Smarter accounting

Payroll

Let the experts take care of your payroll.

HMRC requires employers to report Real Time Information (RTI) with every wages payment to employees.  Switching your payroll processing to Alterledger will ensure that you are fully compliant with the these regulations and will allow you to get on with running your own business.

Real-time Information for payroll

The additional administration required by RTI is something that you can easily outsource.  Online software can be used to record all your staff information which you have full access to.

Alterledger can support you in providing monthly payslips and allowing staff to access their pay information online and update their personal details.

Pension Automatic Enrolment

UK employers have to automatically enrol their staff into a workplace pension if they meet certain criteria.  The administration of auto-enrolment pensions is complex, especially if you have staff on fluctuating pay and hours.  If you fail to comply with pension regulations you can be subject to significant fines.  Alterledger can help you to get your systems up to date and compliant with pension regulation.

Deadline for compliance

Your staging date is when your automatic enrolment duties come into force and is based on the total number of people in your PAYE scheme.  You will need your PAYE reference to find out your staging date.

You can find your PAYE reference on a P6 / P9 coding notice or on your P30BC white payslip booklet.

To find your staging date, please visit the Pensions Regulator website.

It can take up to a year to prepare for your staging date. Many employers will have the same staging date and it is anticipated that peak months will see more than 60,000 employers staging at the same time. There isn’t capacity from the finance sector to deal with this demand so it is likely that the fees charged by professionals will rise sharply as you approach your staging date. It is therefore better to be prepared and have everything set up well in advance of your staging date.

In-house or outsource?

If you use an agent, payroll bureau or payroll service provider, you must talk to them now about the service they will provide for you in future, and ask what you need to do to get ready for auto-enrolment. All providers should be set up to be compliant with auto-enrolment, but you may need to change your systems or the timing of the information that you provide to them.

The change to pensions is a good time to assess whether you should operate your payroll in-house or use an external provider. Alterledger can advise you on the advantages of each option and we can help you set up your own system with online software or process your payroll using the information that you provide each month.

If you run your own payroll system, you need to get pensions-enabled software in order to send your employee information to HMRC and your pension provider online every time a payment is made.  You can do this in the following ways:

  • Commercial payroll software, upgrading your existing software if necessary.
  • Payroll service provider, such as an accountant or a payroll bureau, who will do it for you.

There are potential cost savings of operating your own payroll system, but to make sure you comply with relevant regulations you should refer to the HMRC and Pension Regulator website or get advice from an accountant or other payroll professional.

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