If you have moved to BrightPay from another software, one of the differences that you may notice is that the net pay differs from the take home pay.

BrightPay defines Net pay is the amount remaining after all statutory deductions have been applied; this includes PAYE income tax, National Insurance contributions, Student Loan Deductions, and any attachment of earnings orders.

Take Home Pay includes other non-statutory deductions and non-taxable additions and is the actual amount the employee will receive for that period.

The most common reason for a difference between net pay and take home pay is a pension deduction. Because pension contributions are not a statutory deduction, they do not reduce the net pay figure, but they do reduce the amount the employee actually takes home. For example, if an employee's net pay is £2,000 (after tax, NI, SLD, DEA) and they have a £100 pension contribution, their take home pay will be £1,900.

So for an employee with a pension deduction: net pay will be higher than take home pay, with the difference being the employee's pension contribution.

Note - Take-home pay can technically be negative in BrightPay if deductions exceed earnings — for example, due to large pension contributions, loan repayments, or recovered overpayments. While it is possible to finalise these payslips, this would mean the employee owes money to the employer rather than receiving payment. This scenario is unusual and should be carefully reviewed to ensure it is intentional.