At the moment, the pilot cannot be regarded as an accurate representation of what takes place in the daily routines of payroll departments up and down the country and consequently it needs to become far more ‘real’. The first company to send an Employer Alignment Submission (EAS) as part of the pilot reportedly spent six months on and off checking its data, but not everyone will have the luxury of being able to do this. Undoubtedly, the realities of day-to-day scenarios and occurrences will start to feed through as more and more companies come on board, making the acid test when those which don’t have squeaky clean data start to transmit their EAS. It is after all hard to imagine a payroll database – especially one of substantial size – that is not affected by a number of ‘human errors’ such as misspelt names, negative values, erroneous personal details and even empty fields. If it took the first company six months to check its data, is the on-going RTI process going to require every submitting company to be similarly diligent in verifying its data?
Particular attention must be paid to the plight of not only larger companies with sizable databases to check, but also to small companies for whom RTI could prove to be highly burdensome. It is not uncommon in these instances to find the same individual who runs payroll also having responsibility for HR. Sometimes, this individual may turn out to also be the managing director’s PA. It is highly unlikely that individuals in this position will have the capacity to get up-to-speed with the demands of RTI without help and support. Granted, the sector still has some 12 months to prepare, but RTI demands a significant re-engineering of business processes as well as painstaking effort (and even additional resource) to ensure the payroll data is accurate.
Kingdom of the Blind
In short, not everyone has the time, resources, budget or inclination to attend workshops, seminars and consultations, but RTI will impact on them nonetheless. While it is an employer’s responsibility to ensure it is geared up for RTI, HMRC and software providers must accept that some will need more support and guidance than others. For RTI to attain widespread success, there needs to be wholesale understanding and recognition of its requirements across organisations of all sizes. Clearly, this stage hasn’t been reached yet and HMRC as well as other stakeholders involved in implementing RTI need to step up the communication campaign. Unless this occurs, there’s every chance that it will be the failures rather than the success stories that will be making the headlines in a year’s time which won’t serve anyone any good.
It’s good to talk!
As both a software provider and payroll bureaux, Bond has found individuals at HMRC to be extremely helpful in providing technical updates, but as a whole the organisation has been widely criticised for the general dearth of information being issued on RTI. Advancing through the pilot stage, the next phase of communications and feedback from HMRC will prove crucial.
Undoubtedly, technical and other practical issues will arise from the trial and it is only when feedback starts to filter through as to what these are that employers and software developers can set about resolving problems. Make no mistake though, while the successful implementation of RTI depends on technology, it also hinges on clear communication and guidance to both the software industry and employers, regardless of whether they’ve been involved in the pilot or not. The technical know-how exists in the payroll industry to solve most problems but to respond to challenges appropriate communication channels must also be in place. HMRC must learn from past experience and appreciate that what is required is a warts and all feedback as well as an open forum throughout the pilot period. Only then will the industry have a proper opportunity to minimise if not eradicate problems ahead of the go-live deadline in April 2013.
Everyone in payroll will no doubt recall the shaky early beginnings of electronic filing and no-one wants to see a repeat of some of those experiences or the volumes of bad press generated. The sheer size and scale of the move to RTI shouldn’t be under-estimated, nor should be the importance of the pilot to everyone working in the payroll sector today whether that is in major corporates or micro SMEs. With the go-live date still some 12 months off, there is still enough time for everyone to set their plans in motion. HMRC needs to closely monitor the pilot and consult with the right people on the findings. In the final analysis, taking the time and attaching enough value to getting it right is of far greater consequence than rushing to meet a deadline and receiving a plaudit from a Government minister. Payroll can only hope that this time it gets its priorities right. www.bondpayrollservices.co.uk
