- Register as an employer before your first payday, not on it
- RTI submissions are due on or before each payday
- Auto-enrolment duties can start from an employee's first day
- Payslips, P60s and P11Ds are legal requirements, not optional extras
Registering as an employer
You need to register with HMRC as an employer before the first payday, and get this done in good time — it can take a couple of weeks to come through, and you can't run payroll without it.
Real Time Information (RTI) submissions
Every time you pay staff, you must submit details to HMRC on or before payday, not after. Late or missing RTI submissions are one of the most common — and easily avoidable — payroll penalties.
Auto-enrolment pensions
Most employees must be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, with minimum contributions from both employer and employee. This applies from an employee's first day for eligible staff, not after a probation period.
Payslips, P60s and P11Ds
Employees are legally entitled to an itemised payslip every payday, a P60 summarising the tax year by end of May, and a P11D for any taxable benefits provided outside of payroll.
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