Setting up as an employer

Becoming an employer – first steps

Becoming an employer means that you have various responsibilities. This is the case whether you employ someone on a full-time, part-time or casual basis.

First things first though: it is important to be sure that the person you are taking on is definitely your employee, rather than self-employed. See our tax status information for help on how to decide whether your worker is employed or self-employed.

As an employer, one of the main things you may need to do is register with HMRC so that a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system can be set up. The main purpose of the PAYE system is for employers to collect tax and National Insurance contributions (NIC) from their employees’ wages on behalf of HMRC and this is done as part of running a payroll.

What a payroll is

The term payroll refers to everything to do with the payment of employees. This includes calculating wages but also paying any tax and National Insurance contributions (NIC) due on those wages to HMRC.

The following are some of the main payroll tasks that you may need to carry out.

• Collect information about your new employee, e.g. National Insurance number, tax code.
• Make sure you correctly calculate their pay
• Pay statutory payments where they apply (such as Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay and Statutory Paternity Pay)
• Collect student loan repayments and/or other types of deductions from pay, for example those ordered by a court
• Operate PAYE to collect income tax and NIC on your employee’s pay
• Send details of the payments made to your employee to HMRC at regular intervals.
• Give your employee a payslip with each payment
• Pay the tax and NIC to HMRC at the correct time
• Give your employee an annual statement on form P60 if they are employed by you at the end of the tax year
• Potentially deal with benefits and/or expenses and auto-enrolment.
• Take any action required when an employee leaves
• Keep good records of employees and the payments you make

This list may look overwhelming, but not all of these tasks are required all of the time – many are one-offs or things you would do once a year.

The main way of operating your payroll is by using payroll software. It is recommended that you use software as it is quick and easy and you are much less likely to make mistakes. In fact, for most employers, by law you must use an electronic software system and submit returns to HMRC online.

Many of the ongoing tasks in the list above – including calculations, submitting information to HMRC and producing payslips – can be done at the touch of a button using payroll software.

We explain the main processes in the  Reporting PAYE in real time  section and guide you to some free payroll software that is available, including HMRC’s own, Basic PAYE Tools.

There are certain groups however, such as care and support employers who may still use a manual paper system. We explain the difference between the two ways of doing payroll on our filing options page.

Please note that you can choose to use an accountant or payroll bureau to do the work for you, but you will have to pay for their services. You can find out more about using a payroll provider below.

Using a payroll provider

Payroll is an essential part of employing someone, so it is important that it is done right. If you are hesitant to take on the responsibility or paperwork that goes with operating a payroll, or are anxious about  making mistakes then that is totally understandable.

If you can afford to pay a payroll provider to help you run your payroll, then you may choose to do this because of the time you will save by reducing admin/paperwork. They can look after all or some of the necessary calculations, reporting and record keeping. If you run a business, the cost should be a tax deductible expense.

The exact payroll service you receive will depend on the provider that is chosen and the contract that is agreed with them.

When talking with an accountant, payroll bureau or other provider, you should be clear about what level of support you will need – for example, do you need them to provide payslips to employees, make payments to HMRC on your behalf, or deal with payroll related queries from your employees?

There are many different payroll providers and you should choose who you want to assist you carefully. When deciding between payroll providers, you should do your research and think about:

• Whether they provide a simple service or a more detailed/managed service
• Whether they are experienced with your type and size of employer
• Their costs: both ongoing costs and set up costs
• Whether they are a member of a professional institute
• If the payroll software they use is recognised by HMRC
• The terms of their contract: for example, will you be reimbursed if it is clear that they are at fault for failing to do something but you get charged a penalty by HMRC? Are you clear on what tasks you will do and they will do?

  Important note: be aware that even if you use a payroll provider, you are ultimately still responsible for ensuring that your obligations are met, including checking and recording employee information, calculating and recording any additions, reporting your payroll information and making your payments to HMRC.

See our getting help page for tips on how to find a professional adviser, such as a payroll expert.

Running payroll yourself

You may want to try and run your payroll yourself. If you have relatively simple payroll arrangements so that you have one type of pay period (for example, weekly or monthly) and your employee has straightforward pay arrangements (for example, hours worked or a fixed salary), then there is no reason why you shouldn’t do this.

Running a payroll yourself may seem like a daunting prospect, but throughout this section we:

• explain in detail what you need to do to run your payroll, whether online or manually;
• highlight the key requirements to be aware of; and
• link to the relevant detailed information already available in places like GOV.UK (which can sometimes be hard to find).

We also provide the following downloads to help you run your payroll:

Payroll setup checklist

Payroll processing checklist

Payroll calendar

Payroll data card

More information

GOV.UK has a useful guide to PAYE and payroll.

HMRC have lots of general help for new employers, including webinars, e-learning, emails and videos on employing people – see GOV.UK for further details.

For information on the areas of employment law you will need to think about if you are an employer, see our employment law guidance.