2022 Christmas Opening Hours

 Here are our opening hours for the Christmas period:      

All of the staff here at Thesaurus Payroll Manager would like to thank you for your valued custom in 2022. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

To contact our support team you can call us on 01 835 2074, or email us at support@thesaurus.ie

Posted byHolly McHughinCustomer Update

How to identify and process Week 53 in payroll

A week 53 arises in payroll when there is an extra payday in the tax year. It only applies to employees who are paid weekly (week 53), fortnightly (fortnight 27) or 4-weekly (4-weekly 14).

If an employer changes a payday during the year, or in the previous year, resulting in a ‘week 53’ payday, no additional tax credits or rate band are due. This also applies where a payment, including a notional payment, is made to an employee on 31 December (or 30/31 December in a leap year) and it is not the employee’s normal payday.

If a week 53 arises, PAYE Regulations state that the employer should use the latest Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) to apply an extra pay period’s tax Credit and cut-off points and deduct Income Tax and Universal Social Charge (USC) on a Week 1 basis. If the emergency tax basis applies to an employee, then the employer must continue to apply the normal rules that apply to the calculation of income tax or USC on an emergency basis.

If a normal week 53 applies, your payroll software will automatically apply the rules, as outlined above. It is highly recommended that you always run a week 53 as a separate payroll run to any other payroll period, ensuring that a separate Payroll Submission Request (PSR) is submitted to Revenue with the correct payment day.

If the normal pay date falls on the 1st January and payment is made to the Employees on the 31st of December (as the 1st is a Bank Holiday) this is not a week 53 calculation, but the first pay period of the new tax year.

Related articles:

• Minimum wage rates in Ireland for 2023 and the new living wage
• Pensions update: CWPS Rates to increase on 1st February 2023
• Preparing for Auto Enrolment: Everything you need to know

Posted byHolly McHughinPAYEPayroll

Thesaurus Customer Update: March 2022

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's March update. Our most important news this month include:

• Remote working legislation set to be introduced

• Revolutionize your payroll this year with digital banking

• How Thesaurus Payroll Manager customers can benefit from using Surf Accounts

Additional public holiday in Ireland 

The extra once-off public holiday on 18th March 2022 was brought in to recognise the efforts of the public and in remembrance of those who lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that employees are entitled to an additional day’s paid leave. 

Holiday entitlements Read more

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Connecting payroll and payments with Modulr 

Register for our upcoming joint webinar with Modulr on 10th March to discover how you can make payments to employees from within Thesaurus Payroll Manager.

Bureau webinar Employer webinar

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Streamline employee communications

Thesaurus Connect is an essential tool for keeping your payroll data safe and streamlining employee communications. All communication between Thesaurus Payroll Manager on your PC and the Thesaurus Connect servers is carried out on a safe channel with maximum security.

Book a demo Find out more

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Thesaurus Software & Relate Software Merger - 6 Months On 

In September we announced that we have joined forces with Relate Software. Over the past six months, we have been working hard to merge both companies into one, and we are now jointly operating as Bright Software Group. By operating as Bright, we have access to additional resources to improve the services and support we provide to our customers.

There are no changes to the functionality of the software or the support you may receive from our team. 

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New bill for remote working  

The government wants to introduce legislation that will underpin employees’ right to request remote work. Thesaurus Payroll Manager, in tandem with Thesaurus Connect, will allow for completely seamless “working from home” functionality, where there are multiple individuals who work on or require access to the same employer files. 

Find out more Book a demo

 

Posted byHolly McHughinCustomer Update

Increase profits and improve client satisfaction with Thesaurus Connect

A recent customer survey revealed that only 15% of Thesaurus bureau customers actually charge their clients for the extra features of using Thesaurus Connect. This is a very surprising figure, as we expected it to be much, much higher. Thesaurus bureau customers are losing out on potential profits and revenue by not at least passing on the cost of Thesaurus Connect to their clients – even though they are providing an additional service to their clients.

Additional services

You may not use every single Thesaurus Connect feature, but below is a list of additional services alongside processing the payroll, that can be offered to your clients. Remember, once signed up for Thesaurus Connect – all of these features are included in the price - so why not make use of them!

• Client dashboard
• Annual leave management tool
• Multiple users
• Extra support for remote working
• Employee self-service

Client dashboard

Invite your clients to their very own client dashboard where the client can view and run payroll reports, upload important documents for employees, and manage annual leave. We recommend that you book a 15-minute online demo to view an overview of Thesaurus Connect.

Annual leave management tool

Employees can be invited to a self-service portal where they can request and cancel annual leave. Once the client approves the leave request, it flows automatically into the payroll software on the bureau’s PC and is added to the employee’s calendar. 

Multiple users

Both the bureau and client can add as many users to Thesaurus Connect as they wish. We recommend that you only set users up as standard users. You will be able to edit permissions on what each user will have access to. Follow step-by-step instructions to assign a new user on Thesaurus Connect.

Extra support for remote working

Post-pandemic, there has been a growing trend of businesses implementing long-term and permanent remote working and hybrid working work environments. Thesaurus Connect has been updated to include improved remote working functionality. This includes a ‘version checking’ feature when opening the employer file and an ‘other users check’ to prevent the risk of conflicting copies. This is extremely useful when there are two of more processors, processing payroll from multiple PCs.

Employee self-service

Thesaurus Connect’s employee self-service portal allows employees to access their payslips, documents or their holiday calendar 24/7, anywhere, anytime. The portal can be accessed through an internet browser or through the Thesaurus Connect smartphone and tablet app which is available on both iOS and Android devices. This employee app reduces admin work for a manager or HR department having to accept and track annual leave and sending payslips.

