When you employ people, payroll stops being a five-minute job. Every payday there is tax to work out, National Insurance to deduct, a pension to assess and a report to file with HMRC on time. Miss a step and the penalties land on you. For most small businesses, the sensible answer is to hand it to a bureau that does nothing else. That is where we come in.
Why small businesses outsource payroll
Small business owners rarely set out to become payroll administrators, yet that is often what happens once the first employee joins. The rules do not scale down for a business with three staff. You still have to operate PAYE, file Real Time Information every payday, meet auto-enrolment pension duties, and keep on top of tax code changes, statutory sick pay, maternity and paternity pay, and the annual round of P60s. It is a lot of moving parts for something that has to be right to the penny, every single time.
The businesses that come to us are usually doing payroll on evenings and weekends, or paying an accountant a premium for it as an afterthought. Handing it to a dedicated bureau means it simply gets done, correctly and on time, without eating into the hours you should be spending on customers, jobs and growth. That is the whole idea behind outsourced payroll: you tell us who to pay and how much, and we handle the rest.
The time and compliance burden
The real cost of running payroll yourself is not the hours. It is the risk. HMRC issues automatic penalties for late or incorrect RTI submissions, and the rules around auto-enrolment, minimum wage and statutory payments change regularly. Keeping up with all of it, on top of actually running a business, is a genuine burden. One misread tax code or a missed filing deadline can turn into letters, corrections and stress you did not budget for.
When we take payroll on, that worry moves off your desk. We watch the deadlines, apply the current rates, and file everything on or before payday. You get accurate payslips for your staff and a clear record for your accounts, without having to learn the intricacies of the PAYE system yourself.
No need to hire a payroll person
Bringing payroll in-house means either training up someone you already employ or recruiting for it, plus buying and maintaining payroll software and keeping it up to date every tax year. For a small business that is a real expense, and it puts all that knowledge in one person. When they are on holiday or off sick, payroll still has to run.
Using us removes that problem entirely. There is nothing to hire, no software to license and no single point of failure. Your payroll is run by an experienced team, and it carries on regardless of who is in the office on any given day. You get the capability of a payroll department without the cost or the headcount.
Simple, honest pricing
Our pricing is straightforward and easy to budget for: one fixed £5 per employee, per month, plus VAT. There are no long tie-ins and no surprise charges buried in the small print. If you pay five people, you know roughly what payroll will cost you each month, and it stays proportionate as your team grows or shrinks.
- Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly or monthly pay runs to suit how you work.
- PAYE, National Insurance and statutory payments calculated and reported.
- RTI filed with HMRC on or before every payday.
- Auto-enrolment assessed and your workplace pension administered.
- Payslips issued, with P45s and P60s produced when needed.
- Payslips, P45s and P60s produced and sent to you each pay period, so you can pay your team.
- A named contact who answers the phone and explains things in plain English.
You can see the full detail on our pricing page, or get a quote based on exactly how many people you pay and how often.
Already running payroll somewhere else? Switching to us is free and we do the heavy lifting. We collect your figures from your current provider or software, set everything up, and pick up mid-year without missing a payday. There is no gap and no drama for your staff.
Payroll you do not have to think about
We are based in South Wales and look after small businesses across the region and beyond. We are members of the CIPP, ICAEW-affiliated and registered with the ICO, so your business and your employees' data are in accredited, professional hands. Much of our work comes from owners recommending us to other owners, because reliable payroll is the kind of thing people are glad to pass on.
You do not need to become a payroll expert to employ people well. Tell us how many staff you pay and how often, and we will send a clear, no-obligation quote the same day. From there, payroll becomes one less thing on your plate.