---
title: "What is real time information (RTI)?"
slug: "what-is-real-time-information-rti"
updated: 2026-06-10T11:24:59Z
published: 2026-06-10T11:24:59Z
canonical: "help.cintra.co.uk/what-is-real-time-information-rti"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.cintra.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is real time information (RTI)?

Under RTI, employers are required to submit information about employees' wages, taxes and other deductions to HMRC in real time. This means that every time a payroll is processed and employees are paid, the relevant data is sent to HMRC, rather than just at the end of the financial year.

Cintra iQ is fully compliant with HMRC in terms of Real Time Information (RTI). The submission and receipt of files to and from HMRC is controlled on the File By Internet (FBI) functionality.

## Data Validation

Validation is undertaken each time you run a payment file for your employees before you transmit the **RTI** file. The fields which you must check when you create new records are:

- First Name
- Second Name
- Surname
- National Insurance Number (NINO)
- Date of Birth
- Gender
- Address
- P45 and/or New Starter Notification complete.

## RTI Glossary

As part of **Real Time Information,** you will become familiar with the various acronyms used by **HMRC** and within our software. A full list is detailed below:

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| **FPS** –**Full Payment Submission** | (send each time you pay employee.) |
| **EPS**–**Employer Payment Summary** | (send as part of paying over to **HMRC,** contains employer reclaims and **CIS** suffered.) |
| **NVR**–**NINO Verification Report** | (contains resulting **NINOs** following **FPS** and will arrive with tax code notifications and student loan notices.) |
| **EYU**– **End of Year Update** | (enables you to send adjustments to the previous tax year – can only be used for previous tax years which have been **RTI** aligned.) |

## RTI Data Fields

There are a number of data fields which will form part of the **RTI** submission. These include:

| Task | Link |
| --- | --- |
| **Passport Number** | Go to **Cintra iQ**: Personnel Records > Legal Status > Right to Work This is a non mandatory field but you may wish to complete as part of your process. It is used as another way to identify/match an employee to the HMRC record. As part of the new starter process you should request formal identity from all new employees, this forms part of the home office guidelines. |
| **Paid Irregularly** | Go to **Cintra iQ**: Employment Records > Tax and NI > RTI Details tab You can add a new irregular pay record by using the **New Working Time** for **RTI** form. Right-click: **New** in the pane. The **Irregular Pay** field is a non-mandatory field and it automatically defaults to **No**. However if you have employees who are not paid regularly, and can have gaps of pay of more than **3** months, then this field should be set to **Yes**. You can set whether the employee is in receipt of an occupational pension. If selected, the pension amount will be flagged to **HMRC**. |
| **Unpaid Leave** | You can create **Unpaid Absence** records if your employee requests that their contracted hours are reduced to zero for a period of time exceeding one pay period. Go to **Cintra iQ**: Employment Records > Tax and NI > RTI Details tab You can add **Unpaid Absence** records by using the **New Unpaid Absence** form. Right-click: **New** in the **Unpaid Absence** pane. |
| **Normal Weekly Hours** | Go to **Cintra iQ**: Employment Records > Tax and NI > RTI Details tab If you have set-up and allocated working patterns, then the hours band will be automatically calculated from the employee’s working pattern data. However, if you are not using this functionality, then you will need to allocate each employee to a valid band. The bands are: - Up to 15.99 hrs - 16-23.99 hrs - 24-29.99 hrs - 30 hrs or more - Other Any hours banding data entered directly in this screen will take precedence to the system calculated hours. > [!NOTE] > **Note:** If no system calculated hours are available for an employee, and you have not allocated them to a band in this screen, the hour’s band will default to Other. |
| **Strike** | As part of the universal credit system , you will need to identify employees who have been on strike in any given period. This data is entered as a calendar event so you will need to set up a specific absence code for Strike, you may already have one set-up. You can do this via Definitions > Lookups > Attendance Categories and insert a new category called Strike Leave. |