Migrate from Opera 3

This is a comprehensive guide to import an entire payroll creating a company and workers. This is a fully automated process with manual steps only required where data is unavailable.

Process Overview

blockdiag Collect files Import files Upload missing items Parallel run auto com pare

Automated migration process

Collect the required files

This importer requires an FPS (Full Payment Submission) file and we recommend a Worker Details file. Optionally if required, you can also import History files:

GB HMRC FPS input file specification

File

Types

Notes

FPS XML

.xml

HMRC RTI Full Payment Submission

EPS XML

.xml

HMRC RTI Employer Payment Summary

Worker Details

.csv, .ods, .xls, .xlsx

Supplementary worker details

Payment History

.csv, .ods, .xls, .xlsx

Actual payments for the pay schedule to be selected

Holiday History

.csv, .ods, .xls, .xlsx

Holiday earnings (weekly basis)

Important

The FPS must contain all workers, including zero-paid. FPS files may include or exclude zero-paid employees. If you always pay all employees, then your FPS will include everyone. If you have any zero-paid employees, you must do one of the following:

  1. Ensure the relevant setting is set to always include zero-pay employees before submitting the FPS

  2. Pay all employees 1 penny to ensure that they appear in the submitted FPS and set W1/M1 to supress any tax refunds.

  3. Create an un-submitted FPS using, say a 1p payment (noting that not all payroll systems support this)

An FPS contains two important pieces of data: each worker’s year-to-date (YTD) values and the final pay run payment. paiyroll® supports three methods of FPS Import:

  • Import Submitted YTD figures, subtracting the payment with a parallel run and auto-compare of the last pay run. This is the recommended approach.

  • Import Submitted YTD figures only and disregard the payment. This approach is required if there are errors in the previous payroll system and the first pay run in paiyroll® must cumulate from the submitted figures without correction. It can also be used if there is no time for a parallel run

  • Import un-submitted YTD figures and disregard the payment. This approach is used where workers were missed in the initial import and need to be merged or as required in (3) above.

The following sections describe how to collect and/or prepare the required files from your payroll.

Full Payment Submission (FPS) XML

The FPS is created by the payroll and then submitted by the Online Filing Manager (OFM) to HMRC and is retained in the company data directory.

Company data directory: the FPS is created here each time you run RTI Submissions>Full Payment Submission in the payroll. The location of the company data directory should be known but might be something like \ProgramDataPegasus03 Server VFPData- yours is likely to differ but will be listed in the Payroll or the OFM.

FPS filename: The relevant dialog shows the name of the actual FPS file. However, the FPS filename is changed after submission:

  • Before submission, the FPS has the filename ending with .RTI extension e.g. Z_FPS.RTI.

  • After submission via the OFM, the FPS is renamed using a date and time at the beginning of the filename and the extension is changed from .RTI to .BAK e.g. 20201225141209.BAK. It is most likely to have been renamed and so you will be looking for a file with a .BAK extension and a date & time stamp when the file was submitted. As these date & time stamps can be confusing, you may wish to use the Windows date/time listed by the file to identify the correct one.

FPS files are also backed up in the Opera back-up procedure and will also be available in the ZIP file if this is easier.

Employees CSV

Export an employees CSV file.

You should have a file named something like: COMPANY_MONTHLY_09_2023.CSV

Do NOT open in Excel

Employer Payment Summary (EPS) file

Next you should save the latest submitted Employer Payment Summary (EPS) RTI XML file following the above steps.

Worker Details file

An FPS does not contain all employee details - specifically email, mobile, start/end date, bank account name/sort-code and account number are not included. Usually you will want to automatically import these at the same time as import using a Worker Details file, which is much faster than manually changing them adding after import. A worker details file can be easily created by editing an employee export from your current payroll software or HR system, and imported together with the FPS to provide the missing details.

You will need to reference, or join each worker in an HMRC RTI Full Payment Submission XML file with each row in the worker details file using one of these 2 options:

  1. Usually PayId’s are present in the RTI FPS XML and this is preferred option as you only need to fill in the PayId joining column and leave the NI Number and Address 1 and 2 columns blank. A PayId e.g. number one (1) PayId will look like this: <PayId>1</PayId>. Note that PayId’s can be the the same as Works Ids (e.g. 1, 2, 3 etc.) but in other cases they are generated by the payroll software (e.g. AE16BD, 958571285544 etc.). Click to Download a sample PayId Employee Details.csv file.

