed to cater to the specific needs of each user group, ensuring seamless navigation and optimised functionality. For instance, contractors can access the contractor portal, which exclusively pulls data relevant to their engagements, ensuring data security and confidentiality.
Secure Data Access and Management
Security is paramount in data management, and agency, contractor, and bureau services prioritise protecting sensitive information. Access to data within the portals is tightly controlled, with each user granted permission only to the data pertinent to their role. Any updates or additions to the portals undergo rigorous approval processes by designated office users, ensuring data integrity and compliance with regulatory standards.
Synchronization Solutions for Seamless Integration
To facilitate smooth collaboration and data exchange between stakeholders, synchronization options are available. These solutions enable seamless integration of data across multiple platforms and systems, eliminating silos and promoting cross-functional synergy. Whether it's timesheets, expenses, or account changes, synchronization ensures that data remains consistent and up-to-date across all relevant channels.
Conclusion
Where data drives business success, and efficient management and processing are non-negotiable. By leveraging agency, contractor, and bureau services, businesses can unlock new levels of efficiency, accuracy, and security in their data management practices. With live data portals, tailored access, and synchronization solutions at their disposal, companies can navigate the complexities of data management with confidence, positioning themselves for sustained growth and success in today's digital landscape.
A Comprehensive Overview Of Secure And GDPR-Compliant Solutions
In the domain of digital infrastructure, misconceptions often abound, leading to confusion and unnecessary hurdles in finding the right hosting solution. Let's dispel some myths and shed light on a straightforward, secure, and GDPR-compliant server hosting option based in the UK.
In the domain of digital infrastructure, misconceptions often abound, leading to confusion and unnecessary hurdles in finding the right hosting solution. Let's dispel some myths and suggest a straightforward, secure, and GDPR-compliant server hosting option based in the UK.
First and foremost, it's essential to address data sovereignty and compliance concerns. Our server farm is firmly rooted in the UK, eliminating any GDPR issues that may arise from connecting to servers located in other countries like Iceland or Germany. This ensures your data remains within a jurisdiction that upholds stringent data protection regulations.
Procurement Management
Another misconception revolves around the procurement and management of servers. Contrary to the traditional model where clients are expected to purchase and hand over servers for hosting, our approach is different. We allocate dedicated servers within our server farm, sparing you the hassle of server ownership and maintenance. You simply rent a fully functional server from us, streamlining the process and minimising upfront costs.
Furthermore, we eliminate the need for purchasing SQL licenses or any other server software. When you opt for our hosting services, you're subscribing to a comprehensive solution housed within a government-accredited operation. This means you have access to a fully operational server without the burden of software licensing fees.
Accessibility
Accessibility is paramount in today's interconnected world, which is why we provide unique login software that allows you to access your data from anywhere globally. Whether you're in the heart of London or halfway across the world, you can securely access your server and data with ease.
Security
Security is a top priority in our server farm. From physical infrastructure to digital safeguards, we've got you covered. Our facility is equipped with external and internal security measures, including cameras and door security systems. Additionally, we've implemented fail-over resources for critical components like UPS units, fiber broadband lines, routers, and servers, ensuring uninterrupted service and data integrity. Importantly, everything from the bricks and mortar to the servers and cables is owned and operated by us, providing you with peace of mind and full control over your hosting environment.
Transparency & Pricing
To provide transparency and assurance, we back up all servers daily, safeguarding your data against unforeseen events or system failures.
In terms of pricing, our hosting model is straightforward. It costs £10 per month per login user, plus an additional £100 per month for the base server. For instance, a server accommodating 25 concurrent users would cost £350 per month. However, it's important to note that this fee excludes the cost of any software installed on the hosted server.
For those seeking external validation of our commitment to security and compliance, we invite you to explore the details of our Accreditation.
Navigating the landscape of server hosting doesn't have to be complex or daunting. With our UK-based server hosting solution, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your data is secure, accessible, and compliant with GDPR regulations. Say goodbye to unnecessary expenses and complexities, and embrace a streamlined hosting solution tailored to your needs.
Next Steps
Experience unparalleled hosting excellence with UmbrellaSoftware – your trusted partner for tailor-made solutions in the UK. Say goodbye to cookie-cutter hosting and embrace personalised solutions designed specifically for your company's needs. Discover why UmbrellaSoftware stands out as the best choice for hosting in the UK. Get started today and elevate your hosting experience to new heights!
Cyber Essentials…..again !
