When submitting your Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC through BrightPay, you may encounter RTI errors related to new employees’ start dates. These errors typically arise if the start date is incorrect, missing, or doesn't align with HMRC’s expected format.

You might see a message such as:

“The start date for a new starter is missing, incorrect, or not in the correct value format”

Steps to Resolve RTI Start Date Errors in BrightPay:

1. Check the Employee’s Profile

   • Go to the new employee’s record in BrightPay.

   • Select the ‘Starter/Leaver’ tab.

   • Ensure the Start Date is entered and correct (format: DD/MM/YYYY).

   • Confirm that the Starter Declaration (e.g. Statement A, B, or C) has also been selected.

2. Reopen the Employee’s Payslip
   1) Within the Payroll utility, select the pay period you wish to re-open.
   2) Click Re-Open Payslips on the menu toolbar.

    

   
    

   3) Select the employee(s) you wish to re-open payslips for.
   4) Click OK.
   The selected employee(s) payslips will now be available for editing and finalising again.

3. Adjust or Remove the Start Date (If Needed)

   • If you're unsure whether the start date is the issue, try temporarily removing it from the profile.

   • Save the employee record and then re-enter the correct start date.

   • This refreshes the data BrightPay sends to HMRC.

4. Review the Starter Declaration

   • Ensure the correct starter declaration has been selected for the employee.

   • Missing or incorrectly selected starter information can also cause submission errors.

5. Save All Changes

   • Save any changes to the employee’s record and the reopened payslip.

6. Resubmit the FPS

   • Go to the RTI tab in BrightPay.

   • Select and send the corrected Full Payment Submission (FPS).

Further notes:

• Start Date Must Be Within the Current Tax Year: Ensure the start date doesn’t predate the tax year or conflict with previously submitted data.

• Avoid Duplicates: If an FPS was already submitted with incorrect starter data, HMRC might reject the correction if it appears as a duplicate.

• Contact HMRC if Errors Persist: In rare cases, HMRC systems may need manual correction, especially if you’re correcting submissions already received.