I've recently started up on my own and up until now, haven't had much call for payroll. I have the qualification but not confident in offering it as a service. I'm considering doing a refresher on it but am wondering whether it is worth it? Obviously being able to offer this to clients who require it is an advantage, it all seems so complicated now though.
i took my course back in 2008 so obviously now RTI has come in which is fine, I have done a bit of research on it and it seems straight forward. If you offer a payroll service, do you need to know about employees rights etc? all this pension legislation has come in since I did the course but do we, as bookkeepers who offer payroll services need to know the ins and outs of this?
I have a client who I am seeing tomorrow, he's a bit clueless and has done no bookkeeping or anything else since starting up last year. he employs two "office staff" whom he pays cash in hand but I've told him he needs to put them on the payroll and go on himself. He is such a small company, he has no clue about employee rights etc.
what, as a very very small company is he obligated to do for these two staff? Holiday/sick pay? I could honestly see him going under if he has to pay for things like this along with employers NI contributions.
I'm not planning on taking the payroll on, I have an accountant I will put him in touch with who can deal with that side of things but just wanted to know for my information.
Also, will be be able to backdate the payroll going back to the start of April? How would you go about doing his now RTI is up and running?
is refreshing myself on payroll worth it money wise? What does everyone charge to run payroll?
-- Edited by KBS on Wednesday 4th of December 2013 10:31:51 PM
As an employer he is obliged to pay staff holiday at the minimum per employment law and sick pay at least to the SSP level.
He probably would qualify for small employer relief for reclaiming SSP
RTI is reasonably straight forward but I suggest you familiarise yourself with it if you are offering payroll or advising on it.
As for backdating -he would be better registering for payroll and running it from the date he registers rather than trying to backdate it
I have lots of payroll experience if you need any further help
If all the employees earn below the LEL (currently £109 p.w.) then he will not have to register as an employer, but he should keep his own records. If at any time he should employ someone who earns over the LEL then he must register as an employer and all employees need to be reported. Also if they earn under the LEL they will usually not qualify for SSP. They will however be entitled to holiday pay at the same rate that they are paid. They will be entitled to 5.6 weeks per year, pro-rata for the number of days a week they work.
Regarding small employer's relief (or the Percentage Threshold Scheme) apparently this is being abolished as from 6 April 2013.
Edit: Of course I meant 6 April 2014 !
-- Edited by Stardoe on Saturday 7th of December 2013 09:58:39 PM
A small addition to the above post (or below post if you have changed viewing settings) - if any one of these employees (paid below LEL in the example) has another employment elsewhere you will need to register as an employer and run RTI for all employees.
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