Ryba Macaulay Ltd are pleased to announce that it’s fully owned UK based server farm has had its UK Government Approval renewed; again. That is four years in a row. For 2021, the Accreditation scheme has been taken back in-house by the UK Government, so the process was longer, harder and more in depth. Your data is held in the UK (not Ireland, Iceland or another country), and it sits behind a secure firewall infrastructure accredited through this process, in a controlled and backed-up environment accredited by the UK Government. All of this renewal work was completed without any customer being impacted or aware. Well done to the team!You can see our Accreditation by clicking this link
23 June 2021 News
Ryba Macaulay Ltd are pleased to announce that it’s fully owned UK based server farm has had its UK Government Approval renewed; again. That is four years in a row.
For 2021, the Accreditation scheme has been taken back in-house by the UK Government, so the process was longer, harder and more in depth. Your data is held in the UK (not Ireland, Iceland or another country), and it sits behind a secure firewall infrastructure accredited through this process, in a controlled and backed-up environment accredited by the UK Government. All of this renewal work was completed without any customer being impacted or aware. Well done to the team!
You can see our Accreditation by clicking this link
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Updates, updates, updates
There are updates multiples times a year for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it is a small update to correct a bug. More often it is an update to contain a series of new functions, often quite small functions such as adding an extra field. In the last six months we’ve supported …..changes to the new CIS VAT rules…..we added extra procedures to cover password creation, so a user can identify ‘weak’ passwords’ and bulk email or text contractors to get them to improve their portal login choice…..there are more payslip layouts……more invoice layouts…..an increase in an email word count to 8000 words…..changes to the SMS module to enable users to set a send time; to support users who process payrolls in advance…..more choice on emails attached to P60’s P45’s, Payslips and other documents…..new reporting exports to support Pension needs…..new reports…..more alerts….. “Sometimes a function change might not seem that large, but it is to the Customer. We’ve had many many many minor improvements to support our customers” said Director Daniel Clark. “We do listen. We do alter our product. How else would be push it forward”
18 March 2021 News
There are updates multiples times a year for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it is a small update to correct a bug. More often it is an update to contain a series of new functions, often quite small functions such as adding an extra field
In the last six months we’ve supported …..changes to the new CIS VAT rules…..we added extra procedures to cover password creation, so a user can identify ‘weak’ passwords’ and bulk email or text contractors to get them to improve their portal login choice…..there are more payslip layouts……more invoice layouts…..an increase in an email word count to 8000 words…..changes to the SMS module to enable users to set a send time; to support users who process payrolls in advance…..more choice on emails attached to P60’s P45’s, Payslips and other documents…..new reporting exports to support Pension needs…..new reports…..more alerts…..
“Sometimes a function change might not seem that large, but it is to the Customer. We’ve had many many many minor improvements to support our customers” said Director Daniel Clark. “We do listen. We do alter our product. How else would be push it forward”
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Cloud Accreditation
In the midst of the COVID-19 stresses, we are pleased to announce that our fully owned UK based server farm has had its UK Government Approval Cyber Essentials Accreditation renewed. Part of our solution is to provide a secure 24/7 hosted environment for your business. Not only is your data held in the UK, but it sits behind secure firewall infrastructure accredited by the UK Government, in a controlled and backed-up environment equally accredited by the UK Government. As always, Ryba Macaulay Ltd seeks to provide the best service, support and tools to our customers. We are supporting a growing number of clients who have their data, email, portals, backups and day-to-day processes supported within the UmbrellaCloud. You can see our Accreditation by clicking on this link
10 April 2020 News
In the midst of the COVID-19 stresses, we are pleased to announce that our fully owned UK based server farm has had its UK Government Approval Cyber Essentials Accreditation renewed.
Part of our solution is to provide a secure 24/7 hosted environment for your business. Not only is your data held in the UK, but it sits behind secure firewall infrastructure accredited by the UK Government, in a controlled and backed-up environment equally accredited by the UK Government.
As always, Ryba Macaulay Ltd seeks to provide the best service, support and tools to our customers. We are supporting a growing number of clients who have their data, email, portals, backups and day-to-day processes supported within the UmbrellaCloud
You can see our Accreditation by clicking on this link
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COVID-19 Support
Customer personal safety is paramount at this time.
Everyone at Umbrella Software is committed to supporting our customers, whether this covers supporting the closing of offices and working from home or continuing to keep the work base open.
