FPS Submission to HMRC

Before Submitting Your First FPS

Before you submit your First FPS, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Employees are identified by unique Payroll IDs
  • If you are migrating, insert the exact same Payroll ID. This will avoid duplicate records with HMRC
  • Employees without an ID will have one generated, based on the Payroll ID Settings in Settings > Payroll
• The FPS notifies HMRC about any terminated employees. Refer to the following article to ensure you've followed the correct procedure: Terminating an Employee and Issuing a P45

Submitting the FPS

As soon as you conclude payroll on Buddy, you will see a Submit FPS button in the concluded payroll screen.

Most times, you may be reviewing the Payroll Documents at this stage. In which case, you can return to the Payroll History to submit the FPS

Once you click on the HMRC icon, you will see the following

Click Submit FPS to attempt submission. 

Preview the FPS

Before you submit, you can click on the Preview tab.

This will show you a summary of the FPS and all employee details.

If you prefer, you can click to View Raw XML to see the exact details that will be submitted. The XML can also be downloaded.

Summary of Request and Responses

After submitting, you can click on the Request and Response tabs to view the status, any errors, as well as HMRC's response to the latest submission.

You can also check the difference in comparison with the previous FPS. 

The FPS Details in Payroll History

Once you submit the FPS to HMRC, you will get a notification on the top right about its status.

In Payroll History, the status will also be updated.

In case there was a failure, a red cross will appear instead.

Identifying FPS Errors

If the submission has failed, opening the menu will show the errors instead provided by HMRC. Below is an example.

The best way to look at errors to click on Request and then click on the View Errors, for more detailed information.

These errors are presented by HMRC. At the bottom, you will see a button to Resubmit FPS once you have actioned on the listed errors.

Actions Required on Submission Errors

As the errors are presented by HMRC, our team will start compiling common errors and action points. If you are unsure, kindly contact our support team for assistance.

• No error or Authentication Failure. The supplied user credentials failed validation for the requested service
  • Core details like the Gateway ID, PAYE Number or References are incorrect and did not match HMRC's details
  • If you are a bureau, confirm the Agent details and Gateway ID and Password within the bureau page
  • Details like Principal Details/Titles are inserted incorrectly or incomplete
• Invalid Content at AORef
  • The Accounts Office Reference is incorrect
• Incorrect NI Number Format
  • Go to People and revise the employee's NI numbers before resubmitting.
• No NINO
  • If an employee does not have an NI, make sure to add additional address lines in the employee's personal details.
• Incomplete Content Found at EmployeeDetails
  • One or more employees have a required detail missing, such as Legal Gender, Date of Birth, or Name/Surname. 
    To resolve, download an Employee Data Report from the reports page and review the data for all employees before resubmitting.
• Date Scheme Ceased
  • If you are ceasing the PAYE Scheme, you can only submit the FPS on the day of the cessation date or later. See: Ceasing PAYE Scheme and Terminate all Employees as Leavers
• Value is too large
  • Company names can be up to 35 characters. If your company/bureau name is larger, shorten this in the company or advisor settings before re-submitting.
  • If this is combined with an error of Account Holder Name, make sure to also update the company name in the Bank Details
• You have not been invited to submit this submission type
  • HMRC does not acknowledge the PAYE Scheme which is currently not enabled for online services.
• Employee Contributions On All Earnings Year To Date must be 0.00
  • For letters X, C, K, S, or W, HMRC is expecting a 0.00, however you have additional contributions in the totals to date for these NIC Letters.
  • Download the Employee Data Report, filter for the totals to date with the above 5 letters and see if you have imported any Employee Contribution amounts. Correct the totals to date of those employees before resubmitting.
• The Date must be today or earlier
  • An employee's Date of Birth was set incorrectly and is set in the future. Download an Employee Data Report to review date of births in bulk. After updating the employee's correct Date of Birth, the FPS submission can be attempted again.