Payroll

Email verification code – Employee logins

How an employee logs in to Sage Employee Online Services is changing

To enhance the security of the employees Sage Account, Sage have changed how they login, after they have entered their email address and password and clicked Log in, they may receive a code via email to verify that it is them logging in.  They will need to check the email address they use to log on to get the code and then enter the code to complete the login process, please note the code will be sent to the email address that was used to set up the online payslips to begin with.

Does the Employee need to verify their email address each time

The above process will not occur every time they login. It will only appear when the employee log’s on using a different device for the first time, or at intervals since they last logged in.

Memo

If an employee changes their email address from the one used to create their online account and ceases to have access to this email address, you as the employer will have to disable 2FA on their online payslips as the code is always emailed to the email address that was used to set up the employee’s online payslip.  The other way is to remove the employee from the portal, then reset them up on the portal with the new email address, this will result in all their old historical payslips being removed, these can be uploaded together by selecting a date range and any documents eg P60’s will also need to be uploaded again.

If you need help setting up or removing 2FA or need any other help or advice with your payroll, please contact us

We can also provide a remote access service where we can link into your computer to help you resolve your Sage Accounts or Payroll problems.

Accounts

Change Default Program Date

The date which appears when you enter a transaction is the program date.  If you have a large number of transactions to post for a previous month you might want to change the program date, to save time and help to prevent errors, especially useful at the start of a new month and you are posting items for the previous month and/or year.

1. On the menu bar click Settings, then click Change Program Date.
2. Enter the new date, then click OK.

TIP: The program date refreshes when you open the program.  If you leave you program open overnight, the program date does not refresh automatically.

If you would help changing the default program date or need any other help with your Sage 50 Accounts, please contact us

Payroll

Adding a new employee using the Employee Wizard

When you take on a new employee, you need to create a new employee record for them in your software.

1. Go to Employee, then select Employee Wizard.
2. Select Record the details of a new starter using their starter form, then Next.
3. Enter the employee’s title, name, and address details.

Note: Before you send the first FPS for the new employee, enter the correct address and postcode.

4. Select Next, enter the compulsory fields marked with an asterisk and optional details as you require.
5. As you complete each screen, select Next.
6. Once you have entered all your new employee’s details, click Finish.

If you need to change any of the employee’s information, select the employee from the employee list and either double click the employee or click Employee Record, and you can alter what ever information you need to.

If you need help setting up a new employee or amening an existing employee’s information or need any other help or advice with your payroll, please contact us

We can also provide a remote access service where we can link into your computer to help you resolve your Sage Accounts or Payroll problems.

Accounts

Configure your toolbars and columns

You can configure your desktop in Sage 50 accounts, to make the options you use easier to find.

To help you to work more efficiently, you can configure the desktop to hide what you do not want, making it quicker and easier to find what you do want.

You can also choose to display extra column which would be normally hidden, to suite your exact needs.  You can configure:

• Modules on the navigation bar
• toolbar options within each module
• Data columns

Navigation bar

1. Right-click anywhere on the navigation bar down the left.
2. From the list left-click the module you want to show or hide.
3. Repeat step 1 and 2 for each change you want to make.

Toolbar options

1. Open the required ledger, for example Suppliers.
2. Right-click the toolbar and left-click the option you want to show or hide.

TIP – the options that are currently visible on the tool bar are ticked.

3. Repeat step 2 for each change you want to make.

Configuring columns

You can configure the columns in each ledger, for example, Customers and Suppliers plus other additional windows with lists or grid views.

1. From the relevant window, right -click any column heading.

TIP The options that are currently visible will be ticked.

2. Left click the column you want to add or remove.

NOTE: to reset the column view to the default, right-click an existing column then click Use Defaults.

Changing data order

You can change the order of your records in customers and suppliers etc.

In Sage 50 Accounts you can sort most list windows by clicking on individual column headings.  Which ever heading you click the list will be sorted into ascending order and if you click the same heading again it will then sort in descending order.  To sort the list back into the usual order, click the first column once.

If you would like help customising your Sage 50 Accounts or sorting your data or need any other help with your Sage Accounts, please contact us

Payroll

Paying your employees at Christmas

You may need to pay your employees on a different date to normal over the Christmas break due to holidays.  If you pay early or late, it is important that you submit the correct process date on your FPS.

Paying Early

If you are paying your employees early due to a bank holiday or Christmas, HMRC’s advice is to use your normal pay day as your process date.  This also applies if you are advancing pay over Christmas.

For example, if your normal pay day is the 25^th of the month but in December you are going to pay your employees early on the 22^nd of December.  You must use your normal process date of 25/12/2022, send the employees their pay on 22nd December and submit your full payment submission (FPS) on or before 25^th December 2024.

Doing this helps to protect your employees’ eligibility for Universal Credit, as reporting the payday in as the payment date can affect entitlements.

Paying Late

If you are going to Pay your employees on the first day after the holidays, you should still process your payroll using your normal process date.

In the situation, HMRC recommend you send your FPS early, but if you send your FPS on a later date than your regular payday, you must select code G: Reasonable excuse as the reason the FPS is late.

If you need help with paying your employees early or later or need any other help or advice with your payroll, please contact us

We can also provide a remote access service where we can link into your computer to help you resolve your Sage Accounts or Payroll problems.

Accounts

Add a Festive message to your invoices etc

You might want to add a festive message to your invoices or inform customers of your Christmas and New Year opening hours etc, this can be done easily by using Report Designer.

Open and rename the report in Report Designer

1. Click Invoices and Credits, then select any invoice.
2. On the top menu, click Print, then click Layouts.
3. Select the layout you want to add the festive message to and click Edit.
4. On the menu bar click Report, click Report Properties.
5. Enter a new report Name and description, then click OK.

Add your festive message

1. On the menu bar click Toolbox, then click Add Text.
2. Click once where you want the text to appear.
3. Enter the text you want, then click a blank area.
4. If required, click, and drag to move or resize the text box.

Add a personal touch and make your message match your company brand by customising the text, define with a line or box and you can also add a festive image.

Save your layout

1. On the menu bar click File, click Save As.
2. Enter a new file name then click
3. On the menu bar click File, then click Exit.

To preview the new layout, simply click an invoice click print then select your festive layout and click Preview.

Tip

You can add a festive message to any layout such as Statements, Letters and Remittances.

If you would like help adding a festive message to any layout or need any help amending or creating a new invoice, statement or remittance layout or need any other help with your Sage Accounts, please contact us