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Paying employees is important, so you must have your payroll in order.

There’s more to payroll than working out who gets paid and how much. Crucial tax information and legal requirements need following to ensure everything runs smoothly.

An unreliable payroll system can damage morale within a company’s workforce very quickly. If payments aren’t on time, amounts are wrong, or tax isn’t calculated correctly, it can cause lots of unrest amongst staff.

Payroll tips

Automated payment

Remember the brown envelope on pay day? Well, those days are long gone. To make it in this day and age, you need fast, automated payments, preferably on the same date each month. When you get Christmas and weekend clashes, try pay your employees sooner. It’s better being paid too early than too late! And a swift direct payment into an employee’s bank account is the least they should expect.

Swift tax changes

Sometimes legislation changes can affect an employee’s tax band. It could even be down to personal reasons like marriage or parenthood. Your system should update tax codes quickly and easily so that your staff members aren’t overpaying or underpaying tax. Running up a bill with HMRC isn’t enjoyable for anyone, so it’s best to act quickly to ensure there are no issues.

Expenses

Most companies have situations where employees run up business costs. It can be stressful for staff if you’re taking a long time to pay them. Ensure your system pays employees quickly.

Find the right software

Good payroll accounting software will make your job so much easier. A few clicks saves lots of hassle further down the line. Thankfully, technology is available for automating everything. Top notch software will reduce paperwork, reduce IT costs, give 24/7 and mobile access and automatically incorporating new laws as they are introduced. We recommend Xero to our clients.

Legally comply

As an employer you will be responsible for operating PAYE and calculating National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for each employee. There are also certain statutory payments you may have to make from time to time which you need to be aware of, including statuary sick pay (SSP), statutory maternity pay (SMP) and ordinary statutory paternity pay (OSPP). More information is available at www.gov.uk/business-tax/paye

If you run your own payroll but find it too time consuming, we can help. Contact us today to talk about our payroll services.