Temporarily using Payroll Manager on a different computer

This guide is designed to help if you normally use Payroll Manager on one computer, but temporarily need to operate the payroll on a different computer – e.g if you are away on holiday and wish to use your laptop to run the software.

For the purpose of this guide we will refer to the computer that you usually operate payroll as the ‘Normal computer’, and the one that you wish to use on a temporary basis as the ‘Temporary computer’.

How Payroll Manager works

There are two main aspects to using Payroll Manager to process your payroll – i.e. the payroll software and the payroll data files

The payroll software is called ‘Payroll Manager‘, and is downloaded from our website and installed onto the hard drive of your computer.

The payroll data files contain information about your payroll (i.e the employees names and addresses, pay, deductions, pensions etc). These files are created by the user, and by default will be stored in a folder called ‘Payroll‘ in the users ‘Documents‘ folder  – e.g. C:\Users|Your Username\Documents\Payroll (although you may have chosen to save them somewhere else). Each company that you process payroll for has a separate payroll data file for each tax year.

Temporarily using Payroll Manager on a different computer

In order to temporarily run the payroll on a different computer you will need to first install Payroll Manager, and then transfer backup copies of your payroll data files onto that temporary computer. When the time comes to start using the ‘normal’ computer again, you should make new backup copies of your payroll data files from the Temporary computer, and then restore them onto the Normal computer.

(Please note that Payroll Manager requires a full working version of Windows 8.1 , Windows 10 or Windows 11 on your computer, and will not work on a Mac/iPad/tablet)

Moving from the ‘Normal computer’ to your ‘Temporary computer’

• If using a ‘memory stick’ (or similar) to backup your files, make sure that it is plugged in to the Normal computer.
• Run Payroll Manager on the Normal computer.
• From the main menu, click ‘File’ then ‘Utilities’ then ‘Backup/Restore’. What you do next depends on which payroll files you wish to transfer to the Temporary computer.
  • EITHER: If you just wish to work on the payroll for one single employer, then choose the option to ‘Save Backup‘.
  • OR: If you are an agent/accountant and wish to work on a number of payrolls, then select the option to ‘Backup multiple files‘. Answer ‘Yes‘ to the message about closing the current file, then browse to where your files are located, hold down the ‘CTRL‘ key on your keyboard, and select the files that you wish to backup.

• A box will appear that will let you chose where to save the files – browse to your chosen location – (be it a USB memory stick or similar) and click ‘OK’. You will then see a message informing you that the backup(s) have been created.
• Make a note of your User Licence Code. You can find this by clicking ‘Help – User Licence‘ from the main menu of Payroll Manager.
• Install Payroll Manager on the Temporary computer by going our website ( moneysoft.co.uk ) and clicking on the ‘Downloads‘ link at the top of the page. Click on the link marked ‘Full Download’ on the right hand side of the page. Follow the on-screen instructions. This will install Payroll Manager on the Temporary computer.
• Run Payroll Manager on the Temporary computer and enter your current User Licence Code when asked to do so. Please note that it is OK to use the same User Licence Code on both computers for your own use.
• Insert the device (e.g. memory stick, external hard drive) onto which you backed up your payroll files.  Select ‘File-Utilities-Backup/Restore’ from the main menu. What you do next depends on whether you backed up the payroll for one employer, or for multiple employers:
  • EITHER: If you have just backed up one, single payroll file, then select ‘Restore Backup‘. Browse to where the backup file is located (e.g. your memory stick), single click on the file that you wish to restore (the icon will show as a white ‘P’ on a red square), and click on the ‘Restore‘ button. Click ‘OK‘ on the next screen, and you should then see a message that reads ‘File restored successfully. Click ‘OK‘. The file is now open and ready to use. Click ‘Pay‘ then ‘Pay Details‘ to view the Pay Details screen.
  • OR: If you backed up more than one file then select ‘Restore multiple files‘. A message may appear asking if you wish to close the current file – answer ‘Yes‘. Browse to where the backup files are located (e.g. your memory stick), hold down the ‘CTRL’ key on your keyboard, and click on each file that you wish to restore (the icon will show as a white ‘P’ on a red square). Then click on the ‘Restore‘ button. Click ‘OK‘ on the next screen, and you should then see a message that reads ‘(x) files restored successfully. Click ‘OK‘. Click ‘File – Open‘ to open a file that you wish to work on.
• You are now able to work on your payroll file(s) on the Temporary computer.

When you finish working on the Temporary computer – moving back to the Normal computer

When you wish to start using the Normal computer again you should make backup copies of each of the payroll data files that you have been working with on the Temporary computer, and then restore these backups onto the Normal computer.

• If using a ‘memory stick’ (or similar) to backup your files, make sure that it is plugged in to the Temporary computer.
• Run Payroll Manager on the Temporary computer.
• From the main menu, click ‘File’ then ‘Utilities’ then ‘Backup/Restore’. What you do next depends on which payroll files you wish to transfer back to the Normal computer.
  • EITHER: If you have been working on the payroll for one single employer, then choose the option to ‘Save Backup‘.
  • OR: If you have been working on a number of payrolls, then select the option to ‘Backup multiple files‘. Answer ‘Yes‘ to the message about closing the current file, then browse to where your files are located, hold down the ‘CTRL‘ key on your keyboard, and select the files that you wish to backup.

• A box will appear that will let you chose where to save the files – browse to your chosen location – (be it a USB memory stick or similar) and click ‘OK’. You will then see a message informing you that the backup(s) have been created.
• Insert the device (e.g. memory stick, external hard drive) onto which you backed up your payroll files in to the Normal computer
• Run Payroll Manager on the Normal computer.
• Select ‘File-Utilities-Backup/Restore’ from the main menu. What you do next depends on whether you backed up the payroll for one employer, or for multiple employers:
  • EITHER: If you have just backed up one, single payroll file, then select ‘Restore Backup‘. Browse to where the backup file is located (e.g. your memory stick), single click on the file that you wish to restore (the icon will show as a white ‘P’ on a red square), and click on the ‘Restore‘ button. Click ‘OK‘ on the next screen, and you should then see a message that reads ‘File restored successfully. Click ‘OK‘. The file is now open and ready to use. Click ‘Pay‘ then ‘Pay Details‘ to view the Pay Details screen.
  • OR: If you backed up more than one file then select ‘Restore multiple files‘. A message may appear asking if you wish to close the current file – answer ‘Yes‘. Browse to where the backup files are located (e.g. your memory stick), hold down the ‘CTRL’ key on your keyboard, and click on each file that you wish to restore (the icon will show as a white ‘P’ on a red square). Then click on the ‘Restore‘ button. Click ‘OK‘ on the next screen, and you should then see a message that reads ‘(x) files restored successfully. Click ‘OK‘. Click ‘File – Open‘ to open a file that you wish to work on.
• You are now able to work on your payroll file(s) on the Normal computer, and any work that you did on the Temporary computer (adding pay, filing RTI returns etc.) will have been saved.