Drivers Module
This optional module seamlessly integrates with FleetFocus main Module.
The module is rather more than just a means of relating a Vehicle to a Driver and vice-versa.
It incorporates a full P11d suite, not just for vehicle-related benefit-in-kind but for the whole range of the various 'sections' making up a P11d return as a whole.
The Drivers module maintains a database holding Driver details See ScreenShot, Driver to vehicle allocations (multiples of these, which may overlap, i.e. one or more vehicles may be allocated concurrently), Mileage Log, Offences history, and Accessories fitted to any allocated vehicle. Of these the Vehicle allocations, and Mileage Log are essential for P11d purposes. Accessories, where fitted, can also impact on the base price of the car for benefit-in-kind calculations. Though not illustrated in the ScreenShot the Driver record may have up to 16 User-Defined fields similar to the Vehicle Master record.
The Self-Assessment suite is an integral part of the Drivers module, and it's main purpose is to prepare Inland Revenue statutory reports, specifically P11d and P46(Car), in a format approved by them, and to provide facilities to allow timely and accurate preparation and validation of the Data required.
Sections 'F' and 'G' of the P11d, those dealing with Car and Van benefit in-kind respectively, are automated based on Data held in the 'Drivers Allocations', and 'Mileage Log' files. An Auto Populate facility must be run as a pre-requisite to producing the P11d Report.
Other sections 'A' - 'E' and 'J' to 'O' are manually dealt with by direct Data Entry by the user. Data preparation should be complete for all relevant Sections, for all relevant employees, for the TaxYear before running the P11d report for that year.
The notion of the Current Tax Year is an important issue. It is recognised that there will be a need to overlap between different 'tax years' to enable P11d preparation (the deadline for P11d submission is 6th. July for the Tax Year in question), and to continue processing Vehicle allocations etc. in the 'actual' Tax Year. The user may indicate the Current Tax Year to the system at any time to switch orientation to that Tax Year. Orientation (and relevant calculations within the system) remains focused to the selected Tax Year until again deliberately re-selected by the user, and persists when the system is closed down and through the next System Login.
The system also depends on Tax Benefit Tables being accurately prepared, the software is shipped with pre-set 1999-2000 Tax Tables. See ScreenShot
Any (as yet unforseen) changes to the structure and application of the tables may necessitate software changes and these will be dealt with as required and updates provided to users. It is already known that the scope of Class(1A) NIC contributions pertaining to benefit in kind is to be expanded in Tax Year 2000-2001.
'Employees' for P11d purposes occupy the same DataBase as those who are 'Drivers' but perhaps not 'P11d Applicable' for some reason. An Employee who is not a Driver, and a Driver who is not P11d applicable are 'flagged' as such on the Master record, and are dealt with by the system accordingly.
Drivers Module (summary of Facilities)
Maintenance
Enquiries
Reports..(all have a Preview option)
P11d Suite (summary of Facilities)
Maintenance
Reports..(all have a Preview option)
The Drivers file is dual-purpose in that it holds details BOTH of Drivers in the true sense of the word, and 'Other' employees who though not driving a company car or van, DO have a P11d reporting requirement. Each Driver/Employee must be given a 'Full Name' and an 'Index Name' as a minimum. Other details whilst optional are highly desirable for the most part, in particular Tax Reference and National Insurance Number fields. Enter as much detail as possible is a good rule of thumb.
Allocation is the 'association' of a driver to vehicle. The allocation procedure records the fact that a car or van has been made available to the driver for private use as defined by the Inland Revenue. Observe the on-screen fields for usage guidance. Where 'mileage' is referred to this may be miles or kilometres as appropriate for the selected vehicle. (The system is aware of that vehicle's odometer calibration)
To Allocate a vehicle:- (i) The vehicle must be selected; (ii) The Opening Date must be given; (iii) The Opening Mileage must be given. Other fields are optional, but should be entered as appropriate for the allocation. Certain fields are linked e.g. if a 'Classic Car' is indicated then 'Classic Car Value' must also be given, and if a 'Running Cost Contribution' value is given so too must be the 'Contribution Interval'.
To De-Allocate a vehicle:- (i) The Closing Date must be given; (ii) The Closing Mileage must be given. On closing the allocation the 'Calculated Running Cost Contribution' is automatically calculated according to values given in 'Running Cost Contribution' and 'Interval' within the Current Tax Year. The calculated value may be user over-ridden, if desired, before confirmation.
