Welcome back fellow Fife Chamber members. In this edition we are looking at the barriers of keeping your payroll in-house and the potential benefits of choosing to outsource it to a payroll bureau.

The problems

What’s the problem with payroll? Hassle! That’s the reason we keep hearing time and again from clients who make the leap from in-house to outsourced payroll. There’s not just pensions auto-enrolment, changing tax codes and Real Time Information to navigate, there is also a plethora of new legislation around the corner to contend with including minimum wage compliance, holiday payments, employment allowances and parental bereavement pay and leave. Get it wrong and you could be liable for some hefty non-compliance penalties.       

Outsourcing eliminates the need for an internal payroll function in many businesses, with no need to organise holiday cover, sickness cover or ongoing training of your payroll person. That means reducing costly overheads, including payroll software costs, reducing over reliance on your only in-house payroller and reducing risk as compliance issues are dealt with by our dedicated payroll team.  

The process

The process we follow is straightforward and robust with reminders and timelines in place, so you know when to submit your information and we know our deadline for returning to you to ensure your employees are paid on time. We can process your payroll, maintain your employee records, prepare your weekly or monthly returns, provide payslips etc in a way which is tailored to your needs. We are also BACS accredited so can make payments on your behalf. Our team are accustomed to handling casual and part-time employees, as well as sickness, maternity and paternity leave issues.  We process the core information provided, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and then provide you with pay slips and calculations, including net pay, PAYE, and National Insurance. Once approved, salary payments are either actioned by you directly or by one of our team who is authorised to send payments, with data being securely backed up on our servers. 

The professionals

The great thing about our team is that no-one works in isolation. Our friendly team support each other which helps to ensure any issues or queries that arise are resolved quickly. You can feel reassured that we have the knowledge and capacity to deliver an accurate, compliant and responsive payroll service all year round.

The proposal

We appreciate that cost is important to business owners which is why we offer affordable payroll solutions to suit businesses of all sizes. Efficiency and value are two of the core reasons this area of our business has grown over the past few years and continues to grow as we scale up to cope with demand for the service.

Interested? An initial consultation with us is free. We’ll meet up and find out more about your business and your specific requirements before creating a bespoke proposal outlining the service we can provide tailored to your needs. If you decide to go ahead, we’ll work with you to make the switch quickly and with minimum disruption.

We are finding a growing need for this payroll service and our clients tell us that for the amount we charge, it makes sense to outsource it. Sound good?  You’ve nothing to lose as our initial discussions with you are free and without obligation. Speak to us and find out how we can help you by emailing our Head of Business Support, Partner Elaine Cromwell at ecromwell@thomsoncooper.com or call 01383 628800.