Payroll Automation in Modulr – Making 1st Payment & PAYE Bills
Author: Kay Augustus, Head of Payroll at LHP
Making payments on behalf of the client is made easier with the BrightPay to Modulr integration and you can also set up HMRC PAYE payments to pay monthly or quarterly too.
Payroll is processed as normal. Documents are sent to the client in the usual way. And with a few button clicks and confirmation of identity through Authy App, payments are uploaded to Modulr ready for the client to login and approve. There is no overdraft facility on the Modulr account, so funds must be added before the transfer goes ahead. You can set up weekly payments with set amounts, or top up when you need to pay staff.
At this point payments are waiting for approval. An email is sent to the client to login to the portal and approve. The client must now input their username and password on the Modulr site and verify themselves using the Authy App. Once logged in, the client would see something like this:
It’s a user-friendly dashboard, not designed to complicate or confuse. Here you can view balance on the account, and with a couple of clicks, see a list of transactions already uploaded, which you can then authorise. Payments can be in the staff account within 90 seconds, or on your set payment date.
Unlike BACs, you can cancel or amend Modulr payments, but only if you use an advance date as same day payments can’t be cancelled. I have worked on many payrolls where someone has come to me the day after or within hours of the BACs being submitted to the bank, and you have to apply to the bank to recall the funds. It’s not always successful and when it does work, the funds can take weeks to be returned to your account.
Because Modulr uses Faster Payments, it technically schedules payments for a future date, so they won’t leave the account until the date you specify. Thus meaning, if Mr Jone’s wages were uploaded to Modulr on the Monday for an advance payment on Friday and its Thursday today – and you wish to cancel or amend the amount, you can!
Making payments to HMRC
On top of paying your employees, we can also help you pay HMRC your monthly or quarterly PAYE bill using Modulr. This is uploaded in the same way as mentioned, but takes away the hassles of you forgetting to make payments and then incurring unwanted fines or interest charges. From talking to clients, we know this payment can be easily forgotten about, but it really shouldn’t be!
HMRC requires the PAYE payments to be made after the 6th of any month but before the 22nd. This is so that HMRC can allocate monies to the correct month, but it’s also the reason why people forget about it. With Modulr we can set up payments ready for you, and you will be prompted to upload the amount to your account and make the payment on the date set. No more missed payments or charges!
Let’s Talk
If you’re thinking of using Modulr or embarking on help with your Payroll, let’s talk! Our dedicated team of payroll specialists at LHP process over 50,000 payslips a year, so you are in safe hands. Our in-house team can talk you through all of the available options, from a full payroll outsource to support with any aspect of your payroll, including adopting Modulr for its automation benefits – time saving, peace of mind and reduction of human error.
