Getting Started
When setting up a new company, you will be redirected to the Getting Started page.
This page simplifies the setup process to ensure you include all necessary details before being able to Go Live.
Steps, Targets and Checklists
You have 7 steps to complete while getting started. To help you stay in line of your goal, you can Set a Target for the number of employees that you will import.
Each step will have checklists that need to be completed. Key checklists, such as Company Address and Principal details will be automatically checked once the details are updated.
Other tickboxes, such as reading How-to articles, can be ticked manually.
The Basics
The Basics Section is divided into 5 sections:
- Company Details
- Payroll Details
- People
- Pension
- Assets
The options marked with asterisks (*) are required for each.
Company Details
The Company Details include key company details and HMRC Credentials and references.
Payroll Details
Payroll details are all about company-wide settings that set the foundation for how payroll will be calculated. The Pay Schedules will determine how frequently you issue payslips for your employees.
Applicable Overtime rates and Pay Items will need to be set up as these will influence the employee setup and import templates.
People (Employees)
Payroll is all about People!
Inputting the correct details for your employees is essential; this can be added one-by-one or in bulk through an import, which is recommended, especially if you have a larger volume of employees.
In addition to the standard import template, companies migrating to Buddy can import FPS & EPS files to update Totals to Date.
For more info, see: Migrating (Adding) Employees into Buddy
Pension
In most companies, you will be required to add pension schemes and pension groups. Should you have instances where there are no applicable pensions, such as director-only setups, you can simply check the how-to guides and proceed.
Assets
The assets section is also an optional feature. If this applies to your companies, it is recommended that assets are setup prior to going live.
The Compliant
The compliance section is quite straight forward; we simply require users to confirm they have read and understood the DPS Notifications Article.
The Essentials
In the final section, you must confirm your Buddy Subscription Plan, insert a payment method and set your billing email address.
If you are providing this service as a bureau, these billing plans will be influenced by your plan. Make sure that in your settings, the client is linked to the Advisory (Bureau).
Go Live!
Once all the steps in the Getting Started Page are completed, you can Go Live.
Going live will give you access to invite employees to the portal and Run Payroll!