payroll and employing part time staff

elliewild

Help. im a small dog walking business and have just taken on my first ever member of staff part time and i have no idea about payroll or what to do. (i do have an accountant) I have made a generic contract which i think is suitable but im so confused over payroll (maths is not my thing!) can anyone recommend any good payroll companies that dont charge the earth? i'm not looking to take on anyone else, just this one person. she works 5 hours a day 5 days a week so dont want to be spending loads on a payroll company but the thought of doing it myself scares the hell out of me! shes been working with me since Nov 18 and as of yet hasnt paid any tax on earnings, ive just paid her into the bank. she also has another part time job at Sainsburys. is anyone else as clueless as me about payroll? advice needed please.

00ec25

Why, oh why, have you not dealt with your own accountant

not only has the person been working for you for 3 months and been paid, but you haven't even registered as an employer with HMRC or, I assume, sorted out auto enrolment with the pensions regulator.

the time to find cheapest has gone. The time to find someone able to sort out your mess before 5th March and the end of another payroll month, is upon you - at whatever cost.
you can always change later once you are up and running (and resolved if HMRC will charge you penalties for being late)

Savvy_Sue

I'm afraid I can only echo the frustrations above. Small payrolls are not that difficult and HMRC provides free tools for running them, you don't need any skill in maths, BUT you have to do all that is necessary in a timely fashion.

I'd expect your accountant to either be able to help you or to point you in the direction of a friendly payroll company who will help you sort the mess out. If you're lucky the mess won't be too huge (depends partly on your employee's earnings from her other employer) but it's not going to get smaller or go away.

While you are at it, get a solicitor with knowledge of employment law to look at your 'generic' contract because that's another area you can't afford to get wrong - to the extent that you can't afford not to take paid advice on it. Yes, really. Again, ask your accountant for a recommendation, but also phone around and ask a few what they'd charge for preparing a contract of employment.

Where did you get this generic contract from?

Mistral001

I would not panic. But I would pay my accountant a visit pretty quickly. Many accountants will do payrolls for their clients. They should at least be able to go through with you how it done or point you in the right direction, for a small fee, if you have a good relationship with them.

You will have to deduct several months tax and NI contributions from your employee. You could have a very dissatisfied employee so I would not leave it until the last minute to sort out.