Payroll providers across the UK

What payroll covers, and what it does not

What payroll costs

How it is priced: Per payslip per pay run, plus a monthly standing charge. Per-payslip pricing is usually in low single-figure pounds, so cost scales with headcount and pay frequency rather than complexity alone.

What moves the price

• Pay frequency: weekly runs cost roughly four times monthly ones
• Variable pay, overtime, shift premiums and irregular-hours holiday pay
• Number of pension schemes and benefit deductions
• Year-end filing, P11Ds and payrolled benefits

Ranges are indicative of what UK employers commonly pay and are not quotes. City pages carry local bands where they differ.

Who payroll suits

Questions to ask before you sign

1. 1Who owns and can export my payroll data if I leave?
2. 2What are the cut-off deadlines, and what happens if I miss one?
3. 3Who is liable for a penalty caused by a late or incorrect RTI filing?
4. 4How is holiday pay on irregular hours calculated?
5. 5Is pension re-enrolment every three years included?

Key terms

RTI

Real Time Information: the HMRC returns due on or before each payment of wages.

Auto-enrolment

The duty to assess staff and enrol eligible workers into a workplace pension, with re-enrolment every three years.

Parallel run

Running old and new payroll side by side for one period when switching provider, to catch discrepancies before go-live.

Cities with the most payroll providers

• Newcastle upon Tyne4
• London3
• Glasgow3
• Liverpool3
• Bristol3
• Sheffield3
• Edinburgh3

Payroll by city - England

• London3
• Birmingham2
• Manchester2
• Leeds2
• Liverpool3
• Bristol3
• Sheffield3
• Newcastle upon Tyne4

Payroll by city - Scotland

• Glasgow3
• Edinburgh3

Payroll questions employers ask

What is payroll?

Outsourced payroll means a provider calculates pay, tax and deductions, files Real Time Information returns to HMRC, manages pension auto-enrolment and produces payslips on your schedule. Pricing is normally per payslip per period, with a standing charge on top.

How much does payroll cost in the UK?

Per payslip per pay run, plus a monthly standing charge. Per-payslip pricing is usually in low single-figure pounds, so cost scales with headcount and pay frequency rather than complexity alone. The figures move most on: pay frequency: weekly runs cost roughly four times monthly ones; variable pay, overtime, shift premiums and irregular-hours holiday pay; number of pension schemes and benefit deductions. Always compare quotes on what is inside the fee rather than the headline number.

What is included in payroll, and what is not?

Normally included: gross-to-net calculation and payslip production; rti submissions: fps and eps, filed on time; pension auto-enrolment assessment, re-enrolment and provider uploads; statutory pay handling: sick, maternity, paternity and adoption. Normally excluded or charged separately: paying your staff, unless you buy a bureau payment service; hr advice on the underlying employment issue; benefit scheme design and broking.

Who should buy payroll?

Employers who have outgrown a spreadsheet, anyone running weekly and monthly payrolls together, and organisations with variable hours where holiday pay calculations are the main error source. It is a poor fit for the opposite case: very small, entirely fixed-salary payrolls already handled reliably inside accounting software with no complications.

What should I ask before signing?

Five questions worth asking every provider on your shortlist: Who owns and can export my payroll data if I leave? What are the cut-off deadlines, and what happens if I miss one? Who is liable for a penalty caused by a late or incorrect RTI filing? How is holiday pay on irregular hours calculated? Is pension re-enrolment every three years included?

How many payroll providers are in this directory?

6 of the 96 providers we researched offer payroll: 5 operate UK-wide, 1 cover a region, and 0 work mainly around one city. National firms are easier to buy from anywhere; local firms are usually easier to get into the room for a hearing.

Do UK employers legally have to have HR?

No. There is no legal requirement to employ an HR person or buy HR support. The duties themselves are not optional: written particulars of employment, statutory pay, working time records, pension auto-enrolment and a fair process before dismissal all apply from the first employee. Most small employers buy support because the cost of one badly handled dismissal exceeds the annual fee.