Change PAYE reference number

This guide covers HMRC: Changes to payroll where a new reference is required in paiyroll®.

Contact the HMRC Employer Helpline regarding Mergers and successions. Depending upon advice received, you may also need to close your PAYE scheme.

Ending the old scheme

  1. On the final pay run for the old scheme (old PAYE reference number), set a leaving date for every employee. If you have a large number of employees, you may find it quicker to Download… all employees , add a leaving data in a spreadsheet program and then Upload… the sheet.

    If you have already sent the last FPS, you can Create a custom Pay run with zero pay to submit. Start a new pay run using Workflow Definitions and click the Start button . Then click Custom start. On the next screen, select the schedule, the date the old scheme ceased and add all employees using the >> button. Click Start. After you have checked for zero pay and a leaver declaration, the custom pay run to submit to HMRC. If you have multiple schedules, you will need to repeat this step.

  2. If you need to cease the old scheme, in Report Definition set the Scheme ceased date in the GB RTI FPS report. Note that you cannot send a future cease date and it must be today or earlier.

  3. P45s are available with total pay and deductions up to the date the scheme changed.

  4. The final FPS from the old employer reference must be submitted before proceeding with any further steps. Check you have an FPS receipt to confirm that all employees have now left the old scheme.

Starting the new scheme

  1. Navigate to Pay Items and then click Download… to download all Pay Items for each employee. The file will include all Pay Items for all employees and will be used for the steps below.

  2. You will need to prepare and/or preserve PAYE, Auto-Enrolment (AE) and Holiday history. The easiest option is to create Pay Item upload file(s) for the new scheme for the Pay Definitions that need a migrated status. Open the Pay Item file and using auto-filter to show the required Pay Items, copy the Pay Items and paste into a new file(s) or new sheets.

    • PAYE: Given that most employees will have cumulative tax codes, you will need to enter the Previous Pay and Previous Tax figure on each Pay Item. These figures will be available on the state column when you download Employees. If any employees have a P45 Previous Pay or Previous Tax values from a previous employment, then you must add this to the state values.

    • AE: Carefully set the migrated status, migrated date, opt-in and opt-out date inputs to ensure you preserve the AE status from the old scheme. See Migrate Auto-Enrolment Pension data

    • Holiday: Set the migrated balance for each employee.

  3. Navigate to Pay Items and then click Upload… to upload PAYE, AE and Holiday Pay Items.

  4. You need to clear each Employees End date and set a Start date such that each employee is a starter as per the new scheme start date. You must also set the starter declaration as instructed on the HMRC guide:

    • starter declaration C for BR codes or codes starting with a D prefix

    • starter declaration B for any other code

    It will be easier to Download… all employees in , make these edits in a spreadsheet program and then Upload… the sheet.

  5. If you have any directors, set the Director from date to the new scheme start date.

  6. AWE (Average Weekly earnings) will be reset by the the AWE Source and AWE Sink Pay Items for a new starter. If you want to preserve AWE (Average Weekly Earnings), the only option is to:

    • Save these Pay Items in a file

    • Carefully delete each AWE for each employee. The absence of these Pay Items will ensure that the next pay run does not reset the respective state

    • Replace AWE for subsequent pay runs

  7. Change the Company PAYE reference to the new scheme number.

  8. Add new credentials for the new PAYE scheme in the following in Report Definition:

    • HMRC DPS (Data Provisioning Service) to import updated coding notices from HMRC. After your fist pay run, on the next DPS data-feed, HMRC will send the correct PAYE information for paiyroll® to apply.

    • HMRC RTI FPS

    • HMRC RTI EPS

  9. Add a Custom Pay Run to send a starter declaration for every employee to HMRC for the new scheme. Be sure to include every employee with zero pay (unless you had planned a paid custom run which can be used instead). Redo the pay run and carefully check that all pay and Pay Items are correct and YTD values have started from zero. Then approve it.

  10. Finally, redo your first scheduled pay run.

  11. paiyroll® is now ready under your new PAYE scheme.