Payroll specialist Northgate has failed to pay its staff.

An apology email was sent to all staff worldwide, which said:

Many staff will already be aware that salary payments have not been credited to bank accounts today.

A review has been commissioned to understand how the error occurred and why it was not identified as part of the payroll process, with a view to putting a plan in place to ensure that such errors do not arise in the future.

Which sounds like a good plan to us.

To understand why payroll is so important, we could do worse than turn to Northgate's own website, which notes: "Payroll is a 'mission critical' activity; if people do not get paid, the company simply will not exist beyond the very short term.

"It is for this reason that organisations need to operate an efficient payroll solution that delivers effectively and accurately every time."

Northgate's email to staff blames an internal processing error which meant the BACS file had an incorrect processing date. It reassures staff that payments will go through tomorrow (27 April).

A spokesman for Northgate told The Reg: "We're sorry about this and will look at staff who have had problems with bank charges as a result." ®

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