Payroll
Payroll
Running payroll correctly is more involved than most people realise. We manage your payroll processing, RTI submissions to HMRC, payslips, and auto-enrolment — so you can focus on running your business.
Sound familiar?
You are about to hire your first employee and do not know where to start
Payroll submissions have been late and HMRC is raising queries
Auto-enrolment is not set up and you are not sure of your obligations
Running payroll in-house is taking time away from the business
If any of these apply, you are in the right place. Get in touch and we will give you straight advice on what to do next.
About payroll
Taking on a first employee is one of the most significant milestones in a small business owner's journey. It is also the moment that introduces a set of ongoing HMRC obligations that are considerably more complex than most first-time employers anticipate. You need to register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday. You need to calculate gross pay, income tax under the correct tax code, employee and employer National Insurance contributions, statutory sick pay or statutory maternity pay where applicable, and any other deductions. You need to submit Real Time Information to HMRC on or before each pay date — not after — regardless of how small the business is.
Getting payroll wrong generates consequences that are disproportionate to the apparent simplicity of the task. Late RTI submissions attract automatic penalties starting from £100 per month. Incorrect tax code applications mean employees underpay or overpay income tax, which creates problems when HMRC reconciles the year-end position. Errors in National Insurance calculations result in either overpayment or an HMRC underpayment notice. These are not rare edge cases — they are the practical outcomes of running payroll without the right expertise. The cost of managed payroll is consistently lower than the cost of a single compliance failure.
Auto-enrolment is the area where small businesses are most frequently non-compliant, and often without awareness of it. The Pensions Regulator has substantially increased enforcement in recent years, and penalties for non-compliance — whether failing to enrol eligible employees, not selecting a qualifying pension scheme, or missing re-enrolment obligations — range from compliance notices to significant daily fines. The assessment of eligibility, the selection of a qualifying scheme, the ongoing contribution calculations, and the three-yearly re-enrolment cycle all require consistent attention. We manage the complete process as a standard part of our payroll service.
Our payroll service covers the full monthly cycle — processing, payslips, RTI submission, and pension contributions — so that payday is handled entirely without involvement from you. At year-end we issue P60s to all employees, prepare any P11D returns for benefits in kind, and complete the payroll year-end reconciliation before the new year is opened. For businesses whose directors take a salary through a limited company, payroll integrates directly with our limited company accounts service as part of a coherent, complete compliance package.
What's included
Monthly payroll processing
RTI submissions to HMRC
Payslip preparation
Auto-enrolment pension management
Year-end P60 and P11D preparation
What you get
Employees paid correctly every month
Full HMRC compliance
Pension obligations handled
No payroll software headaches
How it works
Payroll setup
We register your payroll scheme with HMRC, set up employee records, and ensure everything is correct from the first payday.
Monthly processing
Each month we calculate all pay, deductions, and employer contributions — and produce payslips for every employee.
RTI submissions
We submit Real Time Information to HMRC on or before each pay date, maintaining full compliance at all times.
Year-end and reporting
P60s issued, P11D preparation, year-end reconciliation — and the new payroll year opened cleanly.
This service is for: Businesses with employees, Growing small businesses, Limited companies.
Get started with a free health check
Not sure where to start? Book a free 30-minute conversation and we will give you clear, honest advice — no obligation.
Call us directly
01226 691932
Where our clients are based
Why choose us
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about payroll — answered directly.
Yes. You must register as an employer with HMRC before the first payday — HMRC recommends doing this at least two weeks in advance to allow time for your employer reference number to be issued and the payroll scheme to be set up correctly. We can handle the registration and the initial payroll setup, ensuring everything is in place before the first salary is paid.
Real Time Information is HMRC's system that requires employers to report payroll data on or before each pay date — not monthly or annually, but every time employees are paid. Penalties for late submission vary by the number of employees: for businesses with one to nine employees, the monthly penalty is £100. For businesses with ten or more, it rises accordingly. HMRC issues penalty notices automatically, so compliance from the outset is the only sensible approach.
Auto-enrolment requires employers to automatically enrol eligible employees into a qualifying workplace pension scheme and make employer contributions of at least 3% of qualifying earnings. Employees aged 22 or over, earning above £10,000 per year, and working in the UK must be enrolled automatically. Non-compliance is enforced by the Pensions Regulator, whose penalties begin with compliance notices and escalate to fixed and escalating fines. We manage every aspect of auto-enrolment as a standard part of our payroll service.
We manage payroll for businesses ranging from sole directors drawing a salary through to small and medium businesses with a team of employees. Get in touch with details of your requirement and we will confirm pricing and capacity clearly.
At the end of each tax year (5th April), the payroll must be formally closed. We issue P60 certificates to all employees by the 31st May deadline, prepare P11D forms for any benefits in kind by the 6th July deadline, and submit any final EPS (Employer Payment Summary) to HMRC. The new tax year payroll is then opened with updated tax codes applied. Everything is handled as part of the annual payroll service.
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