01224 208729 info@fyfemoirassociates.com First Floor, 5 Abercrombie Court Prospect Road Arnhall Business Park, Westhill, AB32 6FE
09
Apr

Job Retention Scheme (JRS) Payroll Portal Access

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The JRS Portal

The Government has announced that they are ready to launch the online portal on 20th April.

The Access rules

To access the portal and to make the claim it is of paramount importance that:

  1. A PAYE payroll scheme was created and set up on or before 28th February 2020
  2. A UK bank account is operational
  3. That the business has enrolled for PAYE online. If nobody has done this yet it is imperative to get the ball rolling. The link below will help:

https://www.gov.uk/paye-online/enrol

Be warned that the activation code could take up to ten days in which to arrive and it might be sent to the business address which may possibly still be in lockdown.

Who can make the claim?

Only the business and agents authorised to act for PAYE matters will be able to make the claim. That agent could be the accountant or another Third Party.

Please note that file only agents, which could include some Payroll Bureaus, will not be able to access the service due to data protection reasons.

The fear

The concern is that there will be thousands of businesses who will have furloughed, have a UK bank account and have an operational PAYE scheme set up but not online. This could therefore delay processing through their claim.

Important steps to take

  1. Check that the business, which is making a claim, is set up online for PAYE and is able to make the claim either through their own access or through the appointed agent which could be the accountant or a Third Party. You may need to check your own records or contact the Third Party or the client to ascertain the position. If confirmation is given, preferably get it in writing.
  2. If the scheme is not registered online do so as per the link above as soon as possible. Keep an eye out for the activation code (including business premises).
  3. Who is going to make the claim?
  4. This needs to be decided now. IF asking a Third Party to make the claim then bear in mind the volume of claims they will already have to make and the information you will have to provide them with in order that a successful claim can be made. In the first instance, try to make the claim yourself.
  5. If it is you who has access to the portal but a Third Party (e.g. Fyfe Moir & Associates) runs the payroll you will need the information in a) above to make the claim. Will you want confirmation/permission from the client before pressing the button on such a claim? Will your client want to know and agree the amount of the claim before the button is pressed? Do you need to ascertain how often the client wants to make the claim?
  6. If it is the Third Party who can process the claim, do you need information from them, on each occasion, for the amounts claimed and the breakdown to enable you to deal with the subsequent accounts?

So, a bit more and very welcome clarity. The volume of work to be undertaken is going to be large, particularly as Agents themselves may have furloughed staff and therefore have limited availability to deal with claims.

If in doubt, in the first instance email info@fyfemoirassociates.com. We ask for your patience, this is brand new, it will take time to get used to the processes and there will be a big volume of work to get through.