As part of this package of support, those customers who use umbrellacloud to access their products and services will have all their host access charges for the month of April set aside.
As everybody here at Umbrella Software already work from distributed offices, accessing all our tools, telephones, email and other resources directly from the ‘umbrellacloud, no new processes are being introduced specifically to support how we work at this time. By default we can self isolate without any change in location or access capabilities. For the foreseeable future, we have stopped all site visits, to ensure we are available online and via the normal telephone number each day. Those users who access their services\applications via the ‘umbrellacloud‘ should continue to do so as they have in the past with no changes to the process. For those customers moving staff to working from home or thinking about moving staff to work from home; there is no technical issue why their access would not work from their home access point and we will support setting up home users. Those users who access their services\applications locally on their own pc’s and servers and who we do not host; we will still continue to support and connect exactly as we do now. Each customer is different, but you may wish to talk to us about whether you wish for us to host our services\applications in ‘jmcloud‘ during this difficult period so your staff can work from home
25 March 2020 News
Customer personal safety is paramount at this time.
Everyone at Umbrella Software is committed to supporting our customers, whether this covers supporting the closing of offices and working from home or continuing to keep the work base open.
As part of this package of support, those customers who use umbrellacloud to access their products and services will have all their host access charges for the month of April set aside.
As everybody here at Umbrella Software already work from distributed offices, accessing all our tools, telephones, email and other resources directly from the ‘umbrellacloud, no new processes are being introduced specifically to support how we work at this time. By default we can self isolate without any change in location or access capabilities
For the foreseeable future, we have stopped all site visits, to ensure we are available online and via the normal telephone number each day.
Those users who access their services\applications via the ‘umbrellacloud‘ should continue to do so as they have in the past with no changes to the process. For those customers moving staff to working from home or thinking about moving staff to work from home; there is no technical issue why their access would not work from their home access point and we will support setting up home users
Those users who access their services\applications locally on their own pc’s and servers and who we do not host; we will still continue to support and connect exactly as we do now. Each customer is different, but you may wish to talk to us about whether you wish for us to host our services\applications in ‘jmcloud‘ during this difficult period so your staff can work from home
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Supporting Customers with more functions
Customer personal safety is paramount at this time.
Everyone at Umbrella Software is committed to supporting our customers, whether this covers supporting the closing of offices and working from home or continuing to keep the work base open.
As part of this package of support, those customers who use umbrellacloud to access their products and services will have all their host access charges for the month of April set aside.
As everybody here at Umbrella Software already work from distributed offices, accessing all our tools, telephones, email and other resources directly from the ‘umbrellacloud, no new processes are being introduced specifically to support how we work at this time. By default we can self isolate without any change in location or access capabilities. For the foreseeable future, we have stopped all site visits, to ensure we are available online and via the normal telephone number each day. Those users who access their services\applications via the ‘umbrellacloud‘ should continue to do so as they have in the past with no changes to the process. For those customers moving staff to working from home or thinking about moving staff to work from home; there is no technical issue why their access would not work from their home access point and we will support setting up home users
8 October 2019 News
“There have been four small updates over the summer, but combined it has been a lot of work and consultation, we have introduced a lot of smaller amendments to support particular needs” says Developer Karl Madges. “We spend time with our customers to try and smooth their workflow and produce outputs that match their needs. A few examples are listed below”
NEW Payslip functions
Users have always been able to re-send individual payslips. A further enhancement is to enable multiple individual payslips for one contractor to combine into one PDF, rather than individual PDF’s. There is also an update to merge multiple contractor payslips into one PDF when a user decides to email payslips to an Agency contact
EXTRA Logging
the system has been updated to enable every Contractor data field to activate the writing of a Note to the contractor record, if that field alters. Payroll sensitive fields already do this, but it enables more flexibility for customers who wish for changes to Visa or SMS number fields (for example) to be recorded, if those fields are sensitive for their business
NEW YTD Manager
We’ve introduced a new Manager to provide summary payslip information in PDF or excel formats covering a range of contractors, based on a particular tax year. These can be emailed directly out of the system to the contractor. This functionality has even been extended into the Agency Portal, so would be available (if configured) to an Agency
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Cyber Essentials Renewal
It’s all been renewed. To support out hosted customers who have their data, email, web portals, backups and day-to-day processes supported within the UmbrellaCloud, we are pleased to announce that our 100% fully owned, UK based server farm has had its UK Government Cyber Essentials Accreditation renewed. Part of our solution is to provide a secure 24/7 hosted environment for your business. Not only is your data held in the UK (not Ireland, Iceland or another country), but it sits behind secure firewall infrastructure accredited by the UK Government, in a controlled and backed-up environment equally accredited by the UK Government.
