General Practice is on the front line of rapid change, and payroll and pensions are often treated as an afterthought just purely down to time constraints. The pace of change has meant surgeries have had to adapt and bring in outside knowledge, with many new practice managers being brought in with Business or Finance backgrounds, but not necessarily NHS experience. This can cause issues with payroll as the rules around pay are peculiar to General Practice, and although in some respects they are similar to other Local Government rules, there are distinct differences that if approached in the wrong way, can have a dramatic impact on an employees pay and pension. With Staff morale directly linked to pay, it is unsurprising that many practices are switching from running the payroll themselves to outsourcing to providers with the specialist knowledge required to get it right. Payroll has changed so much in the last 5 years alone that many people struggle to keep up with the changes if it isn’t a main part of their job, and with more changes year on year, payroll has become a much more demanding process.
Our service for GP Practices & Direction Bodies is provided by a specialist arm of APS Global that understands the complexities of NHS pension payrolls. Our payroll service ensures that you are fully compliant with NHS Pension regulations.
NHS Payroll Services
Our standard payroll service for general practices includes:
- Take-on of part year data so you don’t need to wait for the start of a new tax year
- Full Gross to Net calculation of wages, including unlimited payments and deduction types, NHS and Auto Enrolment Pension calculations, and any other deductions such as Court Orders
- Partners can be included on the payment run but excluded from the RTI returns.
- Choice of payslip styles: Password protected email payslips, printed security seal payslips (posted to the surgery or home addresses) or a file for you to print and distribute.
- All RTI submissions sent, with P60s provided at the end of the year
- Comprehensive reporting, including a GP1 style report for easy entry onto NHS POL.
- Liaising with HMRC for all matters on your behalf
- Production of a payment list (or banking file), with the option to upgrade to a managed BACS facility where we make the payments on your behalf
NHS Pension Administration
Our NHS Pension administration service includes submitting starters, leavers and changes to personal details to the NHSPA, as well as submitting your SD55 annual returns.
If you set us up as a user on Pensions Online, we can administer all of the pension scheme, including submitting the monthly GP1 reports, processing requests for pension benefit estimates, AW8s and RF12s.
We will also investigate all SM8 queries and ensure everything is kept up to date. With the NHS Pension Scheme changing, there will be much more information that you will need to record and report on. Outsourcing your payroll has never been more attractive!
Grant us access to your POL account and we will:
- Upload your monthly GP1 report
- Process all starters, leavers and changes to personal details
- Upload your SD55 Annual Updates
- Process all AW8s and RF12s
- Investigate any SM8 requests
- Request any Retirement Forecast statements for your employees
- Resolve any historic issues that need updating.
With trained staff (including an ex-Practice Manager!) on hand, we can answer any queries you may have, and ensure that you stay compliant. We also put our money where our mouth is an indemnify you against any errors. We are so confident, that if you were to receive a penalty for non or late submission of your GP1 return, we will pay it for you.
We also complete all of your auto-enrolment responsibilities, re-enrolling employees every 3 years, completing the declarations of compliance, and advising on setting up secondary pension schemes where employees are not eligible for re-enrolment into the NHS Pension Scheme.
We can also add on additional features too, such as holiday scheme and occupational sick scheme administration, and all you need to do is complete our template each month with any changes, and we send you back a full suite of reports.
So if you are struggling to keep up with the requirements of payroll, or just would like one less thing to have responsibility to complete, give us a call to see how we can help.