Micropay Support & FAQ's


Using the Help Function within Micropay
Whenever you come up against anything you are unsure of in Micropay, a useful tool is the help function that is available in Micropay. You will notice in any screen that you have open, there is an INFO button which you can click on that gives you context sensitve help for the screen you are in. This provides clear explainations about the screen you are in along with links to other function within the payroll that are relevant to the current screen.

You can also access the help function by simply clicking on the help button at the top of the screen in Micropay (marked with a "?").

There is also a very useful Legislative Help option, which is available in the Help Menu (above the button marked "?"). This gives links to information around TAX, PRSI, USC, PRD (Pension Related Deduction for Public Servants), Revenue Returns, HR Information, Holiday Leave & Entitlements, PRSA's, CSO (Central Statistics Office) Reporting & CWPS (Construction Workers Pension Scheme).

A full user guide in pdf format is also available by clicking on your start menu on your pc and going to All Programs -> Micropay Professional -> 2014 -> Micropay Professional User Guide.

Please Note: If after reading through the information on this page, you are still unsure of any aspect of processing payroll in Micropay, or you are having some other difficulty with Micropay not listed here, please contact us for support by phone on (01) 4011833 or by clicking on the email address above.

Do I have a week 53?

It all depends when your payroll is PAID to your employees. Once your employees receive their pay in the new tax year, then that payroll should be processed under that same tax year, regardless if the work that was done was in the previous tax year.

For example, you are paying your employees on Friday 3rd of January 2014 for hours worked up to Sunday 29th of December 2013, as the PAY DAY is in the new tax year, then that payroll should be processed as WEEK 1 of the tax year 2014.

If, however, you normally pay your employees on a Wednesday, and you want to pay on Wednesday 1st of January, but can't because it is a bank holiday, that pay will be paid on Tuesday 31st of December, which would be week 53 in the payroll (assuming a week 53 wasn't incorrectly processed and the end of the 2012 tax year).

If you need futher clarification on this, please refer to the Revenue's Employer's Guide which can be accessed from the useful links section of our site.

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Why do I have to "Clear Locks", and how do I do it?

The message "This option is currently locked...." comes up when the payroll detects that someone else is already logged into the payroll. In order to proceed, you will need that person to exit the payroll.

If you are sure that there is no one else in the payroll or the Advanced Report Writer, it might be that the payroll wasn't properly closed the last time it was accessed. In that case, you will need to clear the user from the system. This is done by clicking the MORE button on the message and providing the ADMIN password. By default, this password is PASS but it may have been changed.

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I have an employee who left, but has now come back. What do I do?

If an employee leaves your employment but subsequently returns in the same tax year, you do NOT setup the employee again. Instead, you re-activate the orignal record that you have for that employee.

To do this, simply go to the Processing Menu at the top of the screen and select "Reinstate Leaver". Put a tick beside the returning employee(s) and put their tax status to "Week 1" and check their Standard Rate Cut Off (SCROP) and Tax Credit compared to the P45 they have given you. If they haven't a P45 from their previous employment as of yet, you should put them on Emergency. Click on the Reinstate button.

If the employee left in a previous tax year, you will need to setup the employee from scratch.

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How do I setup a new employee?

To set up a new employee, simply click the "Edit Employee" link on the right under tasks, or the button on the process map. Click the new button on the right and fill in the fields. Click next. [The payroll will check for a duplicate entry to ensure you are not setting up the same employee again]. Now fill in as much detail as you can in the Personnel Tab.

In the Tax/PRSI/USC tab, set the Tax Status to Emergency, if you don't have a P45 for the new employee, or to Week 1 if you do. No not enter anything into the "Emergency Start Period" box. If you have a P45, enter in the Annual Tax Credit & Cut Off in the relevant boxes (you may need to multiply the amounts that are on the P45 by 52 if they are weekly amounts or by 12 if they are monthly. Do not tick "Do not apply PAYE" or "Marginal Relief Rate (40%)". Set the PRSI code to A1 (unless you have been instructed to use another code). Do not tick "Fixed PRSI Code" unless instructed to do so by the Department of Social Protection. Do not tick "Multiple Employment" unless you are aware that the employee is in more then one employment. Do not enter anything into the "Insurance Weeks" box.

On the Pay/YTD tab, just enter the relevant values for "Pay Type", "Employement Type", "Pay Method" and "Email Payslips & P60's" & "Pin". You do not need to enter in any other values on this screen. You can now update the other tabs as required, but you do not enter any values into the ETP tab. Once finished, click Save.

