Processing a Pay Batch (Payroll UK)

Processing a pay batch is a multi-stage process that involves the following:

Adding the new pay batch.
Applying each stage of the pay batch process.
Reviewing and closing the pay batch.

The procedures for completing each of these stages are described below.

How to Add a New Pay Batch

The procedure for adding a new pay batch differs depending whether you want to process a normal or adjustment pay batch.

To add a new normal pay batch, follow the procedure below.

How to Add a New Normal Pay Batch
	Open the Payroll > Pay Process > Pay Batch> Pay Batch List screen.
2.	Click Add +. The Pay Wizard – Create Batch screen opens.
3.	In the Pay Group field, key in the name of the pay group you will be paying in this pay batch. You can use leading and trailing wildcards (%) to partially match the pay group name. For example, % Blue Collar will match all pay group names such as Full-time Blue Collar or Part-time Blue Collar while Full-time % will match pay group names such as Full-time Blue Collar or Full-time White Collar. If you do not know the name of the relevant pay group, leave this field blank.
4.	Click Search. The pay groups matching the name you specified are listed on the screen or, if you left the Pay Group* field blank, all available pay groups are listed.*
5.	In the list of pay groups, select the relevant pay group by clicking on it. The pay group is selected.
6.	Click on Only Include Payees With Timesheets if the pay batch is to only include payees who belong to the pay group you selected and have at least one timesheet for the period of this pay batch. If you select this option you will be unable to manually add pay items, adjust accruals or terminate the employment of any payees who belong to the pay group you have selected but that do not have any timesheets for the period of the pay batch. Skip this step if you want to include all payees who belong to the selected pay group in the pay batch regardless of whether they have any timesheets for the period of the pay batch.
7.	In the Payment Date field, select the date on which earnings processed in this pay batch will be paid to payees. Only the current date or future date can be entered.
8.	Click Create Pay Batch. The pay batch is created, its status is set to Open* and the Pay Wizard – Manual Items screen opens to allow you to begin processing the pay batch.*

To add a new adjustment pay batch, follow the procedure below.

How to Add a New Adjustment Pay Batch
	Open the Payroll > Pay Process > Pay Batch > Pay Batch List screen.
2.	Click Add +. The Pay Wizard – Create Batch screen opens.
3.	Change the Normal Batch option to Adjustment Batch. An Adjustment Pay Period* table appears at the bottom of the screen.*
4.	In the Pay Group field, key in the name of the pay group you will be paying in this pay batch. You can use leading and trailing wildcards (%) to partially match the pay group name. For example, % Blue Collar will match all pay group names such as Full-time Blue Collar or Part-time Blue Collar while Full-time % will match pay group names such as Full-time Blue Collar or Full-time White Collar. If you do not know the name of the relevant pay group, leave this field blank.
5.	Click Search. The pay groups matching the name you specified are listed on the screen or, if you left the Pay Group* field blank, all available pay groups are listed.*
6.	In the list of pay groups, select the relevant pay group by clicking on it. The pay group is selected and a list of closed pay periods is displayed in the Adjustment Pay Period* table at the bottom of the screen.*
7.	In the Adjustment Pay Period table, click on the closed pay period for which the adjustment batch is to be created. The pay period is selected.
8.	In the Payment Date field, select the the date on which earnings processed in this pay batch will be paid to payees.
9.	If you want to process the adjustment pay batch to balance pay and accrual data in the system without actually effecting payment of payees, click Balancing Payment.
10.	Click Search. The adjustment pay batch is created, its status is set to Open* and the Pay Wizard – Manual Items screen opens to allow you to begin processing the pay batch.*

At this point you are ready to apply each stage of the pay batch process (for more information, see How to Apply Each Stage of the Pay Batch Process below.)

You can pause the pay batch process at any stage and close the Pay Wizard screen by clicking on another menu item. The pay batch will be saved at its current stage. When you are ready to continue processing the pay batch, you can re-open the batch from the Pay Batch List screen.

How to Apply Each Stage of the Pay Batch Process

Once the pay batch is created you can step through and apply each stage of the process by clicking the left and right arrows in the top right-hand corner of the Pay Wizard screen (for more information see, Moving Between Pay Batch Stages).

