Accessing the hosted Ciphr Accord Payroll system after the move to Azure

Overview

This article provides detail on the changes to how you will access your hosted Ciphr Accord Payroll system after it has moved to Azure.

As there will be changes to:

• The URL you use
• The format of your username
• The steps you use to sign-in
• How you access MyPay (if applicable) – please see our article on how the access to MyPay will change here

We are also introducing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as part of everyone’s sign-in to the remote desktop connection.

Note: Your password will not change, it will remain the same.

Detail of the hosted Ciphr Accord Payroll system access changes

Change to the URL you use

The new remote session URL to access your hosted Ciphr Accord Payroll system will be:

• https://desktop.ciphrpayroll.com 

Note: You will not be able to access this new URL until after you’ve received confirmation that the move has been completed.

Change to the format of your username

Your new username to access your hosted Ciphr Accord Payroll system will be:

• [user]@ciphrpayroll.com

This is a partial change to the second part of the username after the ‘@’, the first part before the ‘@’ will remain the same.

For example, your current username will be either ‘[user]@payrollbs.co.uk’ or ‘payrollbs\[user]’, and it is the ‘[user]’ part which will remain the same.

Note: Square brackets [ ] have been used to indicate where you need to enter information unique to you. Ensure the square brackets are not included.

Note: Your password will not change, it will remain the same as used before the move.

Changes to the steps you use to sign-in

With the move to Azure of the hosted Ciphr Accord Payroll system we are introducing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as part of everyone’s sign-in, as an improvement to the security of the service we provide to you.

One-time Multi-Factor Authentication set-up steps on first-time sign-in

The first-time you access your hosted Ciphr Accord Payroll system, after the move to Azure, you will need to set-up MFA. We recommend using an authenticator app on your phone; however, you can choose to receive either a call or SMS message to your phone instead.

You will only need to do this once, so after you’ve set-up MFA fewer steps will be needed to access your Ciphr Payroll system.

Note: The below steps use the example username “CiphrUser01@ciphrpayroll.com”, you should use your own username when following the steps.

1. Open the new remote session URL (https://desktop.ciphrpayroll.com) in your browser

2. In the Microsoft ‘Sign in’ box, enter your new username and select the ‘Next’ button

 

Note: If you are not presented with the Microsoft ‘Sign in’ box and instead see the ’It looks like your system administrator hasn’t set up any resources for...’ box (with your work email displayed – example below), you will need to either:

• logout/switch accounts so you can sign in with your new username,
• or use an “incognito” or “private browsing” browser tab which will not store any previous logins. This is simple to do and there is guidance available on the internet, such as this page on how to go incognito in common browsers

3. In the Microsoft ‘Enter password’ box, enter your usual password and select the ‘Sign in’ button

4. In the Microsoft ‘More information required’ box, select the ‘Next’ button

5. In the ‘Microsoft Authenticator’ box, select the ‘I want to use a different authenticator app’ link, to use an alternative authenticator app, such as Google Authenticator

• • You should select the ‘Next’ button if you would prefer to use, and already have, the Microsoft Authenticator app, or you can use the ‘Download now’ link and follow the instructions to install the Microsoft Authenticator app to your phone first
  • If you don’t want to use an authenticator app then select the ‘I want to set up a different method’ link, choose the ‘Phone’ option in the ‘Choose a method’ drop-down and follow the instructions provided in your browser (then jump to step 9 below)

6. In the ‘Authenticator app – Set up your account’ box, select the ‘Next’ button

7. In your Google Authenticator app tap the Add, or Plus, icon and scan the QR code displayed in the ‘Authenticator app – Scan the QR code’ box to connect your authenticator app with your account

8. In the ‘Authenticator app – Enter code’ box, enter the 6-digit code shown in your authenticator app and select the ‘Next’ button

9. In the ‘Success!’ box, select the ‘Done’ button

10. In the Microsoft ‘Stay signed in?’ box, select either the ‘No’ or ‘Yes’ button

• • You can also choose not to see this box again by ticking the checkbox

11. Select the ‘Payroll - Desktop’ icon to launch the remote desktop

12. In the ‘Access local resources’ box, select the ‘Allow’ button

• • You can also choose not to see this box again by ticking the checkbox

13. In the ‘Enter your credentials’ box, enter your usual password, and select the ‘Submit’ button

14. Double-click the ‘Accord Payroll’ icon to launch your Payroll system

• • Your organisation name will be prefixed within the icon (the example below shows ‘Ciphr’)

Sign-in steps once Multi-Factor Authentication is set-up

Once you’ve set-up MFA, then only the following steps will be needed the next time you access your Ciphr Payroll system:

1. Open the new remote session URL (https://desktop.ciphrpayroll.com) in your browser
2. In the Microsoft ‘Sign in’ box, enter your new username and select the ‘Next’ button

 

3. In the Microsoft ‘Enter password’ box, enter your usual password and select the ‘Sign in’ button

4. In the Microsoft ‘Enter code’ box, enter the code shown in your authenticator app (or received by SMS message) and select the ‘Verify’ button

5. Select the ‘Payroll - Desktop’ icon to launch the remote desktop

6. In the ‘Enter your credentials’ box, enter your usual password, and select the ‘Submit’ button

• • Your username will have been automatically populated in the Username field

7. Double-click the ‘Accord Payroll’ icon to launch your Payroll system

• • Your organisation name will be prefixed within the icon (the example below shows ‘Ciphr’)

 

Detail of the MyPay system access change

If applicable and you use MyPay please see our article on how the access to MyPay will change here.