1 June 2019 News
It’s all been renewed
To support out hosted customers who have their data, email, web portals, backups and day-to-day processes supported within the UmbrellaCloud, we are pleased to announce that our 100% fully owned, UK based server farm has had its UK Government Cyber Essentials Accreditation renewed.
Part of our solution is to provide a secure 24/7 hosted environment for your business. Not only is your data held in the UK (not Ireland, Iceland or another country), but it sits behind secure firewall infrastructure accredited by the UK Government, in a controlled and backed-up environment equally accredited by the UK Government.
As always, Ryba Macaulay Ltd seeks to provide the best service, support and tools to our customers.
You can see our Accreditation by clicking on this link
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More time saving tweaks and updates
“The latest update covers so many areas, but all the changes and tweaks are to support our user base.” says Director Danier Clark. “We spend time with our customers to try and smooth their workflow and produce outputs that match their needs. A few examples are listed below” UPDATED Timesheet Import. The system has always had a timesheet import, whether based on Agency Portal work or internal csv’s. The extra settings enable multiple unique text to be associated per timesheet entry per pay period per contractor. A payslip can show text such as “Piece Work 01-04-18” and even a second addendum field “Site AB4”, so some lines display both and some just the first, but always unique to that contractor. All the payslip layouts display the unit and rate by default
16 March 2019 News
“The latest update covers so many areas, but all the changes and tweaks are to support our user base.” says Director Danier Clark. “We spend time with our customers to try and smooth their workflow and produce outputs that match their needs. A few examples are listed below”
UPDATED Timesheet Import
the system has always had a timesheet import, whether based on Agency Portal work or internal csv’s. The extra settings enable multiple unique text to be associated per timesheet entry per pay period per contractor. A payslip can show text such as “Piece Work 01-04-18” and even a second addendum field “Site AB4”, so some lines display both and some just the first, but always unique to that contractor. All the payslip layouts display the unit and rate by default
NEW Password Protections
payslips have always had the protection of unique contractor passwords, but this concept has been extended to invoices sent to Agencies. There are updates to contractor passwords for Portal Access giving more flexibility over selection of bulk sending
NEW Illustrators
responding to request, the Illustrator function now gives users the chance to create and save their own “Illustrators”. This provides maximum flexibility over rates, thresholds, percentages and values to support costing, development and support of new and current charging and service schemes
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Cyber Essentials Accreditation
As more and more organisations access software and services online, more and more organisations understand the concepts of “the cloud”, with the introduction of GDPR regulations into UK law, a few more understand about data and data security. Part of our solution is to provide a 24/7 hosted environment for your business. We are proud to announce that our server farm now has UK Government Approval. Not only is your data held in the UK (not Ireland, Iceland or another country), but it sits behind secure firewall infrastructure accredited by the UK Government, in a controlled and backed-up environment equally accredited by the UK Government. As always, Ryba Macaulay Ltd seeks to provide the best service, support and tools to our customers……it never stops. You can see our Accreditation by clicking on this link
28 May 2018 News
As more and more organisations access software and services online, more and more organisations understand the concepts of “the cloud”, with the introduction of GDPR regulations into UK law, a few more understand about data and data security.
Part of our solution is to provide a 24/7 hosted environment for your business. We are proud to announce that our server farm now has UK Government Approval. Not only is your data held in the UK (not Ireland, Iceland or another country), but it sits behind secure firewall infrastructure accredited by the UK Government, in a controlled and backed-up environment equally accredited by the UK Government.
