How to Run Payroll Services For a Small UK Business
There are a number of key milestones that every successful business will experience. Making the first sale, for instance. Securing a lucrative contract with an established business. Making a profit for the first time. And, of course, hiring the first member of staff.
Building a team is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of running a business, but by no means is it straightforward. Hiring brings with it additional responsibility, from management and HR duties to administrative tasks like payroll. It’s the latter that we’re going to be focusing on in this guide.
If you’re ready to hire and grow your team, you’ll need to get your head around payroll first. You’ll have two options: you can either handle payroll yourself, or you can outsource the responsibility to a third party (like an accountant).
In this guide, we’re going to give you an overview of each option and the benefits of choosing one over the other.
How to run your own small business’ payroll
Payroll can be surprisingly time-consuming, especially for those with no prior bookkeeping or accounting experience. To run your own payroll, you’ll have to maintain accurate records, oversee each employee’s national insurance and tax contributions and make sure they’re correct, handle paid leave (including holidays, maternity leave, bank holidays and so on), issue any applicable bonuses and benefits, and correctly calculate and issue each employee’s wages every month.
If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. Even if you only have a handful of employees, payroll can be quite a time-consuming affair – and it’ll only take up more of your time as your company grows. You might have the free time now, but as you become busier and your priorities shift towards growth and new opportunities, your free time can evaporate rather quickly.
It’s for these reasons that most business owners turn to specialists for assistance – specialists like the team at Stonehouse Accountants.
The cost of small business payroll solutions
Considering how much time they save you, our online PAYE filing and expense management solutions represent excellent value. Because no two businesses are alike, we’ve designed our services to be fully scalable: whether you have one or 100 employees, our team will be able to handle the entire payroll process for you.
The benefits of this are significant:
- You’ll have much more free time to focus on growing your business, allowing you to take it to the next level without being weighed down with the additional responsibility of managing payroll yourself.
- You’ll have peace of mind that all of your employees’ data is handled correctly and in line with industry standards, keeping their personal information safe and secure.
- You won’t have to worry about meeting strict Government regulations – that’s our job.
- You’ll have access to experienced accountants for advice and guidance whenever you need it.
- You can be confident that, as your business grows, you’ll have an efficient and scalable payroll system in place that can grow with you.
What to look for when outsourcing payroll
If you’re going to outsource your payroll to a specialist, you need to find a company that you can trust. After all, they’re going to be handling your employees’ data, and they’re going to be ultimately responsible for ensuring that your team gets paid on time. You need to be able to trust them.
Look for an experienced company with a proven track record. Take a look at client reviews, testimonials and case studies to get an idea of what the company’s like to work with, and don’t be afraid to ask questions: the right accounting firm will be happy to help.
Speak to Stonehouse Accountants today
If you’re interested in outsourcing your payroll to an accounting firm, look no further than Stonehouse. With more than 40 years of experience, we’ve helped hundreds of businesses grow with our efficient, affordable and fully scalable payroll services.
We aim to exceed your expectations at every step of the way, delivering services you can count on. By working with us, your business can become more efficient and better prepared for what lies ahead.
Eager to find out more? Speak to our Peterborough-based accountants today.