It is the norm for LEA’s to demand payroll information by the first day of the month. This gives the school very little time to process and collate payroll details, and for staff it means an inevitable delay in any overtime, sick pay or maternity pay for that period. If there is then a mistake that needs to be rectified the employee has to wait yet another month.

It is also not unheard of for schools to only receive the reports for approval after pay day, if they receive them at all. Or for reports to be so limited in information that it is virtually impossible to carry out the necessary checks at your end to confirm accuracy.

Commercial payroll providers could not survive with such a service and are able to offer far more flexibility not only when the data is needed, but also in terms of the approval process and getting the payroll right before payment.