Pay API Overview

The Pay API is the core of Flow Payroll's payroll processing capabilities. It provides comprehensive endpoints for managing employees, processing payroll runs, generating payslips, and ensuring HMRC compliance through RTI submissions.

Key Features

Employee Management: Full lifecycle management of employee records
Payroll Processing: Calculate and process payroll runs with accuracy
Payslip Generation: Create and distribute digital payslips
HMRC Compliance: RTI (Real Time Information) submissions including FPS and EPS
Statutory Payments: Handle statutory sick pay, maternity pay, and other statutory obligations
Court Orders: Manage attachment of earnings orders and court-ordered deductions
Tax Calculations: Accurate gross-to-net and tax calculations
HMRC Forms: Generate and submit P45, P60, and other required forms

API Structure

Calculator

Perform payroll calculations including:

Gross to net calculations
Tax and National Insurance computations
Deduction calculations

Employees

Comprehensive employee data management:

Create and update employee records
Manage employment details and personal information
Track employee history and changes

Payslips

Digital payslip management:

Generate payslips for pay runs
Retrieve individual or bulk payslip data
Send payslip notifications to employees
Access historical payslip information

RTI (Real Time Information)

HMRC compliance through real-time submissions:

FPS (Full Payment Submission):

Submit payment and deduction information to HMRC
Trigger FPS submissions for payroll runs
Retrieve FPS submission status and details

EPS (Employer Payment Summary):

Submit monthly employment balances
Handle manual EPS submissions and corrections
Resubmit EPS when needed
Track EPS submission history

Statutory Payments

Manage statutory obligations:

Calculate statutory sick pay (SSP)
Process maternity, paternity, and adoption pay
Retrieve statutory payment history
Create and manage statutory payment records

Court Orders

Manage attachment of earnings orders and court-ordered deductions:

Court Order Types:

CMS DEO (Child Maintenance Service Deduction from Earnings Order)
AEO Priority (Attachment of Earnings Order - Priority fines/maintenance)
AEO Non-Priority (Attachment of Earnings Order - Civil debts)
DEA (Direct Earnings Attachment)
CTAEO (Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Order)
EA (Earnings Attachment)
MCAEO (Magistrates Court Attachment of Earnings Order)

Features:

Create and manage court orders for employees
Track order status, balances, and payment history
Manage court order attachments and documents
Configure payees for court order payments
Query orders by organisation, employee, or specific criteria
Automatic calculation of protected earnings and deduction amounts

HMRC DPS (Data Provisioning Service)

Access HMRC data services for real-time tax information and validation.

HMRC Forms

Generate and manage HMRC required forms:

P45 (when employees leave)
P60 (end of year summaries)
Other compliance forms

Getting Started

Before using the Pay API:

Setup Organisation: Configure your organisation settings (see Organisation Setup API)
Authentication: Obtain valid API credentials
Employee Records: Add employee information before processing payroll
HMRC Registration: Ensure HMRC credentials are configured for RTI submissions

Common Workflows

Processing a Payroll Run

Add or update employee information
Use calculator endpoints to preview calculations
Process the payroll run
Generate payslips
Submit FPS to HMRC
Send payslip notifications to employees
Submit EPS at month-end

Managing Statutory Payments

Calculate statutory payment eligibility
Create statutory payment records
Include in payroll processing
Report to HMRC via RTI

Employee Lifecycle

Create employee record
Process regular payroll runs
Handle statutory payments when needed
Generate P45 on termination
Issue P60 at year-end

Managing Court Orders

Create payee record for court order recipient
Create court order with appropriate order type and details
Attach supporting documents if required
Court order automatically applies deductions during payroll processing
Track order status, balances, and payment history
Update or discharge orders as needed

Best Practices

Process Order: Always submit FPS before making payments to employees
Validation: Use calculator endpoints to validate calculations before processing
Error Handling: Implement robust error handling for HMRC submission failures
Resubmissions: Handle RTI resubmissions appropriately when required
Data Accuracy: Ensure employee data is accurate before RTI submissions
Timing: Submit EPS by the 19th of each month (or by the 22nd if paying electronically)
Court Orders: Ensure court orders are created with accurate details and proper protected earnings settings
Order Priority: Understand priority levels when multiple court orders exist for an employee

Rate Limits

Be mindful of rate limits, especially when:

Retrieving payslip data for multiple employees
Processing bulk employee updates
Making multiple RTI submissions

Support

For detailed information on individual endpoints, refer to the specific endpoint documentation. For general questions, see the Getting Started guide.