Before you apply a stage you can double-click on any payee that is listed in the payee list on the Pay Wizard screen in order to view the details of what will be applied for that given payee when the current stage is applied. The payee’s pay details are displayed in the Payee Pay Details screen and, depending on the current stage of the pay batch, this screen also allows you to perform various actions that can affect the payee’s pay in the pay batch.

The table below lists and describes the actions that can be performed via the Payee Pay Details screen for payees in a pay batch depending at each stage of the pay batch process.

Depending on the configuration of the pay batch stages you are going through will depend on whether they are processed. The list describes all available stages.

Batch Stage	Actions
Manual Items	Add manual pay items to adjust a payee’s gross pay.
Leave Payments	Manually adjust the quantity or rate of a payee’s leave payments.
Leave Accrual	Manually adjust leave accrual and entitlement balances for each leave type applicable to a payee.
Termination	Trigger the termination of a payee’s employment and specify the types of lump sum payments the payee is eligible to receive.
Pension Automatic Enrolment	Enrol payees into a pension scheme. Override the automation of pension enrolment.
Gross Deductions	Manually adjust the deduction amount of a payee’s gross deduction. Add one-off, ad-hoc deductions to deduct amounts from a payee's gross earnings.
HMRC Deductions	Manually adjust payee statutory deductions.
Net Deductions	Manually adjust the deduction amount of a payee’s net deduction. Add one-off, ad-hoc deductions to deduct amounts from a payee's net earnings.
VAT	No actions can be performed.
Wage Costs	Manually adjust employer statutory deductions.
Review	No actions can be performed.

Any stages of the pay batch process that you apply can be reversed while the batch is still open. This can be done by clicking in the top left-hand corner of the Pay Wizard screen. You can also cancel a pay batch at any point while the batch is still open, thereby reversing all stages of the pay batch that have been applied and preventing the batch from being processed. To do this, click left arrow button in the top right-hand corner of the Pay Wizard screen (for more information see, Moving Between Pay Batch Stages).

If you reverse the current stage of a pay batch you will undo any manual adjustments, terminations or transfers that have already been made at the current stage of the process.

Once you reach the Review stage of the pay batch process you are ready to review and close the batch.

How to Review and Close the Pay Batch

Once you have applied each stage of the pay batch process up to the Review stage you can check the pay details for the pay batch by doing the following:

checking the columns in the payee list on the Pay Wizard screen to view the pay result for payees in the batch at each stage of the process
checking the pay batch totals at the bottom of the Pay Wizard screen
double-clicking on individual payees listed on the Pay Wizard screen to display the Payee Pay Details screen and stepping through each tab on the screen to view detailed information about the payee’s pay elements at each stage of the process
clicking in the top left-hand corner of the Pay Wizard screen and running reports on the pay data in the pay batch.

Once you have reviewed the batch and found no issues you can close the batch. Closing a batch has the following effects:

the status of the batch changes from Open to Closed to indicate no more changes can be made to the batch
payslips are generated for all payees in the pay batch and are available immediately in the Candidate Portal for each payee and for manual delivery Payslip Delivery screen.

To close a normal pay batch, follow the procedure below.

How to Close a Normal Pay Batch
	In the top-left hand corner of the Pay Wizard screen, click Close Batch. A confirmation message opens prompting you to confirm closing of the batch.
2.	If you want to close the batch and close the current pay period for the pay group, click Close current pay period. If you select this option it will not be possible to process any more pay batches for the pay group to which the pay batch corresponds, for the current period.
3.	Click Yes. The status of the pay batch changes from Open* to Closed, the Pay Wizard screen closes and a confirmation message opens to indicate that the pay batch has been closed.* If you chose to close the pay period as well, the status of the current pay period for the pay group changes from Open to Closed and the status of the next pay period for the pay group changes from Inactive to Open.

To close an adjustment pay batch, follow the procedure below.

How to Close an Adjustment Pay Batch

In the top-left hand corner of the Pay Wizard screen, click Close Batch.

A confirmation message opens prompting you to confirm closing of the adjustment batch.

2.

Click Yes.

The status of the pay batch changes from Open to Closed, the Pay Wizard screen closes and a confirmation message opens to indicate that the pay batch has been closed.

See also:

FastTrack360 Online Help

Processing a Pay Batch (Payroll UK)

How to Add a New Pay Batch

How to Apply Each Stage of the Pay Batch Process

How to Review and Close the Pay Batch

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