Scrolling the bank statement at 10am
Some of your clients pay their own staff. For others, your bureau pays wages from a client money account, which means each client must send you the net pay total before you submit the BACS file. On submission day, an administrator opens the bank, scrolls down the receipts and ticks off clients on a list.
One receipt has a reference nobody recognises. One client sent the amount from last month, not this month. One has not paid yet. Is it on its way, or has it been forgotten? It is 10am and the file has to go today.
Why funding checks are fiddly
Clients pay with inconsistent references, from different accounts, sometimes in two parts. Amounts change every run, so matching by amount only works if the client paid exactly the right figure. Several clients' runs may be funded on the same day. And the funding list lives separately from the payroll, so the amount required has to be copied over each time.
How your bureau holds client money, and what rules apply to it, is set by your own arrangements and advisers. This is about the day-to-day matching, not the structure.
What weak funding checks cost
Sending a payment file for a client who has not funded exposes the bureau to paying wages with money it does not have for that client. Holding a file back because a receipt was missed means late pay for employees who did nothing wrong. Both are stressful and both are avoidable with clearer information on the day.
| Situation | What the tracker shows |
|---|---|
| Client paid the exact amount | Funded, matched automatically |
| Client paid last period's amount | Short, with the difference |
| Receipt with unclear reference | Suggested match for a person to confirm |
| Paid in two parts | Part funded, then funded when both arrive |
| Nothing received | Missing, with contact details and deadline |
How we build a funding tracker
- When a run is approved, the net pay and any other amounts the client must fund are read from your payroll software and added to the tracker with the funding deadline.
- The client receives a funding request with the exact amount, the account details and a unique reference for that run.
- We read receipts into the client account through your bank's feed or a statement export, several times a day.
- Receipts are matched to runs by reference first, then by client account and amount, with anything uncertain placed in a short list for a person to confirm.
- The tracker shows every run due for submission with its funding state, and warns early when a deadline is near and funds are missing.
- Clients who are short or late get an automatic message with the gap and the deadline, and the administrator can see the history of each client's funding.
The tracker informs the decision to submit. It never submits a payment file or releases money on its own.
Submission day without the scroll
The administrator opens one screen and sees which runs are funded. Short and missing funds are chased hours earlier than before, while there is still time. Clients get exact amounts and references, which cuts down the mismatches in the first place. And the bureau has a clear record of when each client funded each run.
Is funding a daily worry?
- You check client receipts by scrolling the bank statement.
- Clients pay with references that do not identify the run.
- Short payments are spotted late on submission day.
- The funding list is copied by hand from the payroll.
- You have held back a payment file because of an unclear receipt.