As always, Ryba Macaulay Ltd seeks to provide the best service, support and tools to our customers……it never stops
You can see our Accreditation by clicking on this link
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A big update including the new Letter Manager
The latest update covers so many areas, but all the changes and tweaks are to support our user base. Covering all of these changes we have updated the overall Look and Feel of the whole system with new icons, colours, fonts, lines, titles and box headers. NEW P45 Export Facility. This is an extra function to enable users to create Leaver information in bulk. You can already print P45’s in bulk, but this function enables you to create the original Leaver records in bulk
14 October 2017 News
The latest update covers so many areas, but all the changes and tweaks are to support our user base. Covering all of these changes we have updated the overall Look and Feel of the whole system with new icons, colours, fonts, lines, titles and box headers
NEW P45 Export Facility
This is an extra function to enable users to create Leaver information in bulk. You can already print P45’s in bulk, but this function enables you to create the original Leaver records in bulk
NEW Letter Manager
the user now has the ability to create “mail merge” documents. This is a large new Manager (free to every user) that provides the ability to bulk send any unique document created within the system or in Word2016 to any grouping of Contractors and Agencies. These documents can either be quick internal simple text based letters or full MailMerge letters based around Word2016. The “merge” provides the ability to add specific mail merge fields (name, address, DoB, Free Text, Titles, Job, etc – in fact over 60 different fields) of Contractor, Company or Agency data directly into the internal simple text based letter or the off system Word document. Depending upon the choices made, each letter can be stored against the Contractor record, be available on the Contractor Portal, be emailed, etc. There is a full clickable History of the letter produced, the Contractors it was sent to and the specific document history
NEW Cost Codes
To aid users who wish to report data based on Cost Codes (or General Ledger codes or similar) the system has been updated for a default code at the Contractor level and more detailed coding at the earning level. As expected, a user can create an unlimited number of cost codes giving each a description. The code can be in the format 12-345-888 or 12345-888 or 12345888 or any combination of characters up to ten characters; supporting journal type exports to multiple different accounting\reporting solutions
NEW User Defined Fields
New space has been added to the Contractor record for over 30 user defined fields to support reporting and other needs. User always come up with different needs, so these can be molded to fit each new circumstance
NEW Payslip Layouts
Four new payslip styles have been added to the available list. These cover industry standard payslips (ie Style15 – Film industry) or variants on existing layouts (ie Style14 based on Style6 with a change to how Employers Pension is displayed). To support those payslips, it is useful to remember that there are already switches\settings on all payslips to hide\show Company addresses, Company PAYE References, Contractor HMRC Payroll ID’s, to add Company specific logos, etc
In addition to all these new functions, there have been updates and tweaks to the Output to Payroll warnings, the Output Recovery records, the Illustrator, how the system deals with different smtp records, different demands on net pay text messages, more functions surrounding Holiday Pay, Apprentice Levy and Pensions; all to support quicker processing and more payroll types and schemes
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More for the Agency
More processes and links have been added for Agencies. Within BackOffice new Agency Rebate processes have been added. BackOffice will automatically calculate fixed fee or variable fee rebates to give to Agencies based on Contractor hours. These values appear in the Create Agency Invoice screen to be placed on the same or separate invoice from the normal sales invoice. As Agency Schemes are placed at the Contractor level and can be altered in bulk, this adds to the flexibility offered in Agency charges
4 February 2017 News
More processes and links have been added for Agencies
Within BackOffice new Agency Rebate processes have been added. BackOffice will automatically calculate fixed fee or variable fee rebates to give to Agencies based on Contractor hours. These values appear in the Create Agency Invoice screen to be placed on the same or separate invoice from the normal sales invoice. As Agency Schemes are placed at the Contractor level and can be altered in bulk, this adds to the flexibility offered in Agency charges
The Agency Portal now has had more functions added to it. In this release, these are specifically:
Search and Edit Active (working for the Agency now), Non-Active (they have worked for that Agency at some point) and Pending (input by the Agency awaiting approval by you) Contractors.
