When testing payroll in a non-live environment, you need to mark an FPS as submitted so the system allows you to roll forward to the next period, without sending anything to HMRC. This requires the PRE-LIVE parameter to be set correctly and the submission to be created as a Live type and marked as Submitted at the point of creation.
⚠️Important: Do not change the submission Type to Test and submit it. COINS will not recognise a Test submission as fulfilling the RTI requirement for rolling the period forward. Instead, follow the steps below to mark a Live submission as Submitted without sending it to HMRC.
Check the PRE-LIVE parameter
Before creating the submission, confirm that the PRE-LIVE parameter is set to Y.
Go to Payroll > Global Setup > Parameters.
Filter by ID = PRE-LIVE.
Confirm the Value field is set to Y.
📌Note: If PRE-LIVE is not set to Y, the system will not allow you to mark a Live submission as Submitted at the point of creation. Contact your system administrator if you cannot update this parameter.
Create and submit the non-live FPS
Go to Payroll > Payroll Frequency > HMRC Workbench.
On the RTI tab, select Return Type as FPS – Full Payment Submission and click Add (+).
Set the Type field to 0-Live.
In the Status field, change the value from Unsubmitted to Submitted.
A warning message appears: 'Marking a Live return directly as Submitted will update COINS records as if you had made a real submission, but will not send anything to HMRC. Are you sure you want to continue? [PR262]' Click OK to confirm.
A screen for late PAYE reporting reasons appears. Bypass this by clicking the Up button.
😊Tip: The warning confirms that COINS updates its internal records as if you had submitted to HMRC, but nothing is actually sent. This is the correct behaviour for a test or pre-live environment.
Once the submission is marked as Submitted, COINS recognises the FPS requirement as fulfilled for that period and allows you to run Start New Period to roll forward to the next payroll period.