Release Notes (2023)

Welcome to the Cintra iQ Release Notes

Your go-to source for staying informed about the latest developments. Our release notes offer a concise overview of all new features, resolved issues, and known challenges in the most recent version of Cintra iQ.

December

User-defined reports performance improvement

We have been focusing on improving the performance of existing modules. Specifically, we have examined the user-defined reports on the Forms pane.

We identified a variance in performance between running Listing and Payroll reports. I’m pleased to inform you that our team has successfully enhanced the speed to generate Listing reports. This change aims to improve your experience and system efficiency.

Spine point Increments import - automatic ending of the previous record

Cintra IQ does allow an import to increment spine points for employees.

We have now enhanced this tool so that when the new spine point is imported the system will automatically end the existing one for each employee listed.

Changes to National Insurance from 6th January 2024

We are pleased to inform you that Cintra is fully prepared to implement the changes announced during the Autumn Statement 2023. As of 6th January 2024, the below updates will be seamlessly integrated into our system:

• a cut to the main rate of employee Class 1 National Insurance contributions from 12% to 10%.
• a cut on Married Women’s reduced main rate of primary Class 1 National Insurance contributions from 5.85% to 3.85%.

The gov has applied a blended rate of 11.5% of Class 1 NIC to the Annual Earnings Period for directors for the current tax year.

Cintra IQ will be upgraded by 15th December to incorporate this change for directors whose liability is assessed annually (cumulative method). This means…

• if your payroll gets calculated after the upgrade, the new rate will apply in the current month (December).
• if your payroll is closed before the new version of Cintra IQ is released, the change will apply from January.

The overall annual rate of Directors NI will remain the same, regardless if it’s applied in December or January.

If you have any questions or require further clarification, please reach out to our Cintra support team or the relevant OSS team.

November

Timesheet email notifications

We are excited to introduce a new enhancement to email notifications that allow you to automatically create emails about unapproved timesheet claims. This feature is designed to enhance communication and streamline the approval process by your managers.

To create an Email Notification follow the instructions in this article: How do I create email notifications? – Cintra iQ (zendesk.com)

By incorporating the ‘TS Claim Pending Count’ into email fields, you can schedule daily email notifications to managers, that will inform about the number of claims pending approval. The email will run automatically every 24 hours, providing an overview of unapproved claims.

Example of an email to the manager:

In addition, a report can be created to check how many claims are pending approval by managers.

If you wish to use the Email Notifications functionality for pending claims, please get in touch with our support team who will be able to assist you in this process: Submit a request

Monthly EPS submission for quarterly payrolls

Cintra IQ enables users to submit EPS on a monthly basis for payrolls operating on a quarterly schedule. This update ensures compliance with HMRC requirements by allowing nil EPS submissions during months when no payments are due.

If you need guidance on how to submit an EPS to HMRC, please follow the instructions in this article: How do I submit an EPS to HMRC? – Cintra iQ (zendesk.com)

LGPS Monthly Return Data Extract

A new LGPS Monthly Return Data Extract report has been introduced under Payroll / Payroll Tools / Payroll Reports. This report has been specifically tailored to provide data required by local government authorities.

The advantage of this report is its flexibility. It can be run for any pension scheme, allowing you to access information about your pension scheme members.

Furthermore, we enabled this report to be included within a report pack. This enhancement aims to simplify your reporting process by consolidating relevant information into a comprehensive report pack.

New Auto Enrolment letter template for Postponement Notice

In addition to the recently introduced auto-enrolment letter templates for Entitled Worker and Eligible Jobholder, we have now provided a new template for Postponement Notice.

It can be accessed through the 'Employment Record', specifically under 'Definitions' within the 'Letter Definitions' window.

Please note that the existing letter templates are still available for use.

SSP for employees without average weekly earnings

When a newly started employee, falls ill we might not have sufficient data on payroll to calculate Average Weekly Earnings (AWE). To establish eligibility AWE must be provided. Cintra IQ will flag missing AWE on the exception report.

 The user can then provide AWE by going to Sick Pay -> open the sickness record ->Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) tab -> Relevant Earnings

 

Update to Minimum Wage Report

To find the Minimum Wage report navigate to Payroll > Payroll Tools > Payroll Reports > Minimum Wage Report.

Where an employee’s work pattern indicates zero hours per week, in some cases Cintra IQ had previously populated contractual hours from the payroll default working pattern. We have now rectified this, and zero hours from the employee’s work pattern will be correctly considered for minimum wage calculation.

Additionally, in instances where an employee had a mid-period work pattern change, the minimum wage report used to include contractual hours for both work patterns and sum them together. Moving forward, Cintra IQ will pro-rata contractual hours based on the effective date of the work pattern change. This means that the proportion of contractual hours will be added appropriately to ensure accurate results.

