Import ERR values into the Categories Expenses grid

From 1 January 2024, you need to report certain expenses processed though the payroll, to Revenue. To do this, you must complete an Enhanced Reporting Submission each pay period, either before or on the date the expenses are paid.

 NOTE: Revenue have advised that between 1 January 2024 and 30 June 2024, a service for compliance approach will be taken. Meaning, they won’t apply any penalties for non-compliance with the Enhanced Reporting Requirements during this time.

To help you create this submission quicker, you can import a breakdown of your employee values into the Categorise Expenses grid.

You can use the files in this guide to import Categorise Expense values for each of your employees.

 NOTE: If you're unsure about which category an expense falls into, and if it should be included in the ERR submission, please contact Revenue for clarification. 

Download the import files

1. Open Sage Payroll, click Help then click System Information and click the Data Directory link. Minimise the Windows explorer window of files that opens.
2. Click on the button below to download the zipped file.
   

   IMPORT_CATEGORISE_EXPENSES.zip

3. Depending on your Internet browser, the file automatically downloads to your Downloads folder or you're prompted to save the file.
4. Once the zipped file has been downloaded, open it and save the two files, IMPORT_CATEGORISE_EXPENSES.IMP and IMPORT_CATEGORISE_EXPENSES.CSV, into the Windows explorer window you opened in step 1.

 NOTE: Repeat steps 1 and 4 for each of your payrolls. 

Import Categorise Expenses values

 NOTE: The employee must have at least one ERR related expense to appear on the Enhanced Reporting Categorise Expenses grid. 

1. Log in to a payroll as normal, then Back up your data.
2. From the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Help then click System Information.
3. Make a note of the Data Directory path.
4. Close Sage Payroll and browse to the Data Directory path you noted in step 3.
5. Right-click the file IMPORT_CATEGORISE_EXPENSES.csv, then click Open with.
6. When prompted, click Excel then click OK.
7. Under column A, enter the employee codes as they're set up in Sage Payroll.
    NOTE: Ensure your employee numbers match how they're set up in Sage Payroll. Excel may try to remove leading zeros, e.g. ‘0001’ may change to ‘1’. If this happens, you must change the format setting in Excel to prevent this. 
8. Under column B, enter the correct period number for each employee.
9. Under column C, enter either N or B to indicate the pay run type for each employee:
   • For a Normal pay run, type N
   • For a Bonus pay run, type B
10. Under column D, enter Small Benefit amount for each employee, if relevant.
11. Under column E, enter Travel Vouched amount for each employee, if relevant.
12.  Under column F, enter Travel Unvouched amount for each employee, if relevant.
13. Under column G, enter Subsistence Vouched amount for each employee, if relevant.
14. Under column H, enter Subsistence Unvouched amount for each employee, if relevant.
15. Under column I, enter Site Based Employees amount for each employee, if relevant.
16. Under column J, enter Emergency Travel amount for each employee, if relevant.
17. Under column K, enter Eating On Site value for each employee, if relevant.
18. Under column L, enter Remote Working - Total Number Of Day value for each employee, if relevant. Decimal places aren't allowed, so enter this as a whole number.
19. Under column M, enter Remote Working – Amount Paid value for each employee, if relevant.
20. Click File then click Save As, then select the file type as CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv).
21. If the Data Directory path you noted in step 3 is C:\ProgramData\Sage Payroll Irl\*Current tax year*, skip to step 27. If it's not, correct the Sage Payroll data path specified within the import file. To do this, continue to step 22.
22. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the location you noted in step 3. 
23. Locate and right-click the file IMPORT_CATEGORISE_EXPENSES.IMP, then click Open with. When prompted, click Notepad, then click OK.
24. Locate the data= entry line, then edit the highlighted section below so it matches your data directory location:
    data= C:\PROGRAMDATA\SAGE PAYROLL IRL\2024\ IMPORT_CATEGORISE_EXPENSES.CSV
25. Click File, then click Save.
26. Click File, then click Exit.
27. From the menu bar within Sage Payroll, click Miscellaneous, click Data Import then click Data Import.
28. Browse to the location you noted in step 3.
29. Select IMPORT_CATEGORISE_EXPENSES.IMP then click Open.
30. Once you run EOP, go to Send Enhanced Reporting Submission.
    • Check the correct expense categorisation values are applied to each employee. If not, restore the backup you took before you ran the import process, then complete the steps in this section again.