Employers are facing costs of up to £30,000 to ensure their BACS software is fully compliant with real-time information (RTI) requirements for PAYE, according to a survey by information service Payroll Alliance and the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals.

The results show that 42% of respondents incurred fees to include the hash total in field seven of their BACs submission, which is required by HMRC to match a payment to RTI data. Of those paying for the upgrade, 39% spent between £1,000 to £4,999, while 8% paid £7,000 and £30,000.

More than a quarter of employers (27%) said they were paying to upgrade their payroll software.