This program has had a thorough beneath the surface re-work so that under most circumstances it will be substantially faster than previous versions.

Extra vehicle associated actions have been added to the list of standard retentions available. The extra actions cover follow up of vehicle quotation, order and interest. We have also added an action to remind customers of vehicle handovers.

In order to accommodate the extra actions it has been necessary to update information held about previous retention actions undertaken.

• This update will involve a file conversion, which will run once only: the first time Platinum is used after this update. It may take some time, depending on how heavily the relevant area of the system is used, but will only be necessary the first time you use the software after this update.

The upload to AutoTrader now includes an Attention Grabber for each of your vehicles. This is a 30 character subtitle that should highlight the unique selling point of the vehicle to really grab the buyer's attention. A good attention grabber will increase the number of views of a vehicle on Autotrader.

• The Attention Grabber is populated from the first 30 characters of the sales heading field in vehicle properties, which can be found by going to the Sale tab -> Sales description -> Heading.

• See How do I Upload My Vehicles to Auto Trader? for more details.

You can now optionally display the remarks text block on logistics jobs in both Platinum Online & Platinum Mobile.

• Whether the remarks text block is shown or not is controlled by a new system setting "Show remarks text block".

• See How do my Drivers Connect to Platinum Online? for more details.

• Platinum settings can be found and set in "Reports & Settings" -> "Maintenance Options" -> "System Administrator" -> "Platinum Settings". Depending on how your software is configured you may require "System Administrator" status to access this option.

• See our Knowledge Base to connect to your Platinum Online.

• See our Website for more information about Platinum Mobile.

You can now filter your list of items to pick in Platinum Online by specifying the picking list they were printed on.

In addition, when completing an order you can specify a "Pick Bin" to store the item(s) in to aid the dispatch department in identifying where to locate the items to go out on each order. These are stored against the items for future reporting purposes. This option will only appear if you have "Pick Bins" set up in desktop Platinum.

• See How do I Pick Orders using Platinum Online? for more details.

• See our Knowledge Base to connect to your Platinum Online.

You can now capture signatures by drawing on the screen and send them to your Platinum system using both Platinum Online & Platinum Mobile.

In Platinum Online, a new [Add Signature] button has been added to all of the "Image Managers" which will bring up the Add Signature screen.

In Platinum Mobile, both the "POD Manager" and "Activity Manager" have a new [Add Signature] button.

• See Using the Image Managers in Platinum Online for more details.

• See our Knowledge Base to connect to your Platinum Online.

• See https://www.catalyst-uk.com/platinum-mobile for more information about Platinum Mobile.

QR (Quick Response) Codes have been added to Platinum's existing ability to print barcodes in documents and the report generator.

• QR Codes have been added to the Vehicle Fact sheets (Both Simple and Detailed) for vehicles with an attached 'Video' media type allowing for a quick link to stored online videos for that vehicle from a smart phone or tablet.

These codes have become common in advertising. Typically, a smart phone is used as a QR code scanner, displaying the code and converting it to some useful form (such as a standard URL for a website or video).

To help record which customers & prospects have given consent to receive further marketing, a set of "opt in" attributes have been add to "Customer Properties" and a set of "opt in" interests have been add to "Prospect Properties".

• See our knowledge base articles How do I Opt Customers in to Direct Marketing? and How do I Opt Prospects in to Direct Marketing? for more information about how to set these attributes and How do I Ensure my Use of Platinum is Compliant with Data Protection Regulations? for how they are used within Platinum.

"Sales Order Processing" now assigns a unique number to each Picking List you print, which will be stored with the items printed on that list, to aid in auditing and tracking.

In addition, when completing an order you can specify a "Pick Bin" to store the item(s) in to aid the dispatch department in identifying where to locate the items to go out on each order. Again these are stored against the items for future reporting purposes.

It is now possible to enter standard text that appears on all emails sent from Platinum.

This is especially useful to inform the recipient how they can unsubscribe from receiving further messages.

• See our knowledge base article Can Customers Unsubscribe from Platinum Marketing? for more details.

Changes to Platinum's "Payroll" module that allow you to start processing the year 2018/19, including:

• Printed report P11 has been updated for the new tax year.
• Updated UK PAYE tax rates and bandwidths for 6th April.
• Updated Scottish PAYE tax rates and bandwidths for 6th April.
• If you have an always-on Internet connection then any updates to the PAYE tax rates through the year will be downloaded automatically.
• Updated Class 1 National Insurance Contributions rates.
• The system now automatically changes an employee's National Insurance category letter when they turn 16, when they turn 21, when they turn 25 (if they are using the apprentice under-25 category letter) and when they reach state retirement age (which is determined automatically from their gender and date of birth).
• Updated SSP rates.
• Updated SMP/SAP/SPP/ShPP rates.
• Updated Collection of Student Loans "Plan 1" and "Plan 2" thresholds.

• Operating PAYE in real time, aka Real Time Information - or RTI:

  • Full Payment Submission (FPS), which happens automatically when you close off a period, has been updated for the year 2018/19.
  • Employer Payment Summary (EPS) has been updated for the year 2018/19 (to clarify this, the year is included in the option name).
  • If you have not yet submitted your final EPS for 2017/18 then you can still do this by selecting the "2017/18 Final submission for the year" box, or going to "End of Year Payroll Routines" -> "Employer Payment Summary".
• For employers who have chosen to opt in to the new system of deducting tax for certain expenses and benefits in kind through the payroll, you must now record details of company car and fuel benefits in the payroll to be included in your Full Payment Submissions (FPS). Platinum's "Payroll" module now supports this. See How do I Record Benefits in Kind? for more information.
• The Payroll menu options have been reorganised and simplified to make it easier to get to the essential Employer Payment Summary (EPS) option.

• See Payroll End of Year for more information, including details of changes you must make yourself that are not handled automatically, including:

  • Altering employee tax codes.
  • Increasing Automatic Enrolment pension contributions.

• As always, look out for any other Payroll release announcements in Platinum Updates news.