Add Quick Entry timesheets from stored spreadsheets
Produce timesheet entries based on stored repeating timesheets
View invoice entries by Contractor
There are other changes in this update to cover highlighting and processing Zero Fees charged to Contractors, forcing 0T tax codes into QTAC and the addition of two more payslip layouts
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Just a general update
The latest update to BackOffice includes minor fixes, but also many more links from one screen to another. Users can now access the RollBack process direct from the Contractor record as well as the Output record. This further speeds up the process of adding more hours to a contractor payslip. There is also a link to the exact output record. As part of the payroll process, the Fees tab in Output to Payroll has been adjusted to show all contractors, whether they are being charged a Fee or not, together with two counters (Total Fees and No Fee) to show the actual number of each type. There is also a toggle tick box to refresh that screen to only show those Contractors that are not going to be charged a Fee
23 October 2016 News
The latest update to BackOffice includes minor fixes, but also many more links from one screen to another
users can now access the RollBack process direct from the Contractor record as well as the Output record. This further speeds up the process of adding more hours to a contractor payslip. There is also a link to the exact output record
as part of the payroll process, the Fees tab in Output to Payroll has been adjusted to show all contractors, whether they are being charged a Fee or not, together with two counters (Total Fees and No Fee) to show the actual number of each type. There is also a toggle tick box to refresh that screen to only show those Contractors that are not going to be charged a Fee
new fields have been added in the system to enable an individual Contractor to have a specific SMS message type that is used as the Net Pay SMS message. There is also a new function to configure an additional default SMS message for the second or subsequent payment\s made to a Contractor, to be used whenever a contractor receives a Net Pay twice (or multiple times) in one pay period
the Consol provides users with the ability to see which contractors haven’t had a timesheet or expense item for a set number of consecutive weeks. This update sets to base those “number of consecutive weeks” on either the work week or the pay week. This catches those circumstances where a contractor was paid recently, but based on work weeks outside the required missing period
three new payslip layouts have been to the system
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Personal Service Companies
We’ve always had the functionality in a sister product that was sold separately, but dealing with PSC’s is now fully integrated into the main BackOffice. When a user creates a Company, it can be identified as a Private Limited Company. Various fields throughout the system will either be unlocked or taken into account for processes involving PSC’s. A new payslip layout has been added. This is not a traditional payslip, but a statement\summary of invoiced and pay values in a format used by PSC’s. To support the requirements of PSC’s there is a new tab called Tracking in the company record. This covers the additional data re 64-8’s, Dispensations, Annual Returns, etc
26 June 2016 News
We’ve always had the functionality in a sister product that was sold separately, but dealing with PSC’s is now fully integrated into the main BackOffice.
When a user creates a Company, it can be identified as a Private Limited Company. Various fields throughout the system will either be unlocked or taken into account for processes involving PSC’s. A new payslip layout has been added. This is not a traditional payslip, but a statement\summary of invoiced and pay values in a format used by PSC’s. To support the requirements of PSC’s there is a new tab called Tracking in the company record. This covers the additional data re 64-8’s, Dispensations, Annual Returns, etc
A contractor in Umbrella Control can now be set to be an Umbrella, CIS, Gross to Net or PSC contractor. A contractor can move from one setup to another, subject to the completion of open hours in a previous setup. There is a new tick box on the main Output to Payroll process to limit viewed detail to just PSC’s. The standard processes still apply to a PSC setup (adding hours and expenses), but there is now control over set salaries. A weekly paid PSC Contractor will show hours at NMW. A monthly paid PSC Contractor will show values based on the setup on the Contractor record.
If multiple PSC’s exist, they can all be exported into one multi-company payfile
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Yet more into the Agency Portal
In response to feedback we have added more functionality into the Agency Portal. Agencies have always been able to add Contractors, but now we’ve split Active from Non-Active; we’ve enabled Agencies to import csv files into their Quick Entry screen, we’ve added postcode lookup to address fields, we’ve added social media buttons to increase brand awareness and the First Time login process has been extended to Agencies so you can direct acceptance of new documents or procedures. All customers with the Agency Portal will receive these updates over the next few weeks as we update all users. As part of this major update, we also added the social media buttons and postcode lookup to address fields to the Contractor Portal
19 February 2016 News
In response to feedback we have added more functionality into the Agency Portal. Agencies have always been able to add Contractors, but now we’ve split Active from Non-Active; we’ve enabled Agencies to import csv files into their Quick Entry screen, we’ve added postcode lookup to address fields, we’ve added social media buttons to increase brand awareness and the First Time login process has been extended to Agencies so you can direct acceptance of new documents or procedures
All customers with the Agency Portal will receive these updates over the next few weeks as we update all users
As part of this major update, we also added the social media buttons and postcode lookup to address fields to the Contractor Portal
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Back Processing made easier
Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes even the client sends the wrong hours or more hours. In all cases BackOffice has been updated to make the task of repairing the mistake or adding in new hours easier. We have spent time automating all the main processes, so a user can identify the Contractor, rollback and correct. Not only have more links been added to make the identification of the record to reverse easier, the reversal will now; auto reverse the QTAC record (setting the pay period back to prior to your entry ready for all the new data),; release the payslip ready for the new update (whether new hours or corrections); cancel and re-create the Payment Manager entry (to be the incremental Net Pay); apply an Already Paid value to the payslip (so the payslip records the first payment) and add in a new Net Pay Text message (which can be defined as a second pay text message). As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates
15 November 2015 News
Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes even the client sends the wrong hours or more hours. In all cases BackOffice has been updated to make the task of repairing the mistake or adding in new hours easier.
