Help guide

How to do each job in Nexa Practice, in plain steps.

Ask CaptureBooks a question Answers from our guides, and can look at your account to explain a problem.

Getting started

  1. Go to Settings and add your practice name and your agent Government Gateway login (used to send to HMRC).
  2. Switch on two-step login in Settings. It keeps payroll data safe.
  3. Add your logo, colour and contact email in Settings > Your branding. Payslips and the apps show them.

Add a client

  1. On Clients, press + Add client. Type the PAYE reference (like 123/AB45678) and the Accounts Office reference.
  2. Pick how often they pay staff and their pay day rule, for example "last working day".
  3. New clients start on HMRC's test service. When you're happy, type LIVE on the client page to send real submissions.

Bring staff across (the Folder)

  1. Open the client and go to Folder. Drag in payslips from the old payroll, P45s, starter checklists, tax code letters, spreadsheets, or a whole folder or .zip.
  2. It reads payslips from Moneysoft, Sage, BrightPay, IRIS, Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Staffology, 12Pay, Capium, KashFlow, ADP, MoorePay, PayFit, Access and more. Moneysoft employer summaries and P30s set up the employer too.
  3. If it misses a figure on an unusual payslip, type it in once: it learns that label and reads the next one by itself.
  4. The app works out what each paper is and pulls out the details. Green "Ready" items can be applied in one go with "Apply ready".
  5. Yellow "Please check" items open a short form. Fix or add anything missing (often a date of birth), then press Apply.
  6. New starters are added to the draft pay run by themselves.

Run payroll

  1. The autopilot sets up the next pay run a few days before pay day. Or press Start on the client page.
  2. Salaries fill in by themselves. For hourly staff, type the hours, or ask the client to type them in their app.
  3. Press Work it out. Read the Smart checks: red must be fixed, yellow is worth a look.
  4. Press Approve & send to HMRC. The FPS goes off, and HMRC's answer shows within a minute or two.
  5. Every payslip is worked out twice, two different ways. If the two don't agree to the penny, the line is stopped.

Client sign-off

  1. Tick "Client must approve" in the client's Settings. The FPS can't be sent until they approve.
  2. On the pay run, press "Email the client a link". They add hours, overtime, bonuses and sick days on their phone and press Approve.
  3. You see "Approved by the client" on the pay run, with their name and time.

HMRC notices (tax codes, student loans, NI numbers)

  1. Every day the app collects new tax codes (P6 and P9), student loan starts and stops, and NI number replies from HMRC, and changes the right person.
  2. If it can't tell who a notice is for, it asks you on the client's HMRC notices tab.
  3. You can also upload the notices file from PAYE Online there.

Check an NI number

  1. On the client's HMRC notices tab, tick anyone with a missing or doubtful NI number and press "Ask HMRC to check".
  2. HMRC's reply arrives as a notice and the number is saved by itself.

Fix a past tax year

  1. On the HMRC notices tab, choose the year under "Fix a past tax year".
  2. Change the wrong year totals, tick Fix for each person, and send. HMRC updates its records.

Sick pay and family leave

  1. On the person's page, add the leave (SSP, SMP, SPP, SAP, ShPP, SPBP or SNCP) with the dates.
  2. Statutory pay is worked out and paid in each pay run. Average weekly earnings come from their pay history.
  3. Money you can claim back goes on the EPS, which the autopilot sends each month.

Holiday

  1. Set holiday days and the holiday year on the person's page. Add holiday taken with dates.
  2. For hourly staff, holiday pay uses their average pay over the last 52 paid weeks.

Pensions

  1. Each pay run checks everyone for auto-enrolment and enrols them when they qualify.
  2. Letters are ready to print on the Pensions tab. Download the contribution file for NEST, The People's Pension, Smart, NOW or a standard PAPDIS file.

Paying HMRC

  1. The Pay HMRC (P32) tab shows what to pay each month, the payment reference and the date it's due.
  2. Employment Allowance and statutory pay you claim back are taken off for you.

Cost to employer

  1. The Cost to employer tab shows what each person really costs: pay, employer NI, employer pension, Class 1A and the levy, minus money back.

Year end, P60s and leavers

  1. Tick "Last pay run of the tax year" on the final run. Then give P60s from the Year end tab (staff also see them in their app).
  2. For a leaver, add the leaving date and run their final pay. Print the P45 from their page.

Staff app and client app

  1. Staff: on a person's page, press "Staff app link". They open it on their phone, type their date of birth, and see payslips, P60s and holiday left.
  2. Clients: on the client page, press "Client app link". They see pay runs, add hours and sick days, approve, and see what payroll costs them.
  3. Turn on "Email payslips" and "Email summary" in the client's Settings so these go out by themselves.

Safety, backups and old data

  1. Personal details are scrambled (encrypted) in the database, and each firm only sees its own clients.
  2. Download a full backup any time from Settings > Backup. Keep it somewhere safe; it holds personal data.
  3. Old records are removed by themselves once they're older than your keep-for period (6 years by default, at least 3 as HMRC needs).

Still stuck?

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