CISassist is a CIS managament suite designed to be very easy to use.
It is intended for use by both bureau services and in house. It consists of three modules :-
CISassist main program, a proprietry database and managment system for keeping track of payments to subcontractors.
GovEX - handles interaction with the HMRC via the Government Gateway.
CISlink - this is a customisable bidirectional link to external databases.
17.1.1 Features of the package
Monthly payments to subcontractors.
Electronic processing of verification numbers.
CIS 340 appendix E compliant pay and deductions sheets.
Comprehensive logging of interaction with HMRC.
Customisable integration with thrid party products.
Links to othe Forbes packages.
17.2 Getting Started
17.2.1 Starting the CISassist program
Go into the Start menu and choose Forbes Systems the CIS then CISassist.
Alternatively, if using Forbes ClientBase, select the Contractor in the database and choose CISassist from the Tools menu.
17.2.2 Wizard
If you are new to using CISassist you may want to click on the wizard tab.
The wizard will guide you through completing the necessary information.
17.2.3 Contactor Details
Press the "Contactor" button or choose "Contactor Details" from the Contractor menu to set up the contractor details.
17.2.4 Adding Subcontractors.
Click on the Add button in the Subcontractor group. Fill in the Subcontractor's details.
The rate field is for the default monthly or weekly gross pay. This can easily be overridden later. It is important to fill in the taxcode box.
17.2.5 Subcontractor details.
Click on the Add button in the Subcontractor group. Fill in the Subcontractor's details.
further details can be completed by pressing the details button
17.2.6 Changing year.
Go to Tools then User Setup.
17.2.7 Saving the CISassist.
Choose Save from the File menu. Forbes CISassist suggests a filename. You should override this if it is different from you client code.
17.2.8 Opening an existing CISassist.
Choose Open from the File menu. Select the CISassist you have previously saved.
17.3 Status check
Click on the Status tab to link to the online employment status checker that is included with your product.
17.4 Entering Payments
17.4.1 Entering payments for a period
To enter pay for a period, first select an Subcontractor (single click), then press the Add button.
Enter the period number, e.g. 2 for month 2 (May) or Week 2 if weekly paid Subcontractor and the gross pay.
To go back and change pay for a period, select the period and press the Edit button.
17.5 Printing
17.5.1 Printing Payment and Deductions advice
Select the Subcontractor and period of choice and press the payment and deductions statement button. In the payment and deductions statement screen that appears, use the printer icon or File then Print to print the slip. Once you have printed the paylip, close the payment and deductions statement window by choosing File then Close or clicking on close box in top right of the payment and deductions statement window.
To print payment and deductions statements for all Subcontractors, use the 'All payment and deductions statements' button. Individual Subcontractors can be excluded by ticking using the 'no payment and deductions statement' box under Subcontractor details.
A pre-printed payment and deductions statement, printed through PDF can be chosen from the File, Print, On pre-printed stationery, provided the payment and deductions statement tab is selected. This will launch Adobe Acrobat and you can print the payment and deductions statement(s) through there.
17.6 Payment reminders
To set payment reminders use the payment reminders submenu under tools.
This will reminders in the Forbes Year Planner.
Once you are in the Forbes Year Planner, if you have a MAPI compliant email system (such as Microsoft Outlook), you can enter up to three email addresses under Tools/User Setup.
If you use Outlook as your diary/scheduler, when the Forbes Year Planner is on screen select update outlook from the File menu. If you use a different diary/scheduler you may export the reminders in .vcs format by choosing File / Export VCS.
17.7 GovEx - exchanging data with the HMRC electronically
17.7.1 Introduction
Management of CIS verification is handled online via GovEx.
Before you can use the service you must register at http://www.gateway.gov.uk. When you register you will be given a userid and password
17.7.2 Terminology
This section defines some of the terms used with respect to internet filing. Knowing these terms will be useful if you ever need to discuss electronically filed data with the HMRC.
IRmark
The irmark or unique return identifier is a sequence of numbers that is printed across the top of the return and transmitted to the Inland Revenue as part of the xml transmission.
It is a "watermark" to prevent tampering. Make any change to the return and the irmark will change, change the data back to what it was and the irmark will also revert.
No changes should therefore be made to the return after it has been signed by the client.