 

Update to Old plus new daily rate difference and New minus daily rate difference pro-rata calculation on Cintra iQ

As we continue to improve Cintra IQ, we have made an update to the pro-rata calculation method that uses daily rate difference.

There are multiple pro-rata methods that can be used in payroll calculation, with two of them being Old plus new daily rate difference and New minus daily rate difference. If a change in work pattern occurs part through the period the system will now use Old plus new daily rate method instead of the two mentioned above. This proves to be more accurate.

The below example is based on scenario:

• Employee is working 5 days a week (Monday to Friday) with a salary of £25,000.00
• on the 16th November, the employee’s work pattern changes to 2 days a week (Monday-Tuesday) with the new salary of £10,000.00.

If we use Old plus new daily rate difference or New minus daily rate difference pro-rata method the mid-period change will be displayed on payslip as salary paid for the full period (from 1st November until 30th November) plus small part for daily rate difference:

In contrast, for Old plus new daily rates method, the same change will show as two segments broken down by effective date of the change. You can see below that one part of salary is paid from 1st November until 15th November and the new salary is paid from 16th November until end of the month.

To illustrate, lets break down this example:

Using the Old plus new daily rate difference pro-rata method, the employee would receive a total November salary of £2121.21. This is more than old monthly salary for 5 days a week (£25000.00/12 = £2083.33)

Below is a breakdown of how the £2121.21 has been calculated:

£25,000.00 / 12 months / 22 working days days in November= £94.70 old daily rate

£10,000.00 / 12 months / 8 working days in November = £104.17 new daily rate

Daily rate difference is: £104.17 - £94.70 = £9.47

Multiplied by the number of working days from effective date on 16th November until 30th November:

9.47 x 4 days = 37.88

November salary is: £2083.33 old monthly salary + £37.88 daily rate difference = £2121.21

With our updated method, which employs Old plus new daily rate, the November salary is calculated more accurately as £1458.33. This adjustment ensures that the salary reflects the mid-month change to the work pattern.

Below is an illustration of this calculation:

£94.70 old daily rate x 11 days (based on Monday to Friday until 15th November) = £1041.66

£104.17 new daily rate x 4 days = £416.67 (based on Monday to Tuesday from 16th November until 30th November)

Total: 1041.66 + 416.67 = £1458.33 November salary.

We have taken steps to implement this development effectively from October 2023 to avoid any complexity due to previews periods corrections. Additionally, information will be displayed under payroll set up if daily rate difference calculation method is used.

New Auto Enrolment letter templates for Enrolment Notice and Entitled Worker

In compliance with the auto enrolment letter templates recommended by the Pension Regulator, we have introduced new formats for the Enrolment Notice and Entitled Worker letters. These can be accessed through the 'Employment Record', specifically under 'Definitions' within the 'Letter Definitions' window.

Please note that the existing templates are still available for use. We understand that many of our clients have customised these templates to meet their specific needs, and you are welcome to continue using them.

Should you have any questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our support team.

Bacs contingency available with Modulr partnership

We are excited to announce an enhanced BACS contingency plan for Cintra clients who choose to outsource payments through Cintra.

In collaboration with Modulr, a digital payments platform, we have taken steps to ensure uninterrupted payment processing for your employees. We have integrated additional fields in Cintra IQ Bank Details widow, located within Payroll Setup table. This integration allows for Modulr-formatted bank file to be generated during payment runs.

If you outsource your BACS payment to Cintra, we have provided a tailored communication on how to make the most of this new service.

If you have any questions or wish for your bacs to be processed by Cintra, please feel free to reach out to your OSS Team or our dedicated Support Team.

October

Changes to Window Display in VPNless Environment

We've made enhancements to the window display within the VPNless environment. Before, the window used to open beneath the menu bar, hindering user access to tabs and commands at the window's base. Now, the window pops up above the menu bar, and we've introduced a vertical scrollbar for easier access to the window's lower sections.

Moving forward, screens that exceed the display area will be equipped with a scrollbar. 

We would like to point out that internet browsers allow users to zoom in and out, which enlarges the display area. 

We also recommend using the full-screen view. 

 

August

Minimum Wage Report

 In some cases, the minimum wage report was incorrectly reporting over inflated contractual hours and therefore an artificially low hourly wage. This happened when there had been a change in contractual hours. 

This has now been rectified. 

Enhancements to Timesheets

Recording the time of a claim:

It is now possible to record the start and end time in the day for a pay claim. Using this option, the claimant will be asked to enter a start/end and break time for a claim, and the number of hours to be paid will be calculated.

If you are using timesheet claims and would like to set this up, please contact the support desk.

Also now available in self-service is a Calendar view of claims made in a period. This is available for both employee and manager.