Any allocation record may be freely changed or deleted at any time. There may be any number of allocations currently open to a given driver at any point in time and Opening / Closing dates may overlap. Values for Business and Private miles are non-enterable and are automatically primed for the Driver / Vehicle according to records then extant on the Mileage Log for that Driver, within the allocation Opening and Closing dates. If no Closing Date is given then Today's date is assumed.
When viewing the Accessories on the (Maintenance) ListBox records are presented, for each vehicle, in alphabetical order.
To Insert an accessory Record the Vehicle must first be selected, thereafter the 'Accessory', 'Date Fitted', and 'Value' must be given as a Minimum. If a suitable Accessory does not already exist, one may be created (RightClick on the 'Select Accessory' button). Any accessory record may be freely changed or deleted at any time.
Accurate maintenance of Accessories to Vehicles is vital for accurate computation of 'Benefit-In-Kind' for P11d purposes.
The Inland Revenue may from time-to-time demand evidence of a Driver's recorded mileages.
This is facilitated by the maintenance of a 'Mileage Log' for individual drivers. When viewing the Mileage Log on the (Maintenance) ListBox mileage records are presented for each driver in reverse chronological order (latest first).
To Insert a Mileage Record the Vehicle must first be selected, thereafter the 'From Date', 'To Date' and 'Business Mileage' must be given as a Minimum. Whilst Private Mileage and Odometer are optional it is highly desirable that these too should be given.
When entering a Mileage Record do not give From - To dates which overlap from one TaxYear to the next, or which overlap from one vehicle allocation to another. If neccessary split the Mileage Log entry to accommodate the TaxYear, or allocation. Any mileage record may be freely changed or deleted at any time.
The Mileage Log may be printed out for an Individual driver or for a range of drivers using Standard Selection Criteria
When viewing offences on the (Maintenance) ListBox mileage records are presented for each driver in reverse chronological order (latest first).
To Insert an offence record theVehicle must first be selected, thereafter the 'Offence Type' and 'Date' must be given as a minimum. Other fields are optional, but it is desirable that these too should be given, as far as possible. If a suitable Offence Type does not already exist, one may be created (RightClick on the 'Select Offence' button). Any offence record may be freely changed or deleted at any time.
This comprehensive enquiry shows considerable detail for a selected driver and his/her lifetime vehicle allocations. Business Mileages and Benefits are calculated ONLY for those allocations displayed as 'Current Tax Year'. Business mileages are taken from the driver's Mileage Log for recorded mileages in that tax year.
Days are calculated regardless but are 'Within the Current Tax Year' or 'Overall' depending on the Allocation Basis in force. An 'e' (coloured red), appears next to the calculated days figure if the allocation remains 'Open' and is the number of days that allocation is relevant for within the tax year. If an Allocation is both 'Opened' and 'Closed' within the tax year the days calculation is the actual difference between these dates.
As each allocation is selected in the ListBox, (by using Up and Down arrows or clicking specifically on the item in the ListBox), the full array of 'Hot Fields' (the area at bottom left in the white rectangle entitled 'Additional Data..') changes dynamically for that allocation. Simultaneously all Accessories currently fitted to that vehicle are shown in the separate ListBox (bottom right), together with the total value of the accessories.
Enables viewing of the Master file record for the selected driver. (Similar details as described above, and for which a sample screenshot is given. View-Only mode is in force, no values may be changed.
This General Enquiry (not Driver Specific) allows the Drivers Master file to be scanned using the given criteria. Its primary purposes are:-
If a licence-date related selection an effective date must also be given for comparison purposes. Any licence date NOT GREATER than this effective date will be displayed. If an Endorsement Points selection, then any driver having a points tally of NOT LESS than the 'Points not less than' value given will be displayed. The enquiry may optionally be restricted to a single selected Offence, Location or Department or a combination of these. In addition a Range of Dates may be given. If the 'To' date is not given Today's date is assumed.
This General Enquiry (not Driver Specific) allows Drivers' offences to be interrogated using the given criteria, to identify frequent and persistent offenders. The 'Sequenced By' radio-buttons at top left are self evident. If a 'Value' scan, the cumulative value of all the offences for the driver are aggregated. The enquiry may optionally be restricted to a single selected Location or Department or a combination of these. In addition a Range of Dates may be given. If the 'To' date is not given Today's date is assumed.
