Payroll & People

Payroll Bureau Support

Payroll is the least forgiving work in a practice. It runs to a fixed date, it affects people's pay, and an error is visible immediately to everyone. It is also highly systematised, which makes it well suited to a disciplined delivery team with a second checker on every run.

Accountancy practices
UK businesses

Discuss this service Engagement models

The problem

No room for error in any pay cycle

A payroll bureau cannot have a quiet month. Every pay date is a hard deadline with an FPS attached, and the consequences of missing one land on the client's staff. Holding enough in-house capacity to absorb illness, holiday and turnover across every pay cycle is expensive, and relying on a single person is a real business risk.

RTI penalties apply from the first late submission for most employers.
Auto-enrolment duties, re-enrolment and pension uploads add a second compliance layer.
April brings year-end forms and new-year rate changes together.

At a glance

Service line: Payroll & People
Delivered for: Accountancy practices and UK businesses
Typical cadence: Standard run: Draft reports returned within 24 hours of receiving complete input data. Approval gate: Nothing is submitted or paid until your named approver signs off the draft. Year end: April cycle planned from February, with rate changes applied and tested in advance.
Engagement models: Available per job, on ad-hoc hours, or through a dedicated resource. Compare models.

Scope

The payroll cycle we run

Scope is agreed in writing before work starts and reviewed at each service review. Anything outside it is quoted separately, never absorbed and then invoiced later.

Processing

Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly, monthly and annual payroll runs
Starters, leavers, P45s and new-starter declarations
Statutory payments: SSP, SMP, SPP, ShPP, SAP and neonatal care pay
Attachment of earnings orders, student and postgraduate loan deductions
Salary sacrifice, benefits in kind and payrolled benefits
Holiday pay, overtime, bonuses, commission and back pay

Submissions and compliance

Full Payment Submission and Employer Payment Summary filing under RTI
Auto-enrolment assessment, postponement, opt-outs and triennial re-enrolment
Pension provider uploads: NEST, The People's Pension, Smart Pension, Aviva and others
CIS verification, monthly returns and subcontractor statements
P60, P11D, P11D(b) and Class 1A National Insurance
Employment Allowance and Apprenticeship Levy handling

Outputs

Branded payslips distributed by portal or secure email
Payroll journal posted directly to the accounting ledger
BACS payment file prepared for approval (we never hold payment authority)
Departmental cost analysis and payroll reconciliation report

Software

Platforms we work in for this service

We work inside your existing systems under named user accounts. If your stack is not listed, tell us and we will confirm whether we can support it straight away or need a ramp-up period.

BrightPay
Sage Payroll
IRIS Payroll
Xero Payroll
Moneysoft
Staffology
Capium Payroll

The boundary

What stays with your firm

This matters more than the task list. A delivery partner that blurs this line creates regulatory exposure for you, so we state it explicitly on every engagement.

Yours, always

The client engagement and engagement letter
Professional judgement and final review
Sign-off, submission authority and the fee
Client advice and the client relationship

Ours

Preparation, processing and documentation
Internal second-person review before release
Turnaround against the agreed timetable
Rework at our cost where the error is ours

Questions

Payroll: what firms ask

All FAQs

Do you have access to client bank accounts?

No. We prepare BACS files and payment schedules for your approval, but payment authority never sits with us. This is a deliberate control boundary and we will not vary it.

What if an error reaches an employee?

We correct it immediately at our cost, including any additional submission required, and issue a written incident note explaining the cause and the control change made.

Can you run payroll under our bureau brand?

Yes. Payslips, reports and employee communications all carry your branding. Employees and clients see only your bureau.

Services that usually move together

Most firms start with one service line. These are the ones that most often follow.

See the full picture

Talk to us about payroll.

Bring a real example, such as a live job, a difficult client file or a cycle you are behind on. A concrete case tells you far more about a provider than a capability slide does.

What to expect

No obligation and no minimum commitment to talk
A written proposal within five working days
A paid pilot before any long-term arrangement

Prefer email? info@b4es.co.uk