You can transfer employees from one payroll to another when both payrolls are part of the same company and have the same employer registration number. Why can I only transfer at the start of the period? You can only transfer employees when the payroll status shows Start of Period (SOP). This protects: - Year to date (YTD) values
- Revenue submissions
- Cumulative tax calculations
- Reports and control totals
If you transferred mid-period: - Gross pay could duplicate
- Tax and USC could calculate incorrectly
- Revenue submissions could misalign
- Control Summary totals can skew
SOP ensures the system transfers cumulative totals cleanly into the new payroll.
Why aren’t my payrolls listed? This happens when: - The payrolls belong to different companies
- The Employer Registration Number differs
TIP: Check the missing payrolls when transferring employees guidance for more information on this.
When to transfer employees to a different frequency The safest time to transfer is: - At the start of a new tax year, before any processing
- Or at the start of a new pay period that aligns correctly
Never transfer part-way through a processing cycle.
Frequency transfer examples Weekly to Monthly Transfer at the start of a new month only. - Example one: If period eight in a weekly payroll is the last week of February, transfer the employee at the start of March, monthly period three
- Example two: If you process weekly periods one and two, don’t transfer into monthly period one. Complete the month in weekly payroll, then transfer at the start of the next month
Monthly to Weekly Transfer at the start of a new month only. - Example one: If you process monthly periods one to three, transfer at the first weekly period with an April pay date
- Example two: If you process monthly period two, don’t transfer mid-month. Transfer at the first weekly period of the next month
Weekly to Fortnightly Transfer at the start of a new fortnight only. - Weeks one to two = Fortnight one
- Weeks three to four = Fortnight two
- Weeks five to six = Fortnight three
EXAMPLE: If you process weekly period seven, complete week eight before transferring to fortnightly period five.
What happens after I transfer an employee? In the source payroll The employee: - Shows as transferred
- Remains in the employee list
- Retains all historical ETP values
You can’t process further pay in the source payroll. Don’t delete the employee. If you need to correct a previous period: - Correct it in the source payroll
- Send a correction submission to Revenue
If totals change, manually adjust the cumulative values in the destination payroll.
In the destination payroll The employee’s ETP tab shows: - One cumulative line (Period 1)
- Total values from the previous payroll
Processing continues from that point.
What happens to reports? After transfer: - Reports in the source payroll show values up to the transfer period
- Reports in the destination payroll show values from the transfer onwards
The Control Summary in the destination payroll shows an additional column: - C/Forward minus Transfer Values
CAUTION: If you run the Control Summary in a Consolidation payroll, the transferred employee can appear twice.
Can I transfer an employee back? Yes. Follow the transfer steps again from Start of Period. Sage 50 Payroll Ireland adds the employee as a new record in that payroll.
Need more employees on your licence? If you need to add more employees to your licence, leave your details, and we’ll contact you. |