We have spent time automating all the main processes, so a user can identify the Contractor, rollback and correct.
Not only have more links been added to make the identification of the record to reverse easier, the reversal will now; auto reverse the QTAC record (setting the pay period back to prior to your entry ready for all the new data),; release the payslip ready for the new update (whether new hours or corrections); cancel and re-create the Payment Manager entry (to be the incremental Net Pay); apply an Already Paid value to the payslip (so the payslip records the first payment) and add in a new Net Pay Text message (which can be defined as a second pay text message)
As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates
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Intermediary Reporting is coming
In recent years HMRC has seen increasing evidence of growth by some intermediaries helping to create false self-employment. The outcome of the review is a new structured HMRC Intermediary Reporting process. Intermediaries must return details of all workers they place with clients where they don’t operate PAYE on the workers’ payments. The return is a report (or reports) that must be sent to HMRC at least once every three months. To support this task BackOffice now has an HMRC Intermediary Reporting process inside the system. Simply choose your Agency, confirm your reporting period and run to screen. Once satisfied with the values presented (the system will open the file into excel), this can emailed directly to the Agency with the approved HMRC file layout structure as an attachment. A Note is automatically placed on the Agency record. As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates
23 October 2015 News
In recent years HMRC has seen increasing evidence of growth by some intermediaries helping to create false self-employment. The outcome of the review is a new structured HMRC Intermediary Reporting process. Intermediaries must return details of all workers they place with clients where they don’t operate PAYE on the workers’ payments. The return is a report (or reports) that must be sent to HMRC at least once every three months.
To support this task BackOffice now has an HMRC Intermediary Reporting process inside the system. Simply choose your Agency, confirm your reporting period and run to screen. Once satisfied with the values presented (the system will open the file into excel), this can emailed directly to the Agency with the approved HMRC file layout structure as an attachment. A Note is automatically placed on the Agency record
As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates
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Collate all Documents
With more potential places for documents to get into Umbrella Control, the latest update has pulled together all the documents and placed them under one tab on the Contractor record. The old Document, Multi-Print, Receipts and Payslips tabs now all appear as sub tabs under the new main Documents tab. The Payslip tab has additional sub tabs for External Payslips\P60’s, Internal Pay Advice’s and Internal Payslips. External Payslips will store all P60’s created from within QTAC. These would have been emailed out to the Contractor and are available on the Portal. Internal payslips control all the different payslip layouts attributed to that Contractor. Again everything is available on the Portal. New functionality also provides the opportunity to have a different payslip per Company and to alter any of the labels on the payslip. As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates
4 June 2015 News
With more potential places for documents to get into Umbrella Control, the latest update has pulled together all the documents and placed them under one tab on the Contractor record.
The old Document, Multi-Print, Receipts and Payslips tabs now all appear as sub tabs under the new main Documents tab. The Payslip tab has additional sub tabs for External Payslips\P60’s, Internal Pay Advice’s and Internal Payslips. External Payslips will store all P60’s created from within QTAC. These would have been emailed out to the Contractor and are available on the Portal. Internal payslips control all the different payslip layouts attributed to that Contractor. Again everything is available on the Portal
New functionality also provides the opportunity to have a different payslip per Company and to alter any of the labels on the payslip.
As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates
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New Competency Manager
The latest update includes a new Competency Manager that allows a user to see all the Competencies for all Contractors and control the expiry dates and associated information\documents for contractor skill and competency certifications. A user can create a new Competency directly on the Contractor record. By right clicking on the Competency name, the system will display all the previous entries in that field, so a user can pick a previously entered description to help consistency of descriptions. Batch Control will check the Competency expiry dates and a predefined email or task can be sent to any internal user, the detailing of all upcoming expiries. Contractors can get an auto email as well. As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates
12 May 2015 News
The latest update includes a new Competency Manager that allows a user to see all the Competencies for all Contractors and control the expiry dates and associated information\documents for contractor skill and competency certifications.
A user can create a new Competency directly on the Contractor record. By right clicking on the Competency name, the system will display all the previous entries in that field, so a user can pick a previously entered description to help consistency of descriptions. Batch Control will check the Competency expiry dates and a predefined email or task can be sent to any internal user, the detailing of all upcoming expiries. Contractors can get an auto email as well
As always, every user gets the full installation with this and other updates