You may know that, as an employer, you have to report payroll information to HMRC every month, but you may not know how.

Understanding the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is an important part of a company’s accounting.

Our team of highly experienced chartered accountants can help simplify the process for you.

In this blog, we will discuss what an EPS is, when it should be paid and what information it should include. 

Read below to find what you need to know about submitting an EPS.

What is an Employer Payment Summary?

An Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is the submission that is used by an employer who is using PAYE to report values to HMRC that can’t be included on the Full Payment Submission (FPS). 

These values can affect the payments that you make to HMRC on a monthly or quarterly basis.

You must ensure that you have processed and updated all pay periods for the relevant tax month. 

The tax month runs from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the next, e.g. March 6th to April 5th.

You can only submit an EPS from the 20th of the current month until the 19th of the following month, for example Month 1 submissions can be done between the 20th of April and the 19th of May.

If you have paid an employee and do not send an EPS, or send one late, HMRC will send you a late filing notice. Unless you have a valid reason for reporting late, they may also charge you a penalty.

When should you pay an Employer Payment Summary?

There are different scenarios where an EPS submission would be required, these include when you want to:

  • Calculate your Apprenticeship Levy allowance
  • Claim a reduction in the amount you need to pay HMRC
  • Reduce the amounts shown on a previous EPS
  • Claim the National Insurance contributions employment allowance
  • Declare no payments have been made to an employee in a tax month
  • Indicate that this is your ‘final submission for the tax year’
  • Declare future periods of inactivity

What Information is included on an Employer Payment Summary?

Now that we understand what an EPS is and when it is necessary to submit one, we also need to cover what exactly needs to be reported on the EPS itself. 

When submitting an EPS, you must include your employer information and the bank details for the account you would like HMRC to pay into. 

You must also provide necessary information even if you did not pay any employees within the tax month. In this event, do not send an FPS. 

You will also be expected to provide information on the following:

  • Apprenticeship Levy (if applicable)
  • Employment Allowance
  • New employees
  • When an employee leaves
  • Workplace pensions
  • End-of-year or final reports

You can find full details on the required information here.

Get help with your Employer Payment Summary

It is advised that you use payroll software for your EPS if you are not already doing so. This will make the process of creating your EPS report much simpler.

Should you need any support, get in touch with Accountants East London today – we’re here to help.