  2. Sometimes a FPS file may not contain PayId’s. In this case the Worker details must include 3 joining columns: PayId, NI Number, Address 1 and Address 2 because some workers may not have NI numbers. Click to Download a sample Employee Details.csv file.

The file will have one row per worker with the following columns.

Worker Detail file Columns

PayId

NI Number, Address 1, Address 2

Works Id

Start Date, End Date, Email, Mobile, Sort Code, Account Name, Account Number

The PayId used in the FPS

If PayId’s are not present, complete all 3

This is the Works Id you want to apply to each worker after import. Works Id’s are required if you plan to import Shifts when operating paiyroll®. If you don’t use Works Ids for any purpose, then you can leave this column blank

These columns are used to provide the details not included in the FPS and eliminate manual rework after import. Take care to avoid problems with date formats, stripping leading zeros and “+” characters, and so on. Dates can be in ISO format YEAR-MONTH-DAY e.g. 2020-12-25 or the 25/12/2020 GB format.

The column names must be exactly as specified above. If you are going to use an HR data-feed as part of the migration process, then you only need to include e-mail address, start and end dates leaving the other columns blank (Mobile, Sort Code, Account Name, Account Number) as these will be updated by the HR data-feed.

Tip

The column names must be exactly entered as specified above noting upper and lower case. You can use an existing CSV and simply edit the required columns, noting that any other columns are ignored and do not have to be deleted.

Tip

If you want a worker details template for your import, simply import the FPS file without providing the 2 optional files. When the import is complete and pay run starts, you can view/download the Import FPS worker details report in My documents. This also includes the PayId’s used.

Data quality

Payroll migration relies on quality data. Please ensure all data is up to date, complete and accurate in your existing payroll system. This will ensure a proper migration and save time because no post-import data correction will be required.

Import Data Quality

Data

General

Import process

Operating paiyroll®

E-mail address

Must be correct: paiyroll® uses the e-mail addresses as the username (login name) as well as notifications

Will create a dummy e-mail address e.g. last.ni_number@example.com for any missing

These must be set correctly before any employee can access the system

GB National Insurance (NI) number

Must be valid if supplied

Verifies all NI numbers and any invalid numbers will stop the import

GB address lines 1 & 2

HMRC require the first 2 address lines or an NI number

Will stop if missing

Bank Account Name and all Numbers

These will be used for all bank reports and must be correct

If imported, will stop if invalid

Can be added/modified after in import

Mobile phone number

All users should have a correct and SMS capable mobile phone number

paiyroll® will use these for future notifications - therefore these will need to be updated by employees using self-service

Next you will need to create a Payment Type History (Detailed) CSV for each pay frequency (Monthly, Weekly etc.) you wish to import:

Other files

Whilst not required for the import process, we suggest you also collect/ locate these other files to verify and complete the import. These would include all frequencies to be imported (e.g. weekly and monthly):

  • Payslip PDFs (standard employee payslips) ideally in a single file which can be quickly searched using Find Ctrl + F on a PC or Command + F on a Mac

  • Pension CSV files for member enrolment and member contributions (the files uploaded to the pension provider after each payroll)

  • Bank Payment files (BACS or Faster Payments file)

  • Previous Pay and Previous Tax for any mid year starters - ideally a spreadsheet

The following will be required after import to verify pension auto-enrolment. These are generally available from the pension providers portal:

  • Pension auto-enrolment dates for all enrolled employees plus contribution percentages

  • Pension opt-out dates for any employees who have opted-out of auto-enrolment

  • Postponed or deferred employee dates

Finally collect any statutory information to enter:

  • SMP SSP SPBP for any active Statutory absences.

  • Attachment orders for any required attachment of earnings orders.

Import the files

Click the Import button and select Run.

  1. Select the Company you wish to import to. If this is your first import, the option is empty.

  2. You must supply an XML FPS file

  3. We recommend that you provide the optional Worker details file as described above. You can skip this file for a fast import or if you wish to create a worker details template.

  4. The History files are optional.

  5. Click Upload files

On the second wizard screen:

  1. It is possible to use the content of the Worker Details file to filter a subset of FPS workers. This might be used to filter out leavers for example.

