You can now run reports that span multiple tax years in the Analysis section. By selecting a date range that covers more than one tax year, BrightPay consolidates data from each relevant tax year into a single report.

This removes the need to run separate reports per year and manually combine them in spreadsheets. It is especially useful for:

• Year‑on‑year comparisons
• Financial year summaries that differ from the UK tax year

• Audit and compliance reports that cross the 5 April tax year boundary

   

Overview of Cross Tax Year Reporting

What it does

Cross Tax Year Reporting allows you to:

• Run one report across multiple tax years in a single step
• Include periods that cross the tax year boundary (e.g. last 3 months of 2025‑26 and first 3 months of 2026‑27)
• See all data combined in one output, grouped clearly by period and tax year
• Go back a maximum of two tax years:
  • In 2026‑27 you can include 2025‑26 and 2024‑25

  • 2023‑24 and earlier are not supported in cross‑year mode

     

Where the option is available

• Available in 2026‑27 tax year employers only
• Not available when working in 2025‑26 or any earlier tax year file

Who can use it

• Only employers that have linked data from a previous tax year (i.e. imported from a prior year BrightPay Cloud employer)

• If an employer does not have prior‑year data linked, the cross‑year option will not be shown

   

How to Run a Cross Tax Year Report

Define the report

1. Go to Analysis.
2. Choose the report you want to run (e.g. Payroll Summary, Deductions, Employer Costs).
3. In the Periods section of the report definition, you will see two options:
   • Report in current tax year only
   • Report over multiple tax years

4. Select Report over multiple tax years to enable cross‑year reporting.

    

Note: If this option is not visible, see the FAQ section below.

Select the period

Choose from the new option - Report over multiple tax years 

• The From and To period drop-down menus will show periods grouped by tax year (oldest first).
• You can choose any combination of periods within the supported range, including across the 5 April boundary.

Example period groups:

• 2024/25 Tax Year – Months 1–12, Weeks 1–52, etc.
• 2025/26 Tax Year – Months 1–12, Weeks 1–52, etc.
• 2026/27 Tax Year – Months 1–12, etc. (or whatever has been processed so far).

You can now define a range such as:

• From: Month 10, 2025/26

• To: Month 2, 2026/27

   

Run and view the report

When you run the report:

• Results are grouped by period, with each section clearly labelled and dated for its tax year.
• The Summary section totals accumulate values across all included tax years.
• The output can be exported, filtered, and saved in the same way as any other Analysis report.

Important Limitations and Behaviours

What works as expected

• Figures match single‑year reports
  If you run separate single‑year reports and combine them, the figures will match the equivalent cross‑year report (for the same filters and periods).
• Summary totals accumulate across years
  The Summary section totals add up values from all included tax years.
• Templates are supported
  Cross‑year reports can be saved as templates. All settings (including multi‑year vs single‑year and selected periods) are remembered.
• CSV export works normally
  You can export cross‑year reports to CSV as usual.
• Employee filtering works
  • Employees who left before 2026‑27 only appear if they are explicitly included in the report’s employee filters.

  • New starters in 2026‑27 will show no data in prior‑year sections if they did not exist in those years.

     

Known limitations (by design)

These behaviours are intentional:

• Open payslips apply to current year only
  The “Allow open payslips” setting only affects the current tax year (e.g. 2026‑27).
  • Prior years will always show finalised payslips only.
• Year‑to‑date (YTD) columns reset at each 5 April
  YTD columns are tax‑year‑specific.
  • They reset at the 5 April boundary.
  • They are not cumulative across multiple years.
  • Cross‑year totals appear only in the Summary section.
• Custom columns may be blank in prior years
  Custom columns (e.g. employer items) created in the 2026‑27 employer:
  • Exist only in the 2026‑27 environment.
  • Show as blank in prior‑year sections if they do not exist in those years.
• Periods with no payslips are omitted
  If there are no payslips for a given period:
  • That period will not appear as an empty section in the report.
• Prior‑year environment must be available
  Cross‑year reports depend on all included prior‑year environments being accessible.
  • If a prior‑year environment is temporarily unavailable, the entire report will fail.
  • Users will see an error similar to:
    “A previous tax year’s data could not be retrieved…”
  • Partial results are not shown.

Common Customer Questions

Q. Why don’t I see the “Report over multiple tax years” option?
A. The feature only appears when:

• You are working in a 2026‑27 employer, and
• The employer was imported from a previous tax year (i.e. it has linked prior‑year data).

If you do not see the option:

• Your employer data either does not have prior‑year history, or
• You are not in the 2026‑27 tax year.

Q: Can I report across more than two prior years (e.g. from 2023‑24 back to 2021‑22)?
A: No. Cross Tax Year Reporting supports two prior tax years only.

For example:

• In 2026‑27, you can report into 2025‑26 and 2024‑25.
• 2023‑24 and earlier cannot be included in a cross‑year report.

Q: Why are my YTD figures different in the cross‑year report?
A: YTD columns are always calculated per tax year and reset on 5 April.

• In a cross‑year report, you will see YTD values that restart at the beginning of each tax year.
• This is by design: YTD means “tax year to date”, not cumulative across multiple years.
• Only the Summary section totals accumulate across all included years.

Q: Can I use custom columns in a cross‑year report?
A: Yes.

However:

• Custom columns created in the 2026‑27 employer only exist in that tax year.
• Those columns will appear as blank in 2025‑26 or 2024‑25 sections if they were not present in those years.
• This is expected behaviour.