Today I took the new feature course for Sage 50 Payroll for the tax year 2012/13. Instead of calling it Sage 50 Payroll 2012 or Version 18 , they are changing the name to try to make it more obvious which tax year the software is for.  I will be sitting the exam as soon as it is released in early March.

I summarise the new features here: if you would like to know more or see a demonstration of Sage 50 Payroll then please do get in touch.

New Features for Sage 50 Payroll

• Pre Installation Checklist – if there is any reason why Sage Payroll should not run on your machine, the checklist will highlight this for you. This might happen if you have run out of disk space or have insufficient processing speeds.
• The user interface has been cleaned up and quite a few of the wizards and forms have been updated to make them easier to use.  Some screens were very busy, with lots of confusing options – these have now been cleaned up without reducing their functionality. The Multi Company tasks area has particularly improved.
• The support homepage has been added in a similar way to Sage 50 Accounts 2012, which should really help with troubleshooting problems if they occur.
• Sage 50 Payroll Standard now has import options that were previously only available if you had Sage 50 Payroll Professional. This opens up huge possibilities for improving data import from other sources.
• The software is ready for the legislation updates that are in the pipeline for the next 3-4 years. Regarding the PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) scheme, which involves sending live data to the HMRC through the year, e-submissions options are being added.  Also the Workplace Pension Reforms which are being phased in over the next 4 years will require much administration with records being kept for employees opting  out and regular reviews, so extra check boxes and areas are being added to help you manage these changes.
• Salary Sacrifice is being expanded to allow for other schemes apart from just the pension option.  For example, if you participate in the cycle to work scheme or childcare voucher schemes these can now be added and appear on payslips and managed through the new payroll.
• Sage 50 Payroll and Sage 50 HR can now be synchronised automatically rather than relying on manual intervention from the user.  The old way of linking the two products will still be available but  additional options are now available too.
• Accountants had requested certain reports to be available as standard rather than having to download them from Sage and install them manually – these have now been added, and in Sage 50 payroll Professional, P32 and P35 client/accountant authorisation reports are now available too.
• When producing P60s you can now produce a test print so you can check your stationery all lines up correctly, or even send the P60 directly to email if your employees have agreed to this option (Check boxes in each employee record allow you to record the acceptance of email documentation, which was already in the previous versions).

It looks like Sage have reacted to requests from users in bringing in the new features, and they are also thinking ahead to try to help us through the complex new legislation changes being brought in by the HMRC.  I hope you have found this summary of new features useful.