Both the small employers relief and the employment allowance settings are switched off by default. If the business is eligible for either go to: Payroll Settings > Business Settings > HMRC Settings. From this screen you will see the following settings:
Click the radio button to apply the setting required for small employers relief.
For employment allowance select the tax year you are claiming for.
You will see a pencil icon appear beside the year. By clicking on the pencil icon a panel will appear on the right hand side of the screen.
You can now choose the month that you wish the allowance to become effective from.
You then need to select the state aid sector you operate in (you can select more than one) or if state aid rules do not apply. More information can be found here.
You can then choose if you wish to include employment allowance in journals.
You then need to click on 'Save'.
If you answer yes to "Have you claimed employment allowance in another payroll product in this tax year?" then you can now enter the amount claimed for in the previous payroll period.
If you run a P32 report please note the amount entered in the "Amount claimed in previous payroll period?" box will always appear in the April entry under the 'Emp Allowance' column on the report.
The allowance will be picked up by HMRC when you submit the EPS, for more information on submitting the EPS click here. This will only get sent once for the year and will only be included in the first EPS you send for the tax year.