Viewing Claims:

All claims, whether approved, pending or rejected, can now be viewed via the timesheet posting screen via the ‘View Claims’ option:

Refusing claims in payroll:

Once a claim has been approved by a manager, then it will come through to payroll for posting. If at that point, you need to refuse the claim (rather than just delay posting), you can now do this via the posting screen, by using the ‘Refuse’ option on the claim line:

Timesheets

Recording the time of a claim:

It is now possible to record the start and end time in the day for a pay claim. Using this option, the claimant will be asked to enter a start/end and break time for a claim, and the number of hours to be paid will be calculated.

If you are using timesheet claims and would like to set this up, please contact the support desk.

Also now available in self-service is a Calendar view of claims made in a period. This is available for both employee and manager.

Viewing Claims:

All claims, whether approved, pending or rejected, can now be viewed via the timesheet posting screen via the ‘View Claims’ option:

Refusing claims in payroll:

Once a claim has been approved by a manager, then it will come through to payroll for posting. If at that point, you need to refuse the claim (rather than just delay posting), you can now do this via the posting screen, by using the ‘Refuse’ option on the claim line:

June

P45 Publishing

Starting on Monday 6th March, email notifications will be sent to employees when their P45 is published. These notifications will be sent to every employee that has an email address and a valid Self-Service account or Employee Hub account.

When P60s and P11Ds are published in April, notification emails will also be sent to employees. 

File By Internet Password Sharing

FBI has now been enabled to save login credentials per PAYE scheme. Once the credentials have been entered once, they can be saved and associated with the PAYE scheme of the payroll.  This means that you will only ever need to enter credentials if there is a change.

 

For more information, see How Do I Create FBI Credentials?

 

 

March

Enhancements to working patterns and P45s

Work Patterns

You can now set up Working Pattern days by copying and updating an existing pattern. This is useful if you want to create a new Working Pattern, have few details to change and do not want to create all new data. For more information, see How Do I Set up Working Pattern Days?

Release Version 54

 

P45s

You can now archive P45s. This is useful if you want to refer back to the forms at a later date. For more information, see How Do I Archive P45s?

Release Version 51

P60 and P11D Publishing

Email notifications will be sent to employees when their P60s and P11Ds are published, telling them to login and view them. These notifications will be sent to every employee that has an email address and a valid Self-Service account, Employee Hub account or IntelliHR account.

NI Savings for Employers

When you, the employer, contribute by  Salary Sacrifice , your employee saves on their national insurance tax, but you also make a savings on national insurance. Within Cintra iQ , you can easily  give that saving back to the employees as additional pension contribution amounts.    

 

For more information, see How Do I Enable NI Savings for Employers?

 

Release Version 57

 

Salary Sacrifice Pension Contributions Report

You can now produce a Salary Sacrifice Pension Contributions report within Cintra iQ, which will display the Employee, Employer, Salary Sacrifice Contributions, and NI Savings Contributions. Within the report, you can archive, save and/or print.

 

 

Go to Cintra iQ: Payroll> Payroll Tools> Payroll Reports> Salary Sacrifice Pension Contribution Report

 

Release Version 58

 

March

Allocating Employment Allowance to PAYE Schemes

Now, as an employer, if you are eligible, you can reduce your annual National Insurance liability up to £4000 by allocating Employment Allowance to PAYE Schemes within Cintra iQ. For more information, see How Do I Allocate Employment Allowance to PAYE Schemes?

March

Salary sacrifice for employers and reporting salary sacrifice pension contributions

 NI Savings for Employers

When you, the employer, contribute by  Salary Sacrifice , your employee saves on their national insurance tax, but you also make a savings on national insurance. Within  Cintra iQ , you can easily  give that saving back to the employees as additional pension contribution amounts.    

 

For more information, see How Do I Enable NI Savings for Employers?

 

Salary Sacrifice Pension Contributions Report

You can now produce a Salary Sacrifice Pension Contributions report within Cintra iQ, which will display the Employee, Employer, Salary Sacrifice Contributions, and NI Savings Contributions. Within the report, you can archive, save and/or print.

 

 

Go to Cintra iQ: Payroll> Payroll Tools> Payroll Reports> Salary Sacrifice Pension Contribution Report

March

Including unchanged payment groups in altered pay reporting

Now, within the Altered Pay Report, you have the option to include payments within payment groups that have not changed between the selected payroll period and the previous payroll period.  To do this, select the Include Unchanged Payment Groups option in the Altered Pay Report form. For more information about Altered Pay Reports see How Do I Produce an Altered Pay Report?

 

Go to Cintra iQ: Payroll> Payroll Tools> Paying Out> Pay Employees. 

 

Changing BACS File Format

As a System Administrator, you can now change the format of the BACS files depending on the requirements of the BACS Service Provider (usually a bank). For more information, see How Do I Change BACS File Formats?