Payroll services & small businesses

Payroll services: a huge task for small businesses

Keeping on top of ever-changing HMRC regulations and paying everyone the right amount, on-time as well as continuing with your own day-to-day work too can be a real headache for small to medium sized businesses (SME’s).

But there are now a whole host of online payroll service providers who promise to take the hassle out of payroll for you. With tempting benefits like:

saving you time
saving you money
HMRC compliance
reducing margins for error, and even
removing the chance of miscalculations and rates abuse

So how do you choose?

Well first, decide whether you’re comfortable handing over all your payroll service requirements, or just part of them.

Fully managed payroll services for small businesses do what they say and this is the model which we find works best for 90% of our existing clients. Your payroll services provider will handle all aspects, from paying employees, issuing payslips, generating reports and filing tax returns with HMRC – on time. You can relax knowing that your small business is fully compliant with payroll service legislation for HMRC.

As a guide, if you use Proto Payroll’s services, a 10-person fully managed payroll service would cost approximately £85 per month. This includes a hosted software service which is something you really need to consider when looking to save your time and costs.

Part-managed payroll services for start ups and small businesses, on the other hand, are normally provided by a ‘payroll bureau’. It acts as a business support service, and allows small businesses to retain partial control over their payroll process. – but still requires rather a lot of input from your in-house payroll administrator or yourself. A bureau’s main advantage is less cost for small businesses, but check carefully to ensure you know exactly what is excluded. Any add on services purchased this way can be costly.

Then there’s a pay-as-you-go payroll service. This offers small businesses the ultimate in flexibility. If your book-keeper suddenly falls ill – or is absent for any length of time - then a pay-as-you-go service allows you to plug the gap for minimal cost. This is something Proto Payroll offers and usually we find that our clients transfer over to a fully managed payroll service with us a few months later.

All the above payroll services allow you the freedom to focus on growing your business saving you precious time and energy.

The best way forward is to find one which offers a fully managed payroll service for start ups and small businesses so you have complete piece of mind.

And remember cost will be another factor and prices vary a lot.

Managing your payroll in-house is becoming more and more complex for small businesses. Perhaps the time has now come to outsource your payroll services?

We offer online payroll services throughout the UK and have the team, the time and the expertise to help you at Proto Payroll. For an informal chat, please email tom.hornbuckle@protopayroll.co.uk or complete a free quote using our payroll calculator on our website.