Many business owners look to outsource their payroll to gain several advantages over processing in-house. These can include cost savings, time efficiency, legal compliance, accuracy, data security, access to expertise and continuity of service. As with many aspects of business, it’s sometimes only when you list the benefits of outsourcing a service to a professional firm of Accountants that you appreciate what is on offer and the risks involved if you ‘go it alone’.
To help with your decision and add a little more meat to the bone (apologies to any vegetarians reading this) we have gone into more detail below.
Cost Savings
Managing payroll internally can be a significant financial burden, not just for a small business with one employee but to any size of business where, maybe dedicated payroll staff are employed. The software used to process payroll can be expensive, certainly relative to the cost of outsourcing and that is without the training time (and ultimately indirect cost) needed to get familiar with the software.
Outsourcing your payroll to us eliminates the need for these costs and we are genuinely more affordable than what you may be thinking. For businesses with just a couple of employees, our fees can be as little as £20 per month for monthly processing and £15 per week for weekly processing. Even the cost of processing workplace pensions can be as low as £5 per pay period. Scale up to 5, 10, 20+ employees and you are going to require additional support in areas you can’t even imagine. This doesn’t have to cost exponentially more than the figures referred to above.
Time Efficiency
We have enough experience to know what it’s like for small business owners who attempt to do much of the finance work themselves. Payroll is just another area that if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to spend an age trying to learn it through Googling and the use of AI. Is your time not going to be better spent focusing on the aspects of the business that you are good at? That you are interested in? Focusing on what you are good at should drive further sales to the business. Focusing on what you are interested in maintains a happy relationship between you and the business.
Compliance with Laws and Regulations
One of the most critical aspects of processing payroll is ensuring that the business complies with all governing laws and legislation. Tax laws change constantly and the April 2025 changes to Employer’s National Insurance is a great example of this. There’s nothing more disheartening than when you think you are doing something correctly, only to find out later that you haven’t and face recourse from HMRC by way of financial penalties.
We are experts in our field and so outsourcing your payroll to us will grant you the peace of mind that your business is complying with up-to-date regulations and legislation. Often, late filing penalties can exceed our annual charges so is it worth having a go at it yourself?
Accuracy
You don’t like to make mistakes. The product you sell or the service you supply is the best, isn’t it? Nobody does what you do better than you. Why would you accept anything less for something so important as paying you and your employees and dealing with HMRC? What if you pay an employee incorrectly – it’s not a good look and what if that is the final straw for the employee? What if you submit something to HMRC that is incorrect? Are you prepared for dealing with HMRC.
Data Security
Sensitive employee information is retained in payroll software and associated systems. It contains information such as names, addresses, dates of birth, National Insurance numbers. If you process your own payroll, what if your systems were hacked or you accidentally left information on your computer screen that employees could access? What if your computer failed and you lost vital information?
We use robust security measures to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of employee data. With advanced encryption, secure storage systems, and strict access controls, we offer a level of security that may be difficult to achieve with an in-house payroll department, especially for small businesses with limited IT resources. This added layer of protection helps safeguard your business from data breaches, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure.
Access to Expertise
A lot of information can be found online, these days. We all ‘Google’ topics and this is a useful way of gaining a basic understanding of your obligations as an employer and what processes you need to follow. But just as you are the best at what you do……so are we! So, why not benefit from professional expertise in aspects of your payroll? You will have access to timely advice on all payroll-related matters such as holiday calculations, SSP, minimum wage and workplace pensions. And if you are paying someone to do this work for you in-house, are they up to date with current legislation? Could you have them working on more important tasks for your business.
Service Continuity
One major benefit of outsourcing your payroll is the service continuity. If you operate your own payroll, whether it is you as the business owner or an employee, what about cover for holidays, sickness absence or loss of key employees that conducted the payroll?
By outsourcing your payroll to us, you can benefit from an expert always being available to keep your business on track with its payroll obligations. Employees want paying on pay day. They don’t care that you are on holiday or that the payroll administrator is off sick. They have bills to pay and you don’t want disgruntled employees knocking on your door over not being paid.
Still unsure? That’s understandable. The thought of dealing with Accountants can be intimidating and you’re worried that we’ll be stuffy or too corporate. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We take time to get to know all our clients and genuinely enjoy the relationships we have with each one. We need our clients to feel comfortable in talking to us and asking whatever questions they have because only then can we help make your business run at its smoothest.
