To create an Advance payment please go to Payroll > Process > Advance Payment.
There are two types of advance you can create.
Cash Advance - Cash advances are best used when you have calculated an amount to pay the worker outside of the system and you need a simple and fast solution. The user has to enter the advanced amount manually.
True Advance - True Advance is a feature update that allows you to calculate a more accurate value of payment by using our payroll calculator without creating a payslip and an FPS. This way, you know the value you are advancing the worker is likely to be much closer to their true pay when running their payroll at a later date. True Advances mean improved accuracy on your advance estimates and a reduced likelihood of any Carry Forward deductions for workers.
Quick Navigation:
True Advance
To create a true advance, first select the 'True Advance' button on the advances screen, as shown below.
You will then be taken to the 'Advance Payments Creation' screen. From here, you need to enter some details regarding the advance batch.
Advance Payment Name: Give the advance batch a name that will make it easily identifiable in the event of a query.
Banking Date: Select the date the workers will receive the advance.
Bank File Type: Select the correct bank file type for payment.
Once you've done that, hit the 'Next' button. Your page will expand and look like the one below; in this example, I have already populated the fields.
Name: Select the worker you are advancing. You can type and search in the drop-down.
Assignment: This will be a dropdown of the worker's active assignments. Just select the one you wish to create an advance for.
Pay Date: The system will look at the worker's previous pay date(s) and try to predict a suitable date. If you do not agree with this, then it can be overridden.
Requested by: Enter the name of the person who requested the advance. This will typically be an agency worker.
Advance Margin: Enter a margin for the advance calculation. For example, if the worker is charged £15 per week, you would enter £15 to ensure the calculation is as accurate as possible.
Attachment: You can upload any supporting documentation, such as the advance request. This can be great in the event of a payment query.
Unit / Rate - Enter the unit(s) and rate for the calculation. This will typically be a timesheet value outlined by the 'Requested By' person. You can have several rates, as shown above.
Once you have filled in those fields, press 'Calculate'.
The calculation will then appear on your screen, as shown below.
Advance Amount: This is the net pay calculated using the units and rate given in the previous step. You can override this if you want. There are also two buttons.
You can click the calculation info box to get the details. You can even round the figure off to the nearest £10, £20, £30, £40 or £50.
This is the PBE download button. Clicking this will download the PBE in Excel format, which is really helpful if you want to see how the system got from the units and rates to the net pay.
Repayment Start Date: Enter the date from which you want to start deducting the advance. The system will then deduct the payment of the next payroll dated on or after the selected date.
Repayment Periods: Enter the number of periods to deduct the advance.
Additional Margin Per Repayment: Enter the additional margin you are charging the worker per period for the advance.
Once you have completed these fields, press 'Submit'
You should now see the advance being created as part of your batch, as shown below.
Please note: If you have made an error, you can still change any of the figures or dates on this screen.
From this point, you can press 'Add Entry' and repeat the process to add more advances to this single batch. You can also press 'Draft' and this will create the batch as a draft. This can be really useful if you need to do something else but aren't quite ready to submit the advance.
Once you are ready, just press 'Submit'
You will now be on the 'Advances Payments Batch' screen and should see your recently created batch near the top.
In the action column, you can view the batch in more detail, download the bank file for payment and send an SMS if you have a TxtAnywhere account.
If you click the 'View All Payments' button, you will be taken back to the main advance screen and should see the worker near the top.
Once the worker is paid after the date set, the advance will start to be recovered.
Cash Advance
To create a cash advance, first select the 'Cash Advance' button on the advances screen, as shown below.
You will then be taken to the 'Advance Payments Creation' screen. From here, you need to enter some details regarding the advance batch.
Advance Payment Name: Give the advance batch a name that will make it easily identifiable in the event of a query.
Banking Date: Select the date the workers will receive the advance.
Bank File Type: Select the correct bank file type for payment.
Once you've done that, hit the 'Next' button. Your page will expand and look like the one below; in this example, I have already populated the fields.
Name: Select the worker you are advancing. Type in the drop-down box to search for the worker
Advance Amount - Enter the amount you are paying the worker.
Repayment Start Date: Enter the date you wish to start recovering the advance; this will look at the pay dates entered for payrolls.
Repayment Periods: How many pay intervals are you looking to spread the advance over?
Additional Margin Per Repayment: Enter the extra margin per period you are charging for the advance.
So in my example, I am recovering £20 per pay interval and am charging an extra £5 per interval for the convenience of an advance.
From this point, you can 'Add Entry' and repeat the process if you are advancing more than one worker in this batch or you can submit the batch as a 'Draft' if you are not yet ready to complete it. This allows you to come back at any point and add more workers or submit it.
Once you are ready, press 'Submit'
You will now be on the 'Advances Payments Batch' screen and should see your recently created batch near the top.
In the action column, you can view the batch in more detail, download the bank file for payment and send an SMS if you have a TxtAnywhere account.
If you click the 'View All Payments' button, you will be taken back to the main advance screen and should see the worker near the top.
Once the worker is paid after the date set, the advance will start to be recovered.
How Will an Advance Look on the Payslip?
The advance deduction will show under 'Deductions' on the payslip, this is where the PAYE/NI also shows.
If you've opted to charge an additional margin to the worker, their 'Company Margin' will be increased by that amount for the number of periods set when creating the advance.
Show Summary Information
The summary information is hidden by default. It can be viewed by clicking the "Show Summary Info" button and hidden by clicking the "Hide Summary Info" button.
Similarly, the search section can also be shown or hidden by using the search icon at the top. This is to provide more data viewing space for the user
Manage Advance Payment Batches:
You can use this screen to filter your advance creations.
You can view the deduction history and if you use modular this is where you can verify the payment.
How to Write an Advance Off
Sometimes there is a need to write-off an advance deduction. Usually, this is because the worker has left before paying back the full amount and it may need to be put down as bad debt.
To do this, go to the main advances screen and locate the worker's advance by using the available filters. Once you've done that, click the edit button, as shown below.
The below will appear on your screen.
If you want to write the advance off, then change the periods left to deduct to '0' and press 'Update'.
The advance will not be deducted from the worker's future payroll. However, the accounts will still reflect the advance as outstanding.
To correct this, you will need to post a manual journal to write the advance off and post it to a bad debt code.