Triumphant Success at Pay & Benefits Awards 2013
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Once again Software for People is proud to announce that our Legislation and Compliance
Director, Hugo Fair has won his second award for ‘Professional of the Year’
at the esteemed Pay & Benefits Awards 2013.
The Pay & Benefits Awards not only saw the second award for Software for People,
also allowed SfP to represent one of our clients, Golden Gates Housing Trust
in their success by receiving the award for ‘UK Project of the Year’
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On Thursday 14th March, Software for People’s Hugo Fair, attended 8 Northumberland
Avenue in London for the Pay & Benefits Awards. Hugo’s presence at the awards was
to represent Software for People, Golden Gates Housing Trust and New College Durham,
who all were nominated in this year’s awards.
Hugo was awarded ‘Professional of the Year’, following on from the success
of his involvement with HMRC’s Real Time Information (RTI) pilot scheme. With the
previous recognition from Payroll World Awards 2012, for ‘Outstanding Achievement’
, his contribution has been extremely valuable to the organisation, our clients
and all those involved with the RTI pilot.
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Golden Gates Housing Trust , who have been a Software for People client since
2005, were shortlisted and awarded with the ‘UK Project of the Year’ 2013
award. The application was recognition for the way they approached the introduction
of Real Time Information (RTI), culminating in them being the first ever employer
to submit a complete set of RTI files. Sarah Moorcroft, Finance and Admin Officer,
and Sue Dickerson, Finance Assistant, achieved this milestone in conjunction with
guidance and project plans agreed with Software for People.
New College Durham was also shortlisted for the award ‘Most Effective Reward
Programme’ for their approach to bring their flexible benefits scheme in-house.
Providing a seamless progression from employees modeling/choosing benefits through
to the benefit being processed in payroll. With strong competitors in the category,
New College Durham was ‘Highly Commended’ for the 2013 award.
In the last 6 months, both Software for people and our clients have achieved positive
recognition for all the project developments we have completed in 2012. Firstly
at the end of 2012, we had success with the Payroll World Awards and followed last
week with the Pay & Benefits Awards. Over the forthcoming years, with numerous projects
in force including Online Expenses and Auto Enrolment and the welcoming of new clients,
we will continue to build on our long lasting relationships and identify future
possibilities.
“Three awards presented to SfP staff or clients and two highly commended recognitions
to another client, is a definite tribute to all the hard work and efforts put into
the actual projects, which were the basis of the original nomination submissions”
– Ian Alexander, New College Durham
Award Winning Software for People
Software for
People is proud to announce that our very own Legislation and Compliance Director Hugo Fair won
the 2012 Outstanding Achievement Award in the prestigious Payroll World Awards .
On the 8th of November 2012 nearly 400 payroll professionals gathered at the Lancaster
London Hotel to celebrate the achievements of the payroll industry. Software for People as well as
a number of our clients including City Literature Institute, Golden Gates Housing Trust and New
College Durham attended the highly anticipated Payroll World Awards Ceremony.
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Hugo won
the Outstanding Achievement Award due to his extensive involvement in the HMRC’s Real Time
Information (RTI) pilot scheme. His knowledge was invaluable for not only Software for
People’s clients but all employers who were involved in the RTI pilot schemes and even
helping HMRC understand the needs of payroll departments for any industry. Further information on
why Hugo won the award can be found further in this article.
In attendance from our client
Golden Gates Housing Trust was Sarah Moorcroft; Finance and Admin Officer and Sue Dickenson;
Finance Assistant. Golden Gates Housing Trust in conjunction with Software for People were
shortlisted for the Implementation Project Award . This was due to our close partnership
reinforced by collectively sending the very first RTI submission during the first RTI pilot scheme.
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In attendance from our client New College Durham was Ian
Alexander; Systems Development Project Manager, Bob Metcalf; Head of Finance and Elaine Proud; Head
of HR. With support from Software for People New College Durham were highly commended for the
Best Use of Self-Service Award due to the belief that they were the first in the UK to replace
printed P60s with e-P60s (published on the first legal day, 6th April 2011) and the implementation
of their online flexible benefits facility.
They were also shortlisted for the Best
Compensation & Benefits Team Award due to their decision to manage their flexible benefits
scheme in-house. This facility was totally integrated with their HR and Payroll system SfP World
Service meaning seamless progression from an employee choosing a flexible benefit to the benefit
going through to payroll.
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To view the full applications
please click on the links below:
Celebration of Payroll World Award
Shortlist
Software for People is delighted to announce that it has been
shortlisted for the Implementation Project Award in the prestigious Payroll World Awards.
This was due to our close partnership with our client Golden Gates Housing Trust reinforced by
collectively sending the very first RTI submission.
With support from Software for People
one of our clients New College Durham has also been shortlisted for the Best Compensation &
Benefits Team Award and Best Use of Self-Service Award.
Our very own Legislation
and Compliance Director Hugo Fair has also been shortlisted for the Outstanding Achievement
Award.
Software for People Hit the Headlines
The first successful Real Time Information submission was a monumental historic event that
was celebrated not only by HMRC and the first organisation (Golden Gates Housing Trust) to submit
RTI files but also Software for People as their software supplier.
