Step-by-step guides on HMRC RTI submissions, statutory pay, National Insurance, payroll year-end, and the documents your clients will ask about, with free calculators. Written for payroll bureau operators running UK PAYE payroll.
How to Submit a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC
What goes in an FPS, when it must be sent, how to read the response codes, and what to do when HMRC rejects one.
Employer Payment Summary (EPS): When and Why to Send One
The seven situations that require an EPS, nil payments, statutory reclaims, Employment Allowance, and more, with deadlines.
Payroll Bureau Software Compared (2026/27)
Payburo, BrightPay, Moneysoft, Payroo and Xero: published prices, worked examples, and where each is stronger, including where Payburo is behind.
Statutory Sick Pay from April 2026: What Changed
No waiting days, no lower earnings limit, and the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings. How to work it out, with examples.
Statutory Maternity Pay 2026/27: How It Is Calculated
Six weeks at 90%, then the lower of £194.32 or 90%. Who qualifies, the relevant period for earnings, and what the employer recovers.
Payrolling Benefits in Kind: Mandatory from April 2027
Company cars, fuel, vans and private medical go through payroll from 6 April 2027, with Class 1A paid in real time. What to prepare.
Directors' National Insurance: The Annual Method
Annual thresholds, the alternative method, and what happens when a director is appointed or resigns part way through the year.
Employment Allowance 2026/27: Who Can Claim and How
£10,500, no £100,000 limit, single-director companies excluded. How to claim on the EPS and how the allowance is used up.
Week 53: Tax on the Extra Pay Day
When a weekly, fortnightly or four-weekly pay day falls on 5 April. How week 53, 54 and 56 are taxed and which years are affected.
Importing Employees from Another Payroll System
What to export, how AI column mapping reads a CSV without seeing the data, and how to carry P45 and year-to-date figures across part way through a tax year.
P60 vs P45: What's the Difference?
When each document is issued, who receives it, what the figures mean, and how the Starter Checklist replaced the P46.
NI Rates and Thresholds 2026/27
Employee and employer NI rates, all thresholds, NI category letters, Employment Allowance, new Plan 5 student loan, and what changed from 2025/26.
NI Rates and Thresholds 2025/26
Employee and employer NI rates, all thresholds, NI category letters explained, Employment Allowance, and what changed from 2024/25.
Free Calculators
Quick tools for the questions that come up between pay runs. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
SSP Calculator 2026/27
Statutory Sick Pay under the April 2026 rules, including the 80% of earnings limit.
SMP Calculator 2026/27
Weekly Statutory Maternity Pay and the 39-week total from average weekly earnings.
Employer NI Calculator 2026/27
Employer and employee National Insurance for a pay period, by NI category, and the total cost of employing someone.
Directors' NI Calculator 2026/27
National Insurance on a director's payment using the annual method, with thresholds pro-rated for a mid-year appointment.
Tax Week and Tax Month Calculator
The tax year, week and month for any pay date, and whether it is week 53.