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What’s New in Version 8.0

Aren Payroll 8.0 and Aren Register 8.0, released in September 2020, are a major revision of version 7.0. Here are main improvements as of Update 32. The blue text shows changes that have been made since the initial release.

New Database

The underlying database has changed from FoxPro to Firebird which is much more modern. This has led to a number of changes in the way the software works.

  1. A new Enterprise edition has been introduced, replacing the old Premier edition. This edition requires the installation of a separate database server.
  2. The Standard edition also uses a database server, but this is embedded in the payroll software. This edition can no longer access data stored on a network drive.
  3. Both editions of version 7.0 were quite slow for organisations with several hundred employees or more. This has been resolved by changing to the Firebird database.
  4. The new database also makes the Enterprise edition much faster in multi-user mode than the old Premier edition was.
  5. Changing to Firebird has dramatically improved backup and restore speeds.

Data Entry

  1. Records in employee data forms may be filtered by administrative unit, station or pay group.

Reports

  1. Annual industrial training levy and employment status reports have been added.
  2. Quarterly tax return (P10D) has been removed.
  3. All reports can be exported to Excel 2003 XML files. Previously, the export format for several reports was tab-separated text.

Statutory Deductions

  1. An option to allow insurance relief on NHIF contributions has been added.
  2. Affordable housing levy is supported through a user-defined deduction.

Security

  1. The owner password, used for opening payslips and P9As sent as PDF attachments, can be edited. It is also possible to change the default user password.
  2. By default, the password for logging into the application can be as simple as test or 1234. An option to require longer, more complex passwords has been added.

Other Changes

  1. Users are alerted about any expired contracts each time they open an organisation.
  2. The file format for employee photos and the logo used in printed payslips has changed from bitmap to JPEG or PNG.
  3. The logo for PDF payslips is specified explicitly from within the software. Previously, the name was inferred from that used for printed payslips.
  4. It is no longer necessary to key in email addresses when sending out P9As to former employees as they are saved with the report data.