Choose a payroll service model
| Model | Your role | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll software | Operate the process and resolve payroll questions | Support, updates, reporting and staff access |
| Payroll bureau | Supply inputs and approve calculations | Cut-off times, included work and correction fees |
| Fully managed service | Retain oversight and approve delegated work | Exact scope of submissions, payments and pension tasks |
Set responsibilities before comparing price
HMRC’s payroll guidance sets out tasks including recording pay, calculating deductions, producing payslips and reporting pay and deductions in a Full Payment Submission. Establish which of these tasks the provider handles.
Pension administration needs a separate allocation of responsibility. Do not assume a payroll quote includes assessment, enrolment communications, contribution files and corrections.
What should the quote include?
Give each provider your headcount, pay frequencies, variable-pay rules, pension scheme and known complexities. Explain any directors-only payroll, benefits, salary sacrifice or multiple payrolls.
Compare an annual total including setup, regular runs, starters, leavers, corrections, extra runs and year-end work. Check whether the price changes when someone is temporarily unpaid.
- Approval deadline and late-input procedure.
- Named backup for the main payroll contact.
- Secure payslip delivery and employee queries.
- Accounting journal and pension integration.
- Charges for historical corrections or HMRC queries.
Control access and payment approval
Use a secure channel for employee information and give access only to people who need it. Agree how changes to employee bank details are independently confirmed.
Separate checking the payroll from authorising bank payments where practical. Reconcile the approved gross pay, deductions, net pay and liabilities each period.
Make the handover auditable
Agree a migration date and confirm the opening year-to-date figures before the first run. Ask how the outgoing and incoming providers prevent duplicate submissions.
Retain exportable records, reports and approvals. Before signing, establish what you receive when you leave and who helps resolve a historic error.
Frequently asked questions
Does outsourcing payroll remove the employer’s responsibilities?
Do not treat it as a transfer of all responsibility. Set out delegated tasks, retain approval and oversight, and check the employer obligations that continue to apply.