Orange Notification Badge on the RTI Tab

If you see an orange number badge on the RTI tab but nothing appears to be outstanding when you go into the RTI section, this is usually caused by a pending action. This article explains what the badge means, the most common causes, and how to clear it.

What does the orange notification badge mean?

The orange number badge on the RTI tab indicates that BrightPay has detected one or more RTI actions that are due or overdue for the current employer. The number reflects how many outstanding items BrightPay has identified. It does not always mean there is an error — in many cases it is simply a prompt that a submission is required.

Common causes

A Nil Value FPS has been generated

If no employees were paid in a given pay period and the payslips were finalised with zero pay, a FPS will still be generated. You can either submit this zero FPS or generate a 'no payment for period' EPS to inform HMRC that no employees were paid that tax month. If using the EPS method, the zero FPS will still remain outstanding - in this case you can click on the 'More' icon > 'Mark as sent and accepted by HMRC'.

A Full Payment Submission (FPS) or Additional FPS or EPS has not been submitted

If a payroll period has been finalised or an Additional FPS correction or EPS has been generated but not submitted, they will stay as outstanding in the RTI section. If the Additional FPS or EPS is no longer required, you can select this submission from the list > More spanner > Delete. Any FPS that has been created should be submitted to HMRC unless this is a duplicate (ie the payment date was amended to pay employees early & submitted) and then the payslips were re-opened & finalised with the original payment date. As FPS's cannot be deleted, you can mark this as sent and accepted by HMRC.

An FPS has been submitted but not yet acknowledged by HMRC

In some cases the badge may persist after an FPS has been submitted because HMRC's acknowledgement has not yet been received by BrightPay. This can happen during periods of high HMRC service load or connectivity issues. To check: go to RTI > select the submission > More > View/Print HMRC receipt. If this option is greyed out, then HMRC have not received the submission. If it was received, you will be able to view the acceptance from HMRC and an IR mark will have been generated (this is an HMRC generated reference).

If the notification is still outstanding after all the above have been checked and there are no outstanding RTIs to submit or mark as submitted, please try refreshing your browser or clearing the caches/cookies.

If the RTI has been rejected or has an error message from HMRC, but you have received a confirmation email from HMRC that the submission has been received, you can clear the outstanding submission status on BrightPay. Select the FPS/EPS and then click on the More option > mark as sent and accepted by HMRC.