  2. Mode allows you to create a new company, delete/ re-create a company or merge new workers into an existing company.

  3. If the FPS contains multiple frequencies (e.g. weekly and monthly) you need to select each frequency as a separate import. MMultiple frequencies can also be collapsed into one frequency.

  4. You must also enter the Pay period end date. This is not the pay date - it is the last day that employees worked and were paid.

  5. If you operate Postponement (Auto enrolment deferral) then tick the box to automatically detect category and dates.

  6. Import YTD only

    Important

    You will normally leave this un-checked to import YTD values and the FPS payment to replay the last payrun (parallel run). Tick only if you want to import YTD figures only (skip the parallel run) or are importing un-submitted FPS where the Payment is to be disregarded.

    Tip

    If you intend to import YTD only figures, then Auto Enrolment migrated status cannot be auto detected. Alternatively, you may wish to run 2 imports - the first with Import YTD un-checked which will create migrated status on each Auto Enrolment Pay Item. After the first import has completed follow these steps to create a Pay Item file for later upload:

    • Employee Setup ‣ Pay Items

    • Download…

    • Open the file in Excel and filter on column B Definition for the value of AE

    • Save this file as an Excel workbook, importantly filtered as above

    • After you complete the 2nd migration (Import YTD only), then upload these AE Pay Items Home ‣ Upload Pay Items

  7. The import may take some time to complete depending upon size. Once complete, a pay run is automatically started and ready in a few seconds. You can review the payslips in My documents .

    Important

    If you have a second schedule to import, you will likely need to modify default values for certain Pay Definitions such as AE Schemes e.g. monthly and weekly. Before running a merge import take the following steps:

    1. Decide on a new appropriately named Pension scheme for the next import. Add a new pension scheme Pay Definition using the using the Pension scheme Pay Template. It is principally the new Scheme Definition name which is important and you you may wish to defer setting other scheme values.

    2. Change default AE scheme NEST Scheme on the AE Pay Definition to your new scheme above then click Update to ensure your new scheme name is applied to the merge import.

    Now repeat the above steps import the next schedule carefully ensuring you select the mode Merge workers with “Test company”.

The following are automatically created during import:

  • Company

  • Employees

  • 1 Test (Template) Employee per schedule

  • Pay schedules

  • Pay Run

  • Workflow Definitions

  • Report Definitions

  • FPS Pay Definitions and Pay Items including a basic Pay Item called Pay and NonTaxOrNICPmt for non tax or NIC payments such as expenses or deductions

  • Automatic Enrolment (AE) Pay Definitions, default Schemes and Pay Items

Note

The typical FPS import rewinds to just before the payrun was approved in your previous system with all Pay and AE. When following the steps below, you will therefore be re-running your previous pay run related to the FPS submission - this enables a parallel test run in paiyroll®.

FPS files only contain partial data. Hence the dummy values are created for all missing data like staging date etc. The following sections detail all the steps required after an import to complete an accurate and correct payroll. For example, if you did not supply a worker_details file at import, you will need to set the Email address, Mobile phone number, bank details and set a Department for each Employee

Upload missing items

The imported companies may be missing higher level data for example Salary, Shifts etc.. The following steps are therefore required after an import to complete the payroll. Almost all of this data can be uploaded from spreadsheets. If you wish to perform multiple imports for Parallel runs, you will find it quicker to create spreadsheet files to upload. The easiest way is to create the data manually using the GUI first time, then download the data into spreadsheets when complete.

  1. Company Update all Company fields as the imported files only provide limited data. Now is a good time to rename the company.

  2. Pay Definitions:

    • Automatic-enrolment (AE) scheme. The import process creates a default NEST pension scheme. Edit and rename this scheme if required in Pay Definitions </paiyroll/paydefinition/>

    • Holiday. Set up Holidays.

    • If the Importer generated a differently named salary Pay Definition to avoid a clash with history import e.g. Salary (monthly) vs. Salary, then you can revert to the original name as follows:

      • Delete the Salary Pay Definition by confirming on the delete screen, there are no dependent Pay Items.

