I pay a week in arrears, where do I process my last week of December pay period which has a pay date of January?

• This will be processed in BrightPay 2026 as the period end date is not relevant. It is the pay date determines the tax year in which the payroll is processed.

I run a fortnightly payroll, one week falls into 2025 and the second week in 2026, do I process these separately in the relevant tax year?

• No, the pay date determines the tax year that the fortnight pay period is processed in, regardless of the week ending dates. Therefore if the pay date is a January date, this will be processed in the 2026 payroll software.

Do I have a week 53 in the tax year 2025?

• Only if an employer pays employees on a Wednesday and the last pay date of the 2025 tax year is Wednesday 31^st December 2025. 

What are the steps do I need to finalise the 2025 payroll?

• When you complete your final pay period for 2025, you simply submit the PSR as normal and that is it completed. There are no extra steps. Employees will be able to view their earnings for 2025 on Revenue’s employee online service, myaccount.ie, under the Job or Pension section. You can download the new tax year from our website.

When are 2026 RPNs available?

• Revenue will release them from 08^th December, so they are ready for processing the payroll for 2026. 

When will 2026 BrightPay / Thesaurus be available?

• 2026 BrightPay is ready to download now. Please click here. 

Is it ok to import my data into 2026 BrightPay before my payroll is finished for the 2025 tax year?

• We advise waiting until your payroll is fully completed for the current tax year before importing into the new tax year version. This will ensure the most accurate and up-to-date information is being imported from the previous tax year.

• By default, all expenses without an end date in 2025 will carry over into 2026. While some of these expenses may not be necessary to include, they can be helpful for keeping a complete record within the new year. If you prefer not to carry them over, you can remove them from the employee’s record: go to Expenses and Benefits click the X on the top right of the specific expense you want to delete, and confirm by saving. Once removed, the expense will no longer appear in the Expenses - All Expenses section. Please make sure to do this before finalising any payslips in 2026.