What’s covered in this guide:
Prepare for End of Financial Year
Before starting payroll for the new tax year, you must complete the year-end payroll process. This ensures all reporting to HMRC is finalised and employees receive their required tax documents.
This process includes:
Submitting the final EPS (Employer Payment Summary) to HMRC
Generating P60s for employees
Reviewing employee tax codes
Ensuring payroll is ready for the new tax year
Submit the Final EPS to HMRC
At the end of the tax year, you must submit a final EPS to HMRC to confirm all payroll reporting for the year is complete.
To submit the final EPS:
Go to Payroll > RTI
Select the EPS tab
Click New EPS
Select the relevant tax month
Check Final submission and choose Final for year as the reason
Submit the EPS to HMRC
Once submitted, the system will queue the submission and send it to HMRC.
📝 Important to note: After submitting the EPS, check the RTI > EPS tab to confirm the submission has been accepted by HMRC.
💡 Note: You can also mark the final FPS (Full Payment Submission) as Final for year when submitting the last payroll of the tax year.
Generate P60s for Employees
Employers must provide a P60 to every employee who was employed on the final day of the tax year.
P60s can be generated and distributed directly from Workforce.
To generate P60s:
Go to Payroll > Staff
Click Actions > Generate P60s
Select the correct tax year and payroll company file
To generate P60s for all employees:
Click Actions > Generate all P60s
To generate a P60 for a single employee:
Click Generate on the employee’s row
Once generated, you can send P60s to employees by:
Clicking Actions > Bulk email, or
Emailing them individually from the employee record
📝 Important to note:
P60s can only be generated between 1 March and 31 May following the tax year.
How Year-to-Date (YTD) Balances Work
Year-to-Date balances track employee payroll totals for the current tax year.
Workforce calculates YTD figures using:
Employee opening balances, and
Payslips processed within the current tax year
When the new tax year begins on 6 April, the system starts calculating YTD totals for the new tax year automatically.
For most employees, this means YTD values will start from zero.
Review Opening Balances for New Starters
Opening balances may be required for employees who joined your company during the tax year and provided a P45 from a previous employer.
To review opening balances:
Go to Employees
Open the employee’s profile
Navigate to Payroll Settings
Select Opening Balances in the UK payroll section
Review or update the opening balance values
For more information, see the Opening Balances section of this guide.
📝 Important to note:
Employees who have been employed with your company for the entire tax year usually do not require new opening balances for the new year.
Review Emergency Tax Codes (W1/M1, if applicable)
Emergency tax codes such as W1 or M1 may be applied during the tax year.
These markers should be reviewed before running payroll for the new tax year.
Workforce will flag emergency tax codes as a payroll validation warning, but they must be updated manually.
To update an employee’s tax code
Go to Employees
Open the employee’s profile
Navigate to Payroll Settings
Open Tax Code settings under the UK Tax Declarations section
Review the employee’s tax code
Remove any W1 or M1 marker if applicable (for example, change 1257LW1 to 1257L)
Save the updated tax code
🚨 Important:
Payroll runs may be blocked if employees still have W1 or M1 tax codes applied.
You can view these warnings in RTI > Errors & Warnings.
💡 Note:
This step only applies to employees who currently have W1 or M1 markers on their tax code. If an employee’s tax code does not include these markers, no action is required.
Prepare the First Payroll of the New Tax Year
Once the year-end steps are completed, you can run payroll for the new tax year as usual.
Before processing the first payroll run, check that:
The final EPS has been submitted and accepted by HMRC
P60s have been generated and distributed
Emergency tax codes have been reviewed and updated
Any new HMRC tax code updates (P6 or P9 notices) have been applied
No new payroll company file is required, payroll continues in the same Workforce payroll integration across tax years.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
Do I need to create a new payroll file for the new tax year?
Do I need to create a new payroll file for the new tax year?
No. Workforce continues payroll in the same payroll file across tax years.
Do Year-to-Date balances automatically reset?
Do Year-to-Date balances automatically reset?
YTD balances are calculated based on payslips within the current tax year. When the new tax year begins, calculations start again using the new tax year date range.
Why are W1 or M1 tax codes flagged?
Why are W1 or M1 tax codes flagged?
Emergency tax codes can lead to incorrect tax calculations. Workforce flags them so they can be reviewed before running payroll.
Where can I check if HMRC accepted my EPS?
Where can I check if HMRC accepted my EPS?
You can view submission status under Payroll > RTI > EPS.