      • Rename the Salary (monthly) the Pay Definition to Salary

    • Reuse. Set the Reuse on each Pay Definition according to each intended usage and whether it is required to pay each pay run. There are 4 values:

      • Use indefinitely pays each pay run e.g. a recurring medical benefit that doesnt change

      • Use once, then set to zero pays once and then changes to zero e.g. a one-off bonus

      • Use once, then unset pays once and expects a new value e.g. commission that varies each month but requires a different value

      • Never prompt even if unset set manually/ infrequent e.g. annual bonus

    • Finally, delete any imported Pay Definitions that are not required which may have been created to aid the import process. For example Pay or NonTaxOrNICPmt. When deleting a Pay Definition always carefully check the descriptive text to see if there are any linked Pay Items.

  3. Pay Schedules. If the imported pay schedules do not accurately reflect your dates, navigate to Pay Schedules and Update… the schedule. You will need to clear the Enabled checkbox to disable the schedule and click Update. Now you can update the schedule with your dates and don’t forget to click Enabled before updating the correct schedule. Once this is done you must start a new pay run using Workflow Definitions and click the Start button . Delete the old payrun from Payruns by clicking Delete and Confirm deletion. The pay period dates on the pay schedule must continue from the Pay period end date set on import.

  4. Pay Items. Use the Pay Item Editor to review each employee and add any missing Pay Items such as salary, bonus etc. from your Pay Definitions. You can ensure they have the correct values by clicking Update which will generate a live payslip.

    • The import process uses heuristics and may not be 100% accurate. AE migration is also described fully in Migrate Auto-Enrolment Pension data.

    • If you have additional salary pay items, e.g. Directors Salary which were not specified on import, they will be imported using a Payment Pay Template instead of the Salary Pay Template. Replace these with a suitable salary Pay Definition.

    If you need to add multiple Pay Items, we recommend the use of spreadsheet upload files. One easy way to start is to create a single Pay Item for an employee using the Pay Item editor . Then navigate to Pay Items and then click Download… to download a payitems.csv file. The file will include all Pay Items for all employees, so be sure to delete every Pay Item except the required one. Once you have created the Pay Items, these can easily be uploaded.

    • Previous pay and tax for in-year starters must be entered or uploaded to ensure payroll is correct.

    • Enter the annual holiday entitlement and balance for the remainder of the year for each employee. See Set up Holidays for more information.

  5. A typical set of Report Definitions are provided. You should add any required.

    • HMRC RTI FPS and EPS. User ID and Password are not imported which means there is no risk of accidentally submitting data to HMRC. However, the HMRC test service is used to test each pay run together with a test receipt. When all the steps are complete, you must enter your user ID and password in FPS and EPS Report Definitions

    • Journals in Pre-approval summary2 and/or Journal files. Setup any required journals in the Pre-approval summary2 and add any journal reports e.g. Xero.

  6. Be sure to save all the data you have created in CSV files in case you need to repeat the process for each of the following views:

    • Company Setup

      • Pay Definitions

      • Report Definitions

      • Pay Schedules

      • Departments

      • Companies

    • Employee setup

      • Pay Items

      • Employees

    On each view, simply press the Download… button to create a file. The downloaded Pay Definition and Pay Item files will contain both system created Definitions/Items as well as the ones created in this guide. We recommend you delete system created rows.

Auto Compare pay run reports

When import is complete, you can use the automated compare capability to compare the generated pay run files such as:

  • Bank files

  • Pension provider files

  • Online submission files e.g. GB FPS or EPS

Any files in text, csv or XML formats will work.

Ensure you have your reference files ready from your existing payroll system.

  1. Go to Pay runs

  2. After making any changes, redo the pay run to refresh all the reports

  3. View View the required pay run

  4. Click on the Reports tab

  5. Click Compare

  6. Click Choose file and choose your reference file

  7. Click Upload files

After a few seconds your reference file wil be uploaded and automatically compared. On the left wil be your reference file and on the right is the generated file from paiyroll®. All difference are show in Red and Green. You can easily switch between Side-by-side and Line-by-line styles for the comparison.

Going Live

See Parallel runs.

Before the first live payroll, be sure to add credentials to any reports, e.g.:

  • HMRC RTI FPS

  • HMRC RTI EPS

  • Pension

P9X. If migration is at the end of a tax year, and the first pay run in paiyroll® will be in the next tax-year, you will need to create a custom pay run before running the GB PAYE tax code changer (P9X) Data Feed. This is because P9X needs to have a last approved run of a tax year before it can run.

Note

Before you approve the first payrun, you will notice that updated RTI PayIds will be sent. This switches the information held by HMRC system from pre-imported PayIds to the new paiyroll® PayIds.