#opera3

Forget about your existing Opera II configuration, upgrade to Opera 3 and choose the number of users and applications that fits your business today!

With the annual price of maintaining Opera II going up at the rate of inflation, it’s never been more important to invest in your business and upgrade to Opera 3 or the Pegasus Business Cloud.

Pegasus are offering a limited time offer where Opera II customers can upgrade to Opera 3 not on a like-for-like basis and choose the number of users and applications needed!

With Opera 3, you will find Pegasus Web Xchange seamlessly integrating with Opera 3 Payroll & HR. What's more, E-mail Payslips & P60s included as standard with Opera 3 Payroll & HR. You will find this feature saves time and money.

For those who do not have Payroll & HR modules - there are other benefits too. Improved reporting is a key value of Opera 3, as you can directly export data into Excel. It will also improve your cash flow with the Credit Management Centre and reduce customer debt. In addition, Pegasus Scheduler will bring more efficiency to your business and run key tasks outside of the office hours.

Taking the next step to Opera 3 couldn’t be easier with Intsys Support as we understand how important it is to have a system that will grow with your business. That’s why Intsys UK will ensure you have a smooth transition to Opera 3 with minimal disruption to your business. Plus, we will organise an Opera II to Opera 3 Accredited Training session to aid the transition.

As more businesses start to utilise cloud computing, it’s interesting to see the options that are available for specific software and total virtualisation.

If you are thinking of Opera 3 in the Cloud, it is crucial to understand which type of solution is right for you. Cloudsis, the Intsys UK Cloud division, have two options available for Pegasus Opera 3 users; Published Apps, which is similar to those on a smart phone or tablet, or a Full Desktop.

By default, Pegasus Opera 3 automatically maintains a log file that records when users log on and off the systems. Each entry in the log includes the date and time of logging on or off, the terminal name and user ID. You can view the contents of this log file using the View Event Log command. You can disable this facility by clearing the User Event and User Logs option on the System Preferences form.

When running this Event Log command in Pegasus Opera 3 it will ask you to fill in some parameters. For example the dates, this will let you extract activities from a range. This is very useful as you will not need to go through a all activities if you know more or less what log you are looking for.

If you have more than one company and many users this is certainly not a problem as Pegasus Opera 3 will let you choose your preferred criteria to search entries for. This means you can choose which company and which user/s in that company you would like history for.

Note: Depending on the amount of activity associated with the system, this log can become quite large and may require clearing once in a while. If you select the Clear Event Log option on the Reorganise System Files dialog box, this log file is cleared of all entries.

There are many features in Pegasus opera 3 that make your life much easier. One of the many is being able to change your default background and webpage. This is a preference and can be changed to whichever website at your request.

This preference will allow you to view any webpage and set it as the background of Pegasus Opera 3. This webpage will only appear when you launch Opera and can be closed at any time. You can have anything from Google, to the Intsys UK Ltd Website (www.intsysuk.com).

If the ‘Use Opera 3 Info Centre’ box is ticked, this box defaults to the address of the Opera 3 Info Centre portal, however as previously stated you may change this to whatever you want. Alternatively you may also remove the default webpage completely and not have one set. Once this has been set up, you will be able to navigate that webpage within Pegasus Opera 3 which at times can come in very handy.

Every company has a profile record which stores the company name and address details as used by certain reports and documents produced from the system.

Do I need a special Version of Opera 3 Payroll?

Whilst it is always the recommendation to stay within a minimum of 2 versions of the latest release of Pegasus Opera 3, there is no need to upgrade your software for Auto Enrolment. The Pegasus Opera 3 software has been compliant since 2012 and you will notice in the utilities menu and in the set options screen that there are options awaiting activation.

When can I switch these options on?

These options must not be activated within your Pegasus Opera 3 payroll until you have reached your “staging date”. This is a date provided by HMRC to determine when you must begin Auto Enrolling your staff. The “Staging Date” is determined by the amount of employees listed under your PAYE reference number.

I plan to defer my start date so do I need to do anything?

Each employer has the right to defer their “Staging Date” for up to three months. However the scheme must be setup and ready to go on your “Staging Date” as the employee has a right to demand that you auto-enrol them immediately into the scheme. You are not allowed to deny them this right, therefore Opera must be ready to accept them.

Can I just get my employees to Opt Out?

No. You must in no way encourage, assist or by way of threat force employees to opt-out of auto-enrolment. You must provide notification to the employee that they are being auto enrolled and then direct them to either your chosen pension provider or the NEST in order to arrange an Opt Out certificate to be removed from the scheme. If they are removed without this notification the employer will be seen as making an incorrect assessment of the employee status and will be fined accordingly.

I have chosen my provider but they want information every week from me – will Pegasus provide this?

Pegasus Opera 3 will handle all of the Auto enrolment calculations and deductions for the employees based on their chosen AE status. Your chosen pension provider will require notification of all employee details, either  weekly, bi-weekly or monthly depending on your pay frequency. Each provider will have a different format requirement and Pegasus Opera 3 currently only has provision for the NEST pension solution. Intsys have also developed a format for The Peoples Pension, a similar organisation to NEST but you will need to confirm well in advance what the requirement is as it may require an element of bespoke modification to provide an automated solution.

Will Pegasus handle the assessment of my workforce?

Auto Enrolment rules offer two main classes that an employee can fall into – Eligible Job Holders and Non Eligible Job Holders. These are loosely defined by Age and expected Salary and whilst Pegasus Opera 3 will make an assessment it will be up to you as an individual to decide which category an employee falls into. Your chosen pension provider may offer chargeable services to assist with validation of employee status.

Can I get some practical training and advice?

The Pension Regulator website provide comprehensive flow charts which will assist with making decisions. You can also get accredited on site training through Intsys UK Ltd who are a Pegasus Centre of Excellence with over 2 decades of experience of Pegasus payroll systems.

  About the Author: Rocky Wilder-Conrad-Banks