Why Prime Accountants Group is your Go-To Partner for payroll services

At Prime Chartered Accountants, our payroll team is the backbone of our commitment to accuracy, compliance, and client satisfaction. We recently put them through their paces with some challenging questions, and their expertise shines through!

Check out the Payroll teams cheeky grins here!

🔍 Here’s why you can trust Prime with your payroll:

1. How are you ensuring compliance with the latest payroll and tax regulations?

“By regularly completing HMRC training webinars. As part of my associate membership of the CIPP, we also get weekly updates which we keep an eye on and alert the team of if necessary to make any changes. I also receive a yearly reference book from the CIPP which is vastly useful.” – Adam Williams ACIPP

2. What is the Alabaster ruling in Payroll?

“The Alabaster ruling is important for employers to keep in mind when employees on maternity leave receive a pay increase anytime between the start of the eight-week 'relevant period' used to calculate statutory maternity pay (SMP) and the end of their statutory maternity leave.

If an employee on maternity leave is granted a pay increase, you must recalculate their SMP to reflect the pay increase and pay any additional SMP owed.” – Charley Powell

3. How do you handle payroll discrepancies or errors, and what systems are in place to minimise these issues?

“We are very process driven so we have a tried and tested way of working – via checklists and established data sheets such as excel spreadsheets for sending payroll data. In the unlikely event of an error, we are honest and approach our clients first to work on a resolution.” – Adam Williams

4. How are you using payroll data to provide SMEs with actionable insights that can help improve workforce management and enhance employee satisfaction?

“We send a suite of reports each month to our clients that will show an array of information such as hourly rates, pension percentages and contributions etc. We also run reports to highlight employee’s hourly rates against the national minimum wage and it will help determine if an employee needs a rate increase (for example).” – Adam Williams

5. How are you preparing for the upcoming changes in UK payroll legislation, such as potential adjustments to National Insurance contributions or pension auto-enrolment thresholds?

“We formulate early action plans as soon as legislation is revealed and come up with a strategy as soon as practicable. The proposal to payroll benefits in a couple of years means we are already having meetings with other departments to come up with an action plan. Ensuring accuracy across various employment contracts” – Adam Williams

6. What are 5 facts that you should know about Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)?

• “An employee is eligible for SSP from day 1 of employment provided they have done some work under their contract.
• SSP is only payable on qualifying days which are classed as an employee’s normal working days.
• A period of absence has to be 4 qualifying days or more for SSP to be payable.
• It is only on the fourth day that the SSP will be paid as the first 3 days are classed as waiting days and are unpaid.
• Employers cannot reclaim SSP from HMRC as SSP recovery was abolished in April 2014.”

– Sarah Li

7.        Why did you pick payroll as a career?

“I love that no two days are the same! Payroll is ever changing which means I am always learning new skills that I can apply to the next payroll, and even with friends and family. We are always faced with new scenarios, which can be a learning curve but we always aim to help our clients to ensure employees are paid on time and correctly, which makes it worthwhile. Everyone needs payroll!” – Charley Powell

“I didn’t get into payroll in the conventional way. It was more the right place and the right time and the connections you know that can get you to where you want to be. I didn’t realise this was the path I was going to pursue as I was an art graduate but there are skills from many fields that can transfer into payroll if you put your mind into it.” - Edward Checkley

“In the last company I worked at, I started off as an HR administrator initially and eventually transferred to the Finance department who at the time used a subcontractor to run their payroll. Once I was bedded into the Finance department, I was offered to do the payroll in house as I was the most suited for the position.” – Sarah Li

📈 Ready to simplify and optimize your payroll? Contact us today and let’s discuss how Prime Accountants Group can support your business.

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