Payroll Standard Accreditation
Payroll Standard Accreditation Scheme
The accreditation scheme is operated by the Payroll Support Team (PST) in the evaluation of payroll products against the Payroll Standard. Software products and services that have already been accredited as fully meeting the Payroll Standard are found on the List of accredited payroll software products and suppliers.
Before applying for the Payroll Standard accreditation to run the payroll test data provided online is stongly recomended, against payroll product. This should highlight any problems within the product and will save time during the official evaluation process.
Benefits of the Payroll Standard Accreditation:
Registration of Applications
Accreditation Pack
Test Pack Evaluation
Online exchange of HMRC forms and electronic payments
Successful completion of the Formal Evaluation Process
Renewal of Payroll Standard logo
Policing / Monitoring the use of Payroll Standard logo
Benefits of the Payroll Standard Accreditation:We receive a 12 month licence, Accreditation Certificate and an electronic copy of the accreditation logo.Payroll Standard logo can be displayed within marketing materials for the certified product, as an additional sales aid. It will signify to an employer that product is up to date and has the essential features necessary to calculate PAYE, NICs, Statutory Payments and a range of other payroll functions.
We can register for the scheme by completing the appropriate Payroll Standard Accreditation Registration form.A registration form can also be requested from the Scheme Manager by telephone, fax or email.The completed registration form must be returned directly to the Scheme Manager by Email, fax or by post
On receipt of the completed registration form they will note the application on the registration database and contact us and provide/agree the following:-
a date the accreditation package will be issued,
a date for the return of the completed pack for evaluation by the Payroll Support Team,
a date for notifying the results of the evaluation to the software developer
Please note that they will operate the accreditation process on a strictly first-come/first-served basis.
Once the registration process has been completed, they will issue an accreditation pack. The following documents form the basis of the accreditation pack and will be issued on an agreed date before the formal accreditation process begins:
Payroll Standard Accreditation Test Pack -
the test pack contains a series of tests that need to be executed by the software developer on their premises to establish if their payroll product satisfies the different elements of the Payroll Standard. The test results will need to be returned to the Scheme Manager for formal evaluation.
the Payroll Standard Accreditation Terms & Conditions
- this document defines the terms and conditions of the accreditation scheme
The completed tests, and a signed copy of the Terms & Conditions should be returned by the date agreed with the Scheme Manager. They will commence evaluation of the tests within the agreed timescales. Any delay in the return of the accreditation pack may result the original test slot being lost. A further test slot may need to be negotiated with the Scheme Manager.
Elements of the Payroll Standard which can not be evaluated within the test pack (the customer service statutory payments and validation elements) will be covered in an on-site visit by the Payroll Support Team to the premises of the software developer.
In order to gain the Payroll Standard accreditation the payroll software product must satisfy all of the criteria defined within the Payroll Standard.
A series of checks will be conducted by the Payroll Support Team to establish if the test results that have been provided are correct and whether the relevant element of the Payroll Standard has been satisfied.If all the test results are correct the evaluation stage of the process will be deemed a success and the software developer will be contacted to arrange an on-site visit.
We will be notified in writing of any errors found during the evaluation process. For information purposes they will also complete a Payroll Standard Assessment report and enclose this with the letter. They will detail the errors/omissions from the evaluated test pack and provide us with appropriate guidance notes to assist us in the resolution of the errors/omissions.
If the software developer still wants to proceed with their bid for the Standard accreditation they should make the amendments to their software, produce the revised results and contact the Scheme Manager to arrange a new test slot so the revised results can be evaluated. If errors are still present, they will issue a rejection letter to the software developer advising them that their test results still contains errors and Payroll Standard accreditation can not be awarded to their product
Online exchange of forms and electronic payments
An important stage of the evaluation process, is a check to establish if the payroll product is capable of exchanging end of year Returns (P14 and P35) online. IR is able to support P14 and P35 data by Internet or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) using Value Added Networks (VANS)
The Payroll Standard requires the payroll product to have the capability to exchange P14 and P35 end of year data online (although in the future the Payroll Standard may be extended to include other PAYE forms).
be able to make electronic payment of the amounts owing to the Collector of Taxes.
Successful completion of the Formal Evaluation Process
On successful completion of the evaluation process they will notify u in writing and issue two copies of the Payroll Standard Accreditation Scheme Licence.They requires the licences to be signed and returned to the Scheme Manager.
On receipt of the signed copies of the licence, the Scheme Manager will also sign them and return a signed copy of the licence together with the Accreditation Certificate and an electronic copy of the accreditation logo. The accreditation will be valid for 12 months from the date of the award. Having been granted a licence to use the Payroll Standard accreditation logo it can be displayed within marketing materials. Please note that only the product that has been officially evaluated by them may display the Payroll Standard accreditation logo and that once awarded the logo is non-transferable to any other payroll package or product.
The software developer must keep their accredited software up to date and accurate, in accordance with relevant legislation and the Payroll Standard, during the accreditation period.
Renewal of Payroll Standard logo
Before the end of the current accreditation period they will issue a reminder to the software developer. This reminder will include a renewal notification. If the renewal notification is returned then the accreditation process will begin again.
If renewal of accreditation is not obtained you must cease use of the logo from the end of the current accreditation period.
Policing / Monitoring the use of Payroll Standard logo
The Payroll Support Team will police accredited software and monitor the use of the logo on payroll software products. This will be achieved by :-
spot checks on accredited products to ensure that updates required during the 12 month accreditation period have been correctly incorporated,
checking products on the market to ensure that only those products that have been accredited actually display the logo.
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