Once you submit the new employees details to Revenue via ROS, a new P2C cert will issue in due course. You MUST import this into Micropay, so as to ensure all the PAYE / USC and Local Property Tax (LPT) information is correct.

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How do I import new tax details from ROS?

In order to import in your new P2C (tax certificate) details for your employees, you must first download them from ROS. To do this, log into ROS and select the "Open Revenue Record" option on the left and select "Employee PAYE and P2C Details". On the right, select the relevant tax year and click Search. A list of all P2C's will now be displayed. If it is your first time to export P2C's, click on the "Export Complete List" button, ortherwise click on "Export Amendments Only". If you are unsure, it is no harm to export the complete list, even if it has been done already.

You may get a message stating that proceeding any further will mark all records as exported, just click YES to this message. You will now get a message asking if you wish to open or save the file. You must SAVE the file - DO NOT OPEN the file. Make sure to note where you are saving the file to.

Onced saved, log in to Micorpay and go to the Miscellaneous Menu and select Tax Credit Import-> Import Tax Credits. Click the browse button and locate the file you have just downloaded from ROS and click open. Check the summary details, and if they are OK click next. You will now be presented with a list of employees and the details that are going to be imported. Irregularities will be highlighted in red and will not import by default. You can override this by ticking the box next to the record. Employee's who have left your employement will be greyed out. Click "Import Now" to import the new details.

It is strongly advised that you print the detailed tax credit import report so as to have a record of what was imported. When finished, click "Done".

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How do I create a P45?

If you are paying the employee in the current pay period that you are in, and this will be the last payment for this employee, just enter in the last pay on the employees timesheet and at the bottom right of the timesheet entry screen there is a drop down arrow at "Leaving". Click this drop down and select "TP" (This Period). Change the date below if necessary. Save the timesheet.

If you are not paying the employee in the current pay period that you are in (i.e. the employee left in a previous pay period, but you are only generating the P45 now), you need to click into the "Edit Employees" screen and call up the employee in question. Click onto the Tax/PRSI/USC tab, and enter in the finish period and date at the bottom right of the screen. The finish period must be the last period in which the employee was paid. This can be found in the Pay/YTD tab, on the left, in the "Paid To Period" box. The finish date should be the employees offical date of leaving.

Once you run the End Of Period (EOP) option in the payroll you can generate a P45 file to upload into ROS. Just go into Reports and click into the Employee Tab and select "P45 Details". You can create a P45 for all leavers in the current period, or for specific employees in previous periods. To run for specific employees, you must select a sequence and a range in the selection area. Click on the P45 to ROS button (not part 3), and select either current period or all periods as desired. Click Proceed and save the file to a location on your PC. Log into ROS and select the option to upload file completed offline. Select P45 Part 1 from the options and click go. Click Add File and browse to where you saved the file from Micropay and select it. Sign and submit the return by entering in your ROS password at the bottom of the screen. If the upload is sucessful, you should get a notice number and you will be able to print of parts 2, 3 & 4 from your indox in ROS (revenue will supply you with the yellow A4 paper which is perforated for easy seperation of the 3 parts).

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Can I reprint a report from a previous pay period?

Yes. You can use the period archive function to revert to a previous period for the purpose of reprinting reports or payslips for that period. Simply go to the Miscellaneous Menu and select Period Archive. Hightlight the period on the left that you wish to reprint reports for, and click the Revert button. You will now be in that period. You will only have access to reports.

To revert back to your current period, simply go to the Miscellaneous Menu and select Period Archive, highlight Current Period at the bottom of the list of pay periods on th left, and click the Revert button. You will now be back in the current period and you can process as normal.

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Where should I backup to?

We would recommend that you backup to USB flash drive (a.k.a. Memory Stick or Pen Drive). The reason for this is that the backup is not linked to the PC that the payroll is on, so if the PC gets damaged by a virus, fire etc., your payroll data is safe. Make sure to create a new folder on the drive for each backup, otherwise you will overwrite your previous backup.

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Can I create my own reports?

Yes, there are 2 report writers in Micropay Professional. The first is in Micropay - simply go to the reports menu and select Report Writer. The second is a seperate program called ARW (Advanced Report Writer) and it is a seperate icon on your desktop (one for each year - i.e. ARW 2014 for report writing based on your 2014 payroll).

More information on using the report writer in Micropay can be found in the help menu or user guide. For more information on ARW please contact us directly.

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Do you provide training courses?

Yes we do. We offer courses on Micropay and ARW (Advanced Report Writer) for all levels of ability. Are courses are run on demand and can be one on one, or in group format. Please contact us for more information.

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