"Getting Started" Guides

It can be very daunting when you decide to start your own business.

You will be confident in your own knowledge and ability to make your business succeed, but many people wonder where to start regarding keeping records, who to contact, paying taxes, etc.

This information is designed to ease your worries by providing you with this essential knowledge.

The Guides

Click on the links below to view each subject on the right hand side.

Once you're under way, you can think about the type of help you may require from us. Please browse through our list of services on the tab above for more information and email us for a quote.

Payroll

When you employ staff, you must register with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as an Employer and make the necessary deductions (PAYE, National Insurance, pension contributions, etc) from your employee's wages. There is no pay limit under which you do not need to register; if you employ staff, you must register.

You can pay your staff as regularly as you wish; many businesses pay their staff monthly. Under the current HMRC payroll reporting system - Real Time Information (RTI) - you must report payroll information to HMRC every time you pay your staff. You should not pay staff 'advances' without reporting them to HMRC first.

There is an additional cost involved in paying staff, in the form of Employers' National Insurance. This is an additional type of National Insurance to that deducted from your employee's wages and means that the cost of employing someone is more than just the gross amount you agree to pay them.

HMRC are currently providing an annual Employment Allowance to assist most employers. Our payroll service includes this claim as part of our work.

You also need to consider the law on workplace pensions. Every employer that employs at least one member of staff is now obliged to offer their employees a workplace pension, and to make employer contributions towards it too.

Cash payments do not exempt you from registering with HMRC as an Employer, nor from making the necessary deductions from staff wages.

We would be happy to assist with all aspects of your payroll calculations and paperwork, including registering your business as an Employer, filing the relevant reports with HMRC and carrying out Workplace Pension Automatic Enrolment duties. Please contact us for a quotation.