Parallel Runs: What to look for if you have differences – Pento UK

Tax Codes

Does the Employee tax code on Pento match with the payslip? Please ensure you enable any M1/W1 codes in Pento too. Please note, your current provider may have received a tax code notice (P6) which would not filter through to Pento (any new notices will be automatically updated once you are live and have switched on the HMRC integration).

Year to Date Earnings

Do the employee/s have earnings from a previous employment within the tax year?

E.g. upon joining your company, did they provide a P45? If so, please ensure the previous earnings and tax has been entered on their record in Pento - you can add this on the 'Taxes' page on the employee record.

Pension Types

Have you set up the correct Pension Type?

Salary sacrifice

This would be a gross deduction and therefore affect tax and NI (please check if you should have the NI savings switched on too! If you are uncertain, your pension provider should be able to advise)

Net Pay Arrangements

These are also a gross deduction, however, they only reduce taxable pay, and are still subject to NIC contributions.

Relief at Source

Relief at Source is a net deduct and does not affect tax & NI. Please note, if an employee doesn’t have an NI number in Pento, the pension with calculate without tax relief

Pension Type QE

Should you have Qualifying Earnings switched on? E.g. are contributions calculated only on earnings within the thresholds?

NI Category

Does the employee have the correct NI category? Employees under 21 should be on category ‘M’ & employees over state pension age should be on category ‘C’ See more categories Here

Student loans

Does the employee have a student loan that hasn’t been added on Pento? Is the Student loan plan correct?

E.g. plan 1, plan 2, plan 4 & Postgraduate loans have different thresholds, please ensure the employee is on the correct plan type. Further information on Student Loan Plans here.

Employee Hours

Overtime rates

Do overtime rates differ from your current provider? Have you checked the employee’s set hours?

Go to Employees
Select Employee
Select Salary tab
Select the Active salary
The following Modal will pop up:

Salary changes

Does the salary in Pento Match with your current data?

Go to Employees
Select the appropriate Employee
Select Salary tab.

Please note, Pento does not currently pro-rata FTE salaries, you will need to enter the salary equivalent.

HR Integrations

Missing employees? Employees showing as ‘Pending’? Have you checked the following details for each employee:

Employee id is complete
No special characters in names or addresses
Address length (line 1+2 can be no longer than 35 characters)
Email address is complete - for parallel runs, employee emails can be updated to a fake address
City/Country/Postcode is complete
Salary record is complete

You can also refer to our help article How to ready your employees for payroll for further guidance.

SMP schedules

Does your current provider calculate on a weekly basis? Have you updated the Employee’s AWE (Average Weekly Earnings)

Go to Employees
Select the appropriate Employee
Go to Maternity/Paternity tab
Update the average weekly earnings (AWE)

Note – If you still have discrepancies, please contact your onboarding manager who can help you resolve the final differences.

Useful links

You can check the UK PAYE thresholds here.

Calculate Employee Average Weekly Earnings and SMP/SPP Schedules here.

To ensure you have set up the correct pension type, you can check the different Tax Relief options here.

You can check the pension Qualifying Earnings thresholds here.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have issues with certain details not matching, what should i do?

If Employee tax isn’t matching
Check the tax code matches, ensure any previous earnings are added and check you have set up the correct pension type.

If Employee NI isn’t matching
Check the correct NI category has been applied, and check you have set up the correct pension type.

If Employee Student loan isn’t matching
Check you have applied the correct student loan Plan.

If Employee SMP schedule isn’t matching
Ensure you have added the AWE on the employee’s record (you can calculate it using the link below) please note, Pento calculates SMP based on calendar months, your current provider may be calculating on a weekly basis.

For my Cycle to Work scheme, I am processing a parallel payroll and have entered the correct information, however the amount per payroll is incorrect

Pento is a date driven platform, therefore if you are processing a parallel run for September after the 5th of October, the figures will be incorrect. You will need to amend the scheme details as if you were adding the deductions to start in October, and manually add a gross deduction pay item to the payroll draft for the Cycle to Work.

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