If you enter your employer file password and BrightPay shows the message "The employer file could not be opened. Please ensure it is available and not already opened in BrightPay or in use by another process", work through the steps below.

1) Check where the file is saved

On the home screen, hover over the employer name to see the location of the file. If the file is not where you expect it to be, move it to the correct location on your PC. Then open BrightPay, select Browse, go to the file and open it.

2) Restore your latest backup

If the file is in the right place but still will not open, restore your most recent backup. On the home screen, click Browse and double-click your backup file. If you back up using BrightPay Connect, restore the latest Connect backup.

3) If you have no backup, send us the file

Right-click the company name, select Submit support request and complete the form, making sure you click Yes in the yellow box to attach your file. If the form does not work, right-click the company name, click Browse file location and attach that file to an email to our support team.

Our team will check the file. If it has become corrupt, we will send you a replacement file where this is possible. To use it:

1. Download the file.
2. Open BrightPay and click Browse.
3. Go to your Downloads folder and double-click the file to restore it.
4. To remove the old file, right-click the company on the home screen and select Remove from list.

4) Check your last pay period

A problem can occur if BrightPay closed while a pay period was being finalised or submitted. After restoring, check the last pay period and process it again if needed. If the PSR for that period has already been submitted to Revenue, go to Submit amounts, click the spanner icon and select Mark PSR as submitted.

5) Ask your IT team to check your PC

If the problem continues, ask your IT team to check whether the file has become corrupt.

FAQs

Q. How can I avoid losing my employer file?
A. Take regular backups of your employer files. It may not always be possible to repair a corrupt employer file, and a recent backup lets you restore your payroll straight away.