THE biggest change in 50 years to the way businesses report their payroll information took effect in April.

Real Time Information (RTI) means all businesses with one or more employee will have to report their PAYE information as they go along, rather than at the end of the year.

Accounting software company Sage says it has helped more than 250,000 firms to file successfully and has issued some tips about the change:

1. Find out what the legislative changes will mean to your processes by speaking to your payroll software provider. This will ensure you continue to pay your employees and HMRC on time, whilst also fulfilling the legislative requirements of submitting more frequently to HMRC

2. Carry out a full data cleanse on your system, working with your employees to make sure all your data is correct. According to HMRC, the 2009/10 employer returns showed there are 128 employees called Mr, Ms or Miss Dummy, 572 employees whose surnames ranged from “X” to “XXXXX”, 507 A N Others, 160 Tests, 100 Do Not Use, 75 staff called Casual, 11 Cleaners, nine Workers, six Students and 824 Unknown. Ensure all the information you have is up to date and that the correct names, date of birth and National Insurance numbers for all of your staff are recorded. If the records you submit do not match those at HMRC, you may trigger the creation of duplicate or inaccurate records which could result in incorrect tax calculations or HMRC compliance checks

3. Communicate with your employees about how important the information they provide the employer is in ensuring the accuracy of their payroll, so they are educated on the implications of providing inaccurate information

4. Store all your business information securely so that you can react quickly to any requests, demands or legislative issues that arise. Use HMRC recognised payroll software to reduce the burden on doing payroll manually every month; this will help automate processes, mitigate errors and give you peace of mind that you are fully compliant

5. Make the most of customer service. Some software, including Sage products such as Sage 50 Payroll, Sage One Payroll and Sage ERP X3 have dedicated help desks for you to contact. Use this facility to check with them that you have all the data you need for your RTI submissions, and remember that all responsibility for paying employees correctly, and in line with RTI, rests with the employer.