Increase profits and client satisfaction

The many features and benefits mentioned above will ensure that your business is future proof in keeping up with all payroll trends. Thesaurus Connect will benefit you, your clients and their employees. The client will have more control over payroll data and can create custom reports without having to request them. There is less admin work needed overall, meaning that the time saved can be spent on other important aspects of the business that need attention.

We recommend that you list all of the additional services that your client can benefit from by introducing Thesaurus Connect. They might want to use all of the features or others might want to select a few. Either way, it’s helpful to include everything as they might want to re-visit the features at a later date. The client could be saving money themselves as they could have been paying for a separate annual leave system that they can now get rid of as Thesaurus Connect includes one.

By introducing Thesaurus Connect to your clients, you are giving them access to the great benefits of cloud technology. Integrate your payroll and HR processes to save time by eliminating manual data entries, using one system that caters for multiple processes. Book a 15-minute demo today to discover more about Thesaurus Connect.

To keep up with the latest payroll news, check out our new Bright website. There, you'll be able to register for any of our upcoming payroll webinars and download our payroll guides.

Related articles:

• Sharing a hybrid working policy with employees
• New Feature: Introducing direct payments through Thesaurus Payroll Manager
• Read our Thesaurus Connect customer testimonials

Posted byHolly McHughinBrightPay Connect

Data backup: three strategies to protect your business from data loss

Do you backup your data regularly? 17% of businesses keep no data backups whatsoever and store information only on their computer's hard drive. The purpose of a backup is to create a copy of your data which can be recovered in the event that the original is disrupted. Backups protect against hardware failure, virus attacks, natural disasters, and human error.

A recent Hiscox report, which surveyed 355 companies in Ireland, showed that 41% of Irish businesses suffered at least one cyber-attack in 2020. The report also revealed that 6.5% of Irish firms paid a ransom following a ransomware attack.

It is essential that you backup your payroll data to protect your business and your employees. Your business can save time and money if any of the above events occur, and you have a copy of your data elsewhere. Discover three ways you can backup your data below.

1. Backup using cloud storage

Investing in cloud storage such as Google Drive or Dropbox allows you to keep your data safe in the cloud. You will need to remember to manually backup your data regularly. With cloud storage, an advantage is that your data has multiple backups within your storage provider’s data centres. This means that if something catastrophic happened to your backup, it is already backed up somewhere else.

2. Use an external hard drive

A less popular option is backing up your data using a physical storage device or USB key. Your data transfer speeds are typically faster as you don’t require an internet connection. This method can come with its own risks and cost per GB can also be expensive.

3. Use Thesaurus Connect

If you process payroll in-house, Thesaurus Payroll Manager’s add-on product, Thesaurus Connect, enables users to safely and securely backup their payroll data to the cloud. A chronological history of backups will be maintained which can be restored to your PC at any time. Click here to book a free 15-minute online demo of Thesaurus Connect.

Discover more:

To discover more about Thesaurus Payroll Manager and Thesaurus Connect and how it can improve your payroll services and save you time, schedule a free online demo with a member of our team today. Thesaurus Payroll Manager also offers a 60-day free trial of its payroll software, an ideal way to test out the software to see if it’s the right fit for your business. The free trial version has full functionality with no limitations on any of the features. Thesaurus Connect is not included in the free trial.

Related articles:

• Ransomware: How to protect your payroll data
• 4 mistakes to avoid when running payroll
• New Feature: Introducing direct payments through Thesaurus Payroll Manager

Posted byHolly McHughinPayroll Software

Thesaurus Customer Update: February 2022

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's February update. Our most important news this month include:

• EWSS Update: Changes from 1st February

• Statutory Sick Pay – Preparing for 2022

• New bill for remote working set to be introduced

Posted byHolly McHughinCustomer Update

Thesaurus Customer Update: January 2022

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's January update. Our most important news this month include:

• Your payroll resolutions for January 2022

• Watch on-demand: EWSS Changes

• Transform your payroll this year with digital banking

Posted byHolly McHughinCustomer Update

Thesaurus Customer Update: December 2021

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's December update. Our most important news this month include:

• Year End - Frequently Asked Questions

• Christmas bonuses and One4All gift cards: your festive payroll guide covered

• 4 mistakes to avoid when running payroll

Posted byHolly McHughinCustomer Update

4 mistakes to avoid when running payroll

Thesaurus Payroll Manager's optional add-on product, Thesaurus Connect, unlocks powerful cloud features that help improve your payroll processes. Below, we outline 4 mistakes that you should be avoiding when running payroll, and what solutions both Thesaurus Payroll Manager and Thesaurus Connect can offer to ensure that your business is safe and secure using the latest technology. 

2. Complicated annual leave process

Do you need an easy-to-use leave management tool? With Thesaurus Connect, employees can request annual leave through their own self-service portal. Once approved, the leave will be automatically synchronised to the payroll software on the desktop.

4. Not complying with GDPR

Using GDPR compliant payroll software means you and your employees can rest assured that all personal data is stored and managed in a safe and secure manner. Click here to find out how Thesaurus Connect is helping with GDPR.

Watch this short video for an overview of how your business can benefit from Thesaurus Connect.

Related articles

• Sharing a hybrid working policy with employees
• Budget 2022 - An Employer Payroll Focus
• Webinar on-demand: Connecting Payroll & Payments with Modulr

Thesaurus Customer Update: November 2021

Welcome to Thesaurus Software's November update. Our most important news this month include:

• Report calls for pension age increase

• Budget 2022 - Employer Payroll Focus

• Payroll App – What your employees can and cannot see

Posted byHolly McHughinCustomer Update