New employers
Taking On Your First Employee? Payroll Set-Up for New Employers
We register your PAYE scheme with HMRC for £60 + VAT, set up auto-enrolment and run your payroll from £2.50 + VAT per payslip.
Cardiff-based payroll bureau. Serving employers across the UK.
- Since 2011
- 500+ clients
- 5.0 on Google (16 reviews)
- ICO registered
- Hiscox insured
Taking on your first employee, or paying yourself a salary through your new limited company, means becoming an employer. That brings new jobs: registering with HMRC, reporting every payday, giving payslips and setting up a workplace pension. Payroll Service (UK) Ltd is a Cardiff payroll bureau that has run payroll for UK employers since 2011. We set new employers up from scratch and then run the payroll every pay day, so you can concentrate on the business.
What changes when you become an employer
None of this is difficult once it is set up, but several steps have to happen before the first payday.
Register with HMRC before the first payday
You must register as an employer before your first payday, and you cannot register more than 2 months before you start paying people. HMRC sends your employer PAYE reference by letter. We can register the scheme for you for £60 + VAT.
Report every payday
Once you are registered, every pay run is reported to HMRC in real time through a Full Payment Submission (FPS). Tax and National Insurance are then paid to HMRC each month or quarter.
Workplace pension from day one
Your workplace pension duties start on the day your first member of staff starts work, even if nobody needs to be enrolled straight away. Each worker has to be assessed every time they are paid, and you must complete a declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator.
Payslips and records
Every employee must get a payslip showing their pay and deductions. You also need to keep payroll records. We produce secure online payslips and keep the reports for you each pay run.
Right to work and contracts
Before someone starts, check they have the right to work in the UK. Employees are entitled to a written statement of their main terms of employment on or before their first day.
Employers’ Liability insurance
Most employers must have Employers’ Liability insurance from the day their first employee starts. Speak to your insurer or broker before your first starter joins.
Paying yourself as a company director
If you have just formed a limited company and want to pay yourself a salary, HMRC says you must register as an employer even if you are only employing yourself. Many directors take a small salary through payroll alongside dividends, and that salary still has to be reported to HMRC on or before each payday.
Director payroll has a few differences. Directors’ National Insurance is worked out on an annual earnings period rather than pay period by pay period. The Employment Allowance cannot be claimed if a director is the only employee paid above the secondary threshold. We run director-only payrolls at the same per-payslip price as any other payroll. How much salary to take is a decision for you and your accountant; we make sure whatever you decide is paid and reported correctly.
What we handle for you
Everything a new employer needs, set up once and then run every pay day by a named team in Cardiff.
- Registering your PAYE scheme with HMRC (£60 + VAT)
- Setting up your payroll: employee details, tax codes and starter information
- Director-only payrolls for new limited companies
- Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly pay runs
- PAYE, National Insurance and student loan deductions
- RTI submissions to HMRC (FPS and EPS) every pay run
- Secure online payslips for every employee
- Starters, leavers and P45s, at no extra charge
- Pension auto-enrolment: assessment, enrolment, re-enrolment and contribution files for NEST, Smart Pension, People’s Pension and others
- Statutory pay: SSP, SMP, SPP and ShPP
- Attachment of earnings orders
- P60s and year end
- Payroll journals and reports for your bookkeeping
- A payment report so you stay in control of paying staff
How it works
Four steps from your first starter to your first payday.
Tell us about your business
Get in touch with your company details, when your first employee starts and how often you will pay them.
We register you with HMRC
If you do not have a PAYE scheme yet, we register one for £60 + VAT. If you already have one, we use your existing reference.
Send pay details each pay run
Send us hours or salaries, plus any starters or leavers, by email or spreadsheet.
We do the rest
We run the payroll, send payslips, report to HMRC, handle pensions and give you a payment report so you can pay your staff.
Simple per-payslip pricing
One price per payslip, with no payroll setup fee. If you need a new PAYE scheme, we register it with HMRC for £60 + VAT.
- No setup fee and no contracts
- No extra charges for starters, leavers, P45s, P60s or year end
- Pension auto-enrolment included in the per-payslip price
★★★★★
“Excellent professional service always able to speak to somebody when required.”
New employers in every sector use us. See our pages on payroll for hospitality, care homes, nurseries, cleaning companies and retail, our small business payroll service, or CIS for construction.
New employer payroll questions
When do I need to register as an employer?
You must register with HMRC before your first payday, and you cannot register more than 2 months before you start paying people. HMRC sends your employer PAYE reference number by letter. We can register for you for £60 + VAT.
I am the only director. Do I need a payroll?
If your company pays you a salary, HMRC says you must register as an employer even if you are only employing yourself. We run director-only payrolls at the same per-payslip price as any other payroll.
How much does it cost to set up a PAYE scheme?
We register your PAYE scheme with HMRC for £60 + VAT. There is no separate setup fee for the payroll itself. Payroll is then from £2.50 + VAT per payslip for weekly and fortnightly payrolls, and from £3.50 + VAT for monthly and four-weekly payrolls.
What if payday arrives before our PAYE reference?
HMRC’s guidance is to run the payroll, keep the Full Payment Submission and send it late once your reference arrives. We handle this for you, so your employee is paid on time.
Do I need a pension for just one employee?
Your workplace pension duties start on the day your first member of staff starts work, even if nobody needs to be enrolled yet. We assess each worker every time they are paid and handle enrolment and contribution files. Read more about our pension auto-enrolment service.
Can you help if we already registered with HMRC ourselves?
Yes. If you already have an employer PAYE reference, we set your payroll up on it at no extra charge and run it from the next pay day.
Do you pay our staff?
You stay in control of payments. We give you the payment report for each pay run and you pay staff from your own bank account.
Ready to take on your first employee?
Tell us when your first starter joins and how often you will pay them, and we will get you set up. You can also email us at sales@payrollserviceuk.co.uk.