The latest version of Total Pay is Version 4.1f, released on 13th September 2011, which fixes a bug related to the processing of leavers. Conversion from Version 4.1e - but not from any earlier version - is supplied. Support for earlier versions is now discontinued.

To download the latest version, point your browser at the address you have been given. If your browser offers to open the file, refuse the offer - tell it to save it instead (and remember where!).

The latest live version is normally removed from the web after a short time - you will have been told when. You must collect it before then.

• Back up your data - Total Pay includes a routine for doing this.
• Back up the program, using the Windows 'copy' and 'paste' routines - the file you need to back up is called TOTPAY.EXE.
• If the new version marks a change of tax-year, read the instructions in Total Pay Help | Year-End.

• Use Windows Explorer to find the file you downloaded, and double-click it.
• The installation routine offers to install the update into a folder called C:\PAYROLL. It is recommended that you do not change this - all Total Pay updates address this folder, and if you change it once you will need to change it every time thereafter. If you are running multiple copies of Total Pay, you will need to know which folder each one is installed in, and run the set-up routine once for each copy.
• If conversion is required (see Upgrade Path below), the setup routine will automatically run a conversion utility. This utility will leave your system unchanged if there is a version-compatibility problem.

Every version of Total Pay allows conversion from the previous version, and sometimes from the version before that. Upgrading from a demo version to a live version is the same as upgrading live-to-live. To upgrade, install the new version over the old as described above.

Conversion means that you retain your employee data. If you have an older existing version which you cannot convert, or if you don't want to keep your demonstration data, you will have to destroy and re-enter your employee data (delete the files PYCTRL.DAT, PYCUMP.DAT and PYEMPS.DAT from the folder where Total Pay is installed).

• Total Pay costs 40 pounds per year, payable in advance each April.
• No VAT is charged or reclaimable.

You can save one year's cost by taking up the 'buddy' offer: if another business buys Total Pay on your recommendation, you get the next year’s licence free! Recommend it to your friends and colleagues, and save money.

• If you have installed 'shortcuts', click Start - Programs - Payroll - Total Pay.
• If you have not installed 'shortcuts', use Windows Explorer to find the application TOTPAY in the folder where you installed it, and double-click its icon.

'Shortcuts' are automatically installed with the demonstration version, and left untouched by subsequent updates. If you change the shortcuts, make sure you know what each one points to. Contact me if you require advice on setting up shortcuts.