Correlation ID
Each time you transmit a return the gateway computer generates a Correlation ID.
It is like a booking reference that uniquely identifies that particular transmission.
Quote the correlation ID to the IR helpdesk and they should be able to identify the transmission.
It will appear on all acknowledgements and responses.
If you stop a transmission (see below), make sure you save the return.
Keys
The key data is the data on the return that uniquely identify it. For CIS transmissions the tax office number and paye ref of the contractor.
Any error message referrring to "keys" indicate an error in these.
Acknowledgement
This refers to a message received from the Inland Revenues computer to indicate that the return has been received but not yet processed.
Response
This refers to a message received from the Inland Revenues computer to indicate that the return has either succeeded or failed.
17.7.3 Preparing the data
Complete all the relevant information in CISassist.
Click on the verify tab to send a verification request. Click on the monthly tab to send the monthly return.
This will launch GovEx.
17.7.3 Match or Verify
MATCH will check the HMRC computer records for a matching subcontractor. If no details exist, then it will return as unmatched but no verification number will be issued. This is useful for checking that you have correctly entered the subcontractor details.
VERIFY will check the HMRC for a matching subcontractor. If no matching details exist a new record and verification number will be produced. Please note - the lack of matching record could be caused by something as simple as a different spelling of a name. We would normally recommend using MATCH first. Further guidance is available under the help tab.
17.7.4 Submitting the data
You submit a return by loading the return, going into the Transmit tab. This will happen automatically when GovEx is launched from CISassist.
If there are no errors you will be prompted to transmit.
If there are errors reported and you feel that they are not significant you may still submit by pressing the submit button.
The following screen appears asking for your logon details.
Enter the userid and password supplied by the Inland Revenue. ( You must already have registered at www.gateway.gov.uk ).
On pressing OK, you should be connected to the internet. If this does not happen, make sure you have a working internet connection and try again.
When you submit a return, one of three things can happen. You can get an response of success, a response of failure, or most likely of all, just an acknowledgement.
An acknowledgment means that the return has been received but not yet processed. ProTax will automatically query the HMRC's computer, resulting in a sequence of acknowledgents followed by either success or failure.
The whole process should take less than 30 seconds.
If you see nothing at all there check
your internet connection is working (you may need to connect to the internet manually)
you do not have a software firewall such as Norton, McAfee or zone alarm preventing the response arriving
The following picture shows the screen that appears while ProTax is waiting for a response.
ProTax has asked 4 times for a response, but in each case it has received just an acknowledgement.
In due course, and typical within 30 seconds ProTax will receive a response.
At busy times, it may take longer than 30 seconds to get a response.
Instead of waiting for a response now, you can use the stop button.
Save the return and carry on with other work and possibly other returns.
It is important that you save the return as it needs to store the correlation id.
A new correlation id is generated every time you transmit a return and will be displayed in all responses and acknowledgements.
ProTax will also transmit this number to the Inland Revenues system when asking for responses. It is a bit like an airline booking reference.
Later on, you may reload the clients return into ProTax, go to the FBI tab.
If a correlation ID has been stored you will be asked if you wish to continue waiting for the response.
17.7.5 Sample Acknowledgement
Above is a sample of an acknowledgement message. This indicates the return has been received but NOT YET PROCESSED. The correlation ID uniquely identifies this transaction. Later on there is a timestamp.
This message indicates the IR have received your return but not yet processed it. You will probably get several such acknowledgements.
17.7.6 Sample Acceptance
Above is a sample acceptance message. The correlation ID uniquely identifies this transaction. Later on there is a timestamp. Print a copy of this message for your records.
17.7.7 Sample Rejection
Above is a sample rejection message.
This indicate failure. The correlation ID uniquely identifies this transaction. Later on there is a timestamp.
If you scroll down using the scrollbar on the right you will see the rest of the rejection message. The example below indicates that the figure in 10.4 is incorrect.
17.7.8 Schema Validation
The XML data that is transmitted to the Inland Revenue is checked by their system against something called a schema.
This checks the integrity of the data and produces (often incomprehsible) error 6010: schema validation errors.
It is now possible to check the data against the schema before transmission and get a hopefully more understandable error message.
To do this you need the schemas installed (see schemas on downloads page). You will also need to tick the schema validation tick box under tools user setup.