The story was headline news
for a number of publications including:
To
read these articles for further information on our success story please click on the links above.
The articles were also featured in the May editions of the Payroll World and Pay
and Benefits magazines.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals have also
featured an article on the story on their website and in their June edition of Payroll
Professional magazine.
Golden Gates Housing Trust First
Employer to Submit RTI Files
Golden Gates Housing Trust this week became the
first ever employer to submit a complete set of PAYE RTI (Real Time Information) files –
successfully and on schedule.
RTI introduces the completely new concept of reporting
PAYE to HMRC. Every time you process a payroll, instead of only doing so once per annum, and will
lead to:
- Employers receiving more frequent updates of employees’ tax codes;
- A
reduction in the number of underpayments or overpayments to HMRC.
It also supports the
introduction of Universal Credit, which will replace income-related benefits and credits, by
providing the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) access to up-to-date information on a
claimant's income from employment.
Golden Gates Housing Trust (GGHT) is a registered provider
of social housing. GGHT launched on 29 November 2010, formed as part of the Stock Transfer of 8,700
homes from Warrington Borough Council. The transfer converted the successful Arms Length Management
Organisation Golden Gates Housing into a registered provider of social housing.
Golden Gates
first became aware of the RTI changes when their software/service supplier, Software for People,
contacted them in June last year to ask if they would like to volunteer to join a Pilot scheme.
This would be unusual in that, despite being an opportunity for them and HMRC to test all the
resultant changes in software and procedures, the results would be ‘live’. In other words they
would be an ‘early adopter’, helping others to learn lessons from a major project, but would also
get ahead of the game – having migrated 18 months before it becomes mandatory for every employer.
Understandably cautious at first, Golden Gates were only prepared to
consider joining the Pilot due to the trust they placed in Software for People (SfP) – and the close
working relationship they knew already existed between SfP and HMRC. Sarah Moorcroft, their Finance
& Admin Officer, says “We set up a small working party involving payroll and IT to consider the
effort required and to identify any issues/risks, before discussing it with Senior Management who
fully supported the project“.
Over the next 6 months SfP liaised on a daily basis with
HMRC’s SDST (Software Developers Support Team) and their specially convened RTI Migration team –
helping to identify aspects of Payroll that needed to be included in technical specifications and
guidelines for all developers. Sarah adds “SfP distributed a number of documents throughout the
process explaining what was expected of us; providing checklists and keeping us informed of the
progress of any changes made to support RTI”.
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L-R: Sue Dickenson, Sarah
Moorcroft and Debbie McCormack from Golden Gates Housing Trust
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By
October 2013 RTI will affect every one of the circa 2.5 million employers in the UK, so it is a
massive project that requires clear targets with regular measurement of progress. Right from the
start, the first major target was agreed to be that 10 employers (selected by HMRC to give a mix of
size and type of employers) would submit files in April this year.
Rightly seen as an
ambitious target, SfP convinced Golden Gates to make the commitment even when much of the detail was
still unknown – and to assure HMRC that a collaborative approach would maximise the chances of
success.
From their previous record of success in bringing projects in on time, SfP made no
changes to software until January this year – instead concentrating on resolving all the
uncertainties uncovered by in-depth modelling and through talking to all their other clients. As
Sarah says “SfP answered all my operational questions which enabled me to make sure everything was
set up correctly. We tested each step prior to going live (including creating/reviewing all the
files)! SfP also ran a workshop prior to the launch, so that screens were familiar to users and
internal procedures could be revised where necessary”.
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The faith shown by Golden Gates was rewarded when,
exactly on schedule, they became the very first employer to ‘push the button’ on Wednesday 11th
April 2012. With representatives from HMRC including David Ellis, Deputy Director Migration, in
attendance, the first major milestone of this project was achieved – followed by submission of the
rest of the set of files required on a monthly basis.
From HMRC’s perspective this is of
course only the first milestone, with schedules to bring ever greater numbers of employers into the
new system month-by-month. However, as everyone who has been responsible for a large project knows,
the key to overall success is to hit the first milestone and then to keep doing so with the next
one.
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L-R: Alison Frost (SfP), David Ellis (HMRC) and Richard Archer (HMRC)
confirming the RTI return has been successful
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As Hugo Fair,
Legislation and Compliance Director, explains “Our whole ethos has always been based on the quality
of both software and services, underpinned by developing long-term relationships with our clients.
We are well known for asking questions almost as much as for listening, so that clients can be sure
their objectives are fully understood and shared. As well as the obvious benefits this brings to
all parties, it is the foundation of our reputation for meeting agreed targets. We are particularly
pleased that the faith shown by Golden Gates has been justified and will continue to work with HMRC,
and other government bodies, to deliver their plans at least possible risk”.
And as Sarah says “It feels like a real achievement to be the first employer to submit
successfully. The key to success is making sure all the relevant data is correct in readiness for
your first EAS file and working as a team with your software provider. SfP have been excellent
throughout”.
SfP has lined up the next 9 employers who will file RTI for the first time
in May this year and will continue to support both HMRC and clients through the next year – as well
as of course thereafter.
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L-R: Hugo Fair (SfP), David Ellis (HMRC), Peter Whitfield (HMRC), Richard
Archer (HMRC) and Simon Thompson (SfP)
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