Scans Drivers Allocations and compares Mileage Log entries by date versus the 'Effective Date'. Only currently 'Open' allocations are considered and then only those whose 'Opening Date' is ON or BEFORE the effective date. Drivers reported are those who NEVER had a Mileage entry on the Allocation, or those who have not had an entry SINCE the effective date. The scan is initiated by entering the effective date.
The report is a listing of relevant details extracted from the driver record and is produced in INDEX Name sequence, in considerable detail for each selected driver.
The report may be selected for a single driver, or range of drivers, and within a range of dates. (may often be required at Inland Revenue request). The report is produced in Driver sequence, with each mileage entry within that driver in latest date first order. Sub-Totals are given for Business and Private mileages for the driver.
This facility allows drivers to be selectively or globally issued with a memo selected from a pre-prepared range.
The required Memo document must first be selected from a ListBox, only documents with the filename suffix '.mmo' and residing in the current working directory will be presented in the ListBox. Thereafter select as in Report Selection (Drivers), plus the additional options of selecting a range of drivers 'from' and 'to' their first INDEX name letter, and whether or not to include 'Leavers'.
Memos are produced in INDEX name sequence, with a single page per memo, per driver. As each memo is printed the Driver record is updated to register the Date and Type of the memo produced. This is an exception to the rule that reports do not ORDINARILY update files.
The software is shipped complete with 1999-2000 Tax Tables (see ScreenShot above). To set tables for a new Tax Year merely enter the Tax Year starting year in the field provided. The record will be automatically created when confirmed, and may be changed at any time thereafter. A Tax Tables record may never be deleted.
Providing there are no changes in statutory rules the structure will remain the same for ensuing tax years. Any (as yet unforseen) changes to the structure and application of the tables may necessitate software changes and these will be dealt with as required and updates provided to users.
The Tax Year desired may only be selected from a DropList of 'Year' values. The DropList is automatically generated from Tax Benefit Tables records currently in existence.
A Tax Year cannot therefore be set unless Tax Tables exist for that year.
Caters for Data-Entry against any or ALL of the 'Sections' currently appearing on the P11d return form. Data preparation should be complete for all relevant Sections, for all relevant employees, for the TaxYear before running the P11d report for that year..
Orientation is always to the range of Section-related records, for a selected employee, and for the Current Tax Year. Each employee may have ONE record only for each section on the P11d details file, with the exception of Section 'F' (Car Allocations) and Section 'G' (Van Allocations). There may be any number of Section 'F' and 'G' allocation records within any single Tax Year and these are set-up and maintained specifically, (and only), within the Drivers module, (see Maintain Driver Allocations).
Allocation records (F and G) may be selected from a ListBox for viewing purposes but may not be changed within P11d Data-Preparation procedures. To enable veiwing Auto-Populate Allocations should first be run for the current Tax Year. Sections other than 'F' and 'G' may be Inserted / Changed / Deleted at will. If a current record selected by Section does not already exist then Insert activity is presumed. An existing record may be Changed or Deleted at any time.
For an overall view of the 'Status' of data entry preparation use the Show Sections button.
This procedure automatically scans the Driver Allocations master file, extracting current tax year car and van allocation records for each driver/employee and entering these automatically to the file of P11d details.
When run this procedure always removes any existing P11d car and van allocation records (for the current TaxYear) en-bloc and replaces these with a freshly generated set of allocations. Once started this procedure runs to its conclusion without further operator intervention.
A single Employee / Driver may be selected for any report. Otherwise use additional options of selecting a range of drivers 'from' and 'to' their first INDEX name letter, and whether or not to include 'Leavers'.
A true-to-life report (it almost precisely mirrors the official Inland Revenue P11d form), and is officially approved by the Revenue.
If the P11d report is selected an additional option is given to select a Memo to be produced for each employee for which a P11d document is produced and on the same criteria. The default is NOT to produce an associated memo. If this option is selected the P11d production phase runs to its conclusion and automatically initiates a memo-production phase producing the memo on a one-for-one basis to the P11d document, and in the same order for ease of association and collating.
As each memo is printed the Driver record is updated to register the Date and Type of the memo produced. This is an exception to the rule that reports do not ORDINARILY update files.
This too is a true-to-life report and is officially approved by the Revenue. The report is orientated to a 'Tax Quarter' and the Quarter dates MUST be given. The 'Most likely' quarter dates are prompted according to Today's date, but may be changed as desired.
Calculates employer NIC Class.1A contributions due for a given period, individually for each employee and gives aggregate overall totals.