Getting Started With The Payroll Site

Before you start your first payroll

Before you start your first payroll, you should

1. If you are not registed with HMRC as an employer, call 0845 6070143 to register.
2. Start a free trial with The Payroll Site.
3. Log in to the system.
4. Gather details of your employees and their pay, tax and NICs for the tax year to date (i.e. since 6th April).

After logging in to the system you should see a screen like this:

Step 1 - Employer Details (Optional)

This step allows you to enter the name and address of the employer, as it will appear on the payslip. You can also tell the system if you pay your tax to HM Revenue & Customs quarterly. If these things are not important to you at this time, you can skip this step and do it later.

Click on the [Employer] option

Click the button.

You can now click and type your details into the form. When you click on a field, the Help box will automatically give you guidance on filling in that field.

When you have finished entering details, don't forget to click

Step 2 - Employee Details

You must add employees to the system before you can calculate their pay and tax. You may wish to add all of your employees or just try the system with one at first. If you make a mistake, you can delete the employee and start again.

Click on the [Add Employee] option

Initially, the employee details should be mostly blank. You can click and type your details into the form. When you click on a field, the Help box will automatically change to give you guidance on filling in that field. The fields outlined in red are compulsory and must be entered. The other fields should be checked and altered if necessary

When you have finished entering details, don't forget to click

To add more than one employee, simply repeat this step.

Step 3 - Employees Paid using another payroll system (Optional)

If you have already paid your employees in this tax year (from 6th April) you will need to enter the details of previous pay runs so that the system can accurately calculate your payroll figures.

If they have been paid more than once, you will need to enter each payment as a separate pay run.

Click on the [Pay Employees] option and then on

Enter the details of the first time the employees were paid in this tax year (from 6th April). Set the Salary to the total pay in that period. Set Period End and Pay Date to the end of that pay period.

Click

Check the Income Tax, Employer's NIC and Employee's NIC. These may differ from the payslip figures calculated using your previous payroll software for reasons that are explained in our Frequently Asked Questions List.

If the figures need to be altered, click the button, change the figures and then click

Once you are happy that the figures are correct, click

Repeat these steps for the next pay period, until the pay is up to date.

Step 4 - Your first payroll run

Click on the [Pay Employees] option and then on .

If you want to exclude some employees from the pay run, untick the box in the 'Include in payrun' column.

Set the Pay Date, Salary and other columns as necessary.

Click on

Check that the information appears to be correct.

To view a payslip, click in the 'View Payslip' column.

The payslip can be printed by clicking . Click to return to the Deductions Summary page.

When you have printed the payslips and are satisfied that they are correct, click on on the Deductions Summary page.

Once you have confirmed the payments, you can still reprint payslips or even delete the payments. To do this, click on the employee's name in the OPTIONS list and then on the Working Sheet tab. This page contains links to all past payslips and an option to .

Finally

You have completed your first online pay run with the Payroll Site, and no further action is required at this point. Do however, ensure that you make your tax payments to HMRC using our tax payments page for your calculations.

Using the Tax Payment Page

Click on the [Tax Payment] option

You will see this screen

If you pay the Tax & NI due to HMRC monthly then payment is due to them by the 19th of each month to cover the period from 6th of the previous month to the 5th of the current month.

You should save a payment on this screen each month. The system will calculate any amounts owing from the pay runs you have confirmed for that period and show you the amount due in the 'Amount Paid' column. You can either enter the date you are paying, or click

By the end of the tax year you should have 12 payments saved on this screen or 4 if you have an arrangement with HMRC to pay them quarterly and have indicated this on the 'Employer Details' screen.

If you are behind with your tax payments, you may need to make two or more payments together. You can see if you are up to date by checking where it says 'Next Payment due'. To make two payments together, click twice, then add up the two amounts and pay the total to HMRC.

To actually make a payment to HMRC you should click on the link within the 'Help box' at the bottom left of the screen 'How to Pay HMRC' and you will be taken to their site where payment options are available.

Remember if there is no tax or NI to pay for a particular period you should still save the payment and click the above link but choose the option that informs HMRC that there is a nil payment for that period.

There are other features within the Payroll Site which you are free to explore. There is a Comments section online within the Preferences option and we would appreciate any feedback you may wish to give us about any aspect of The Payroll Site.

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