Payroll

Your employees paid correctly, on time, every time — with all the reporting handled.

If you have employees — including yourself as a director taking a salary — you need to run payroll. This applies to:

• Limited companies paying directors a salary
• Businesses with staff (full-time, part-time, or casual)
• Partnerships employing people outside the partnership

You can run your own payroll, and with training, it’s manageable. But once you have more than one employee, software becomes essential, and the compliance requirements add up quickly. Many business owners find it’s worth handing off to focus on running their business.

A note on business structure: If you’re a sole trader thinking about hiring employees, we’d strongly recommend considering a limited company structure first. Employment law breaches carry significant fines, and a limited company protects you from personal liability in ways a sole trader structure doesn’t.

Payroll is the process of paying employees (for limited companies, this may include yourself) while holding back the necessary payments for HMRC, such as income tax, national insurance, and repayments for student loans.

Each pay run involves:

• Calculating gross pay — salary, overtime, bonuses, statutory payments
• Deducting tax and student loans (PAYE) — based on each employee’s tax code
• Deducting National Insurance — employee and employer contributions
• Pension contributions — if employees are enrolled in a workplace pension
• Producing payslips — showing all deductions clearly
• Reporting to HMRC — via Real Time Information (RTI) submissions

At year-end, you’ll also need to produce P60s for each employee and submit final reports to HMRC.

The payroll year runs from 6 April to 5 April — the same as the tax year.

Payroll frequency depends on how you pay your staff:

• Weekly
• Fortnightly
• Four-weekly
• Monthly (most common)

Each time you pay employees, you must report to HMRC via RTI on or before the payment date. Late or incorrect submissions can trigger penalties.

P60s must be provided to employees by 31 May following the end of the tax year.

1. We set up your payroll — registering with HMRC if needed, gathering employee details, and establishing pay dates
2. Each pay period, you send us the hours or salary details — including any changes, starters, or leavers
3. We calculate pay and deductions — producing payslips for each employee
4. We submit RTI to HMRC — reporting earnings and deductions in real time
5. We provide payment instructions — or process payments via Apron Payments if you prefer
6. At year-end, we produce P60s — and handle the final submission to HMRC

How payroll payments work

We don’t hold or access your bank accounts directly. If you’d like us to process payments, we can do this using Apron Payments — it links to your account and shows you a single line item for approval, keeping individual salaries confidential.

For compliance

• HMRC penalties for late or incorrect RTI submissions
• Auto-enrolment fines from The Pensions Regulator
• Employment law requirements around payslips and records

For your employees

• Being paid correctly and on time builds trust
• Clear payslips help them understand their earnings
• Proper pension contributions secure their future

For your business

• Employment Allowance can reduce your NI bill by up to £10,500 per year (if eligible)
• Accurate records make budgeting and forecasting easier
• Outsourcing frees up time to focus on your business