The Security Industry Authority meet their goals
Company Profile
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) exist to manage the licensing of the private security industry as set out in the Private Security Industry Act 2001.The SIA aim to raise standards of professionalism and skills within the private security industry and to promote and spread best practice.
The SIA is the only authority in England and Wales dealing with these private security issues and report directly to the Home Secretary. What was the problem?
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has a significant number of staff who work from home and make regular expense claims, as well as an HQ staff of over 60 personnel. Diane Makepeace, SIA, London explains why they chose expenses:
"As financial controller I was increasingly aware that my finance assistant was spending a lot of time putting claims on to the ledger, time that I felt could be better spent."
The SIA is a new organisation that embraces new technology and expenses offered many benefits to which included:
- Web based claims that could be directly uploaded on to the existing finance system saving time, and therefore money
- Better control of the travel budget because claims could be monitored
- An opportunity to create a list of hotels recommended by employees
- Speedier processing of claims by eliminating dependency on the postal service
- Audit trail for those P11d returns
Why expenses?
”We chose to go with Software Europe because they are a friendly team who are incredibly supportive and helpful,” explains Diane. “More importantly they are on the end of the phone when you need them!” If you would like to find out more about how expenses can save your organisation time and money, simply call the expenses team on 01522 881300 or email expenses-info@software-europe.co.uk
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expenses has a Face Lift
We are very excited to announce that expenses has a new look, retaining all the functionality and creating easier navigation and clearer presentation of data.
"We released the new version to our current customers last week and have received full approval from them to put the new version into play." explains Adele Briggs, Project Manager, "It is important for users to be aware that although expenses has gone through an extensive re-design, the design is purely cosmetic, the underlying functionality has not changed at all."
As you look through users will notice a few visual changes:
- The menu bar has moved from the left hand side of the screen to run horizontally along the top of the screen. The menu options have not changed.
- The Help Text is now clearly seen to the left of each screen, indicating the function of each header, box or menu you hover over.
- The page options are now clearly visible on the left side of the screen below the Help Text. The page options have not changed.
"At the same time as the new design was being built, our technical team were also installing a number of enhancements requested by our growing customer base." continues Adele, "The new version also includes enhancements to the reporting module, the ability to have a minimum and maximum level on a submitted claim and a new feature – the ability to add odometer readings to fuel claims."
To find out more information about expenses new look and enhancements, please call Adele Briggs on 01522 881300. Alternatively you can request a quick new product preview by clicking here
EMA - the easy route to effective management
“I have been introducing employee expense management systems to companies and organisations for the last two years. I am often faced with the misconception that this type of financial management cannot be seen as a priority, because of lengthy and complicated system changes required." explains Laura Jackson, Account Manager, Software Europe.
"This is understandable as many general ledger, HR and payroll systems do need an extensive amount of time investing in them to install them correctly, and achieve the maximum benefits. But with EMA, and particularly with expenses , this is not the case…”
Changing to EMA is simple, quick and effective.
The creation of your expenses system is done in two easy steps:
Step One:
The employee details within your HR/employee records are collated. Employees are then grouped into sign off groups and roles. This forms the basis of your expenses database.
Step Two:
You then need to decide which items your employee's can claim (the majority of these will already be in the system) and how you would like the items categorised. This forms the basis of each claim option and your bespoke reports.
The integration of this information into the system is carried out with Software Europe's Technical Team, taking a maximum of two working days. In short, once you decide to purchase expenses, the system will be ready to roll out in 48-hours.
“Effectively managing your expenses should be a priority not least because in most cases expenses spend is one of your top four major costs, along with salaries and property costs. But also due to the amount of time that is spent on manually processing claims.”
So, why should you look into EMA?
expenses takes control of your employee expenses in three important ways; saving time, saving money and ensuring that you reclaim the correct amount of VAT for all your employee expenses.
“EMA is simple to implement and provides a fantastic return on investment." concludes Laura, "One of our newest customers has just reported an 18% saving in total spend, just 4 months after implementation!”
If you have any questions regarding how your organisation can achieve cost savings, or on how simple installation can be achieved for your organisation, do not hesitate to call the the expenses team on 01522 881300 or email
expenses-info@software-europe.co.uk
The P11d Nightmare
For employers, the most tricky part of P11d submission is dealing with employee benefits. Companies need to work out the taxable value of the benefits and incentives they provide to staff and this encompasses some of the most complex areas of the UK's tax system.
The next date to note is 31 May - the deadline for giving the employee a copy of form P60 (the P60 shows pay and tax for a particular tax year, along with other connected information ).
Second deadline is 6 July, the annual declaration of expenses and benefits, is most important. The information on form P11d must now be given to employees, as well as the Inland Revenue.
Where benefits are given to employees of other companies (e.g. promotional gifts) the giving company may have to provide the recipients with P11d information. Similarly, if you know that your own employees receive such benefits from other companies, you may have to include details on their P11d as a cash equivalent.
The general rule is that the cash equivalent is the cost to the provider, less any amounts made good by the employee. Benefits which fall under this general rule are very likely to provide problems. Many benefits have special rules for calculating the taxable value, and it is here that difficulties are likely to arise e.g. company cars, mobile phones, living accommodation, employee loans…
The P11d must also include details of business entertainment expenditure reimbursed to the employee, including whether the expense is to be disallowed in the company's own tax calculations, so that employees can decide whether they can claim adeduction for entertainment expenditure. Penalties may be imposed for failure to comply with these regulations - in certain cases, up to £3,000 per P11d!
The one area which can be an administrative nightmare, is third-party benefits - benefits provided to employees, because of their employment by a party other than their own employer. If third party benefits or expense payments are provided, then these will need to be disclosed, either to the employee and/or to the Inland Revenue, depending on the circumstances, by 6 July.
There are four main steps you can follow to help deal with the problems posed by P11d reporting:
- Review your finance system. Ensure it is adequate to collate the information required and meet the deadlines. expenses is a good example of software that can lighten your P11d Burden.
- Negotiate a dispensation. If you already have one, then review it to see whether it needs updating or replacing. The value of a dispensation is that the expenses it covers need not be included on the P11d, thus reducing the risk of error occurring. Your employees need to be made aware of any dispensations, so that they do not include expenses unnecessarily on their own tax return.
- Arrange third party benefits in advance. If you do give benefits to third party employees, you will need to "arrange" the benefits/gifts with the other third party in advance, then the onus is on that party to report the benefit.
- Consider running a training programme. Ensuring that your employees fully understand the rules. This will help avoid problems.
Employee benefits are intended to boost staff loyalty and motivation. Companies must ensure, through preparation, that Self Assessment does not cost their employees unnecessary tax on what are supposed to be perks.
If your organisation finds the burden of P11d reporting unmanageable or if there has been something this year end that you have felt could be done a lot easier with the help of expenses , do call our expenses team on 01522 881300 or email expenses-info@software-europe.co.uk to find out how we can save you time and money.
Glossary of terms:
What is the P11d? The P11d shows the cash equivalent of taxable benefits provided to employees earning £8,500 per annum or more and directors. The Employer completes them and copies must be provided to both the Inland Revenue and the employee by 6 July after the end of the tax year.
What is ‘cash equivalent'? The amount which is taxable for each benefit, before any deductions for expenses which the employees may wish to claim". Often this is not simply the cost or the market value.
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