Payroll checklist

Payroll Information Checklist for Employers

A complete instruction is easier to check and less likely to need a revised run.

Create one complete instruction

The easiest payroll instruction to process is a complete, authorised set of information for a clearly identified period. Start with the business name, the pay period and the payday. Confirm who has checked the changes and who will approve the resulting reports. If several people contribute information, bring it together before sending it rather than assuming the payroll provider will reconcile competing versions.

For example, a manager might send hours while the owner separately emails a salary increase and another employee sends absence information. Unless the instructions are coordinated, it may be unclear which items have been approved. A single covering instruction should identify the final authorised position and make any change to an earlier version explicit.

Check the pay information

Include the hours, overtime and other variable pay for the agreed period. Give the relevant pay rates and the effective dates of changes. Explain any part-period instruction clearly rather than asking the processor to guess what the business intended. Where there are no changes, confirm that position through the agreed process instead of leaving the provider uncertain about whether information is still coming.

Check totals against the business’s own records before sending them. If a team normally works a similar number of hours and the total has changed significantly, establish why. That internal check can resolve a question before processing begins. It also makes the later approval easier because the person reviewing the payroll already understands the main changes.

Include people joining, leaving or absent

Provide complete starter details and the relevant P45 or starter checklist information through the agreed secure route. For a leaver, state the leaving date and the authorised final pay instructions. Tell us about relevant absence details needed for statutory payment calculations. Keep employment decisions and payroll instructions aligned, particularly where several managers are involved.

Do not assume that telling somebody in an accounts team automatically updates the payroll instruction. Identify the payroll contact and send changes through the agreed route. Similarly, do not include sensitive records in a website message just because it is convenient. Payroll Harbour agrees document recipients, password arrangements and data transfer before employee information is exchanged.

Review pensions and deductions

Tell us about authorised pension changes and other deductions that need processing. The pension scheme, contribution basis and responsibility for funding must be clear. Our routine service covers assessment, communications, contribution calculations and submissions to one supported pension scheme. New schemes, extra schemes and regulator declarations are separate matters, agreed and quoted where needed.

The employer should also keep track of the actual pension and HMRC payments. A contribution shown on the payroll report is not proof that money has reached the pension provider. Give responsibility for payments to a named person within the business and make sure that absence cover is in place when the normal contact is away.

Check, approve and keep the records

When the reports arrive, compare the employee list, gross pay, deductions and net pay with your authorised instruction. Look carefully at starters, leavers and significant changes. GOV.UK explains what payslips must show, including hours where pay varies with time worked. Ask about anything unexpected before approving the payroll, and send explicit approval by the agreed deadline.

Our usual monthly information deadline is five working days before payday. Weekly information is normally due by noon two working days before payday, with approval by noon the working day before payday. Actual dates are agreed at onboarding and may change for bank holidays or banking lead times. Put those dates in the business calendar rather than relying on memory.

Once approved, arrange the required payments and retain the reports with your business records. Changes to information you supplied after processing cost £15 plus VAT per affected employee, with a £30 plus VAT minimum per revised run. Our own processing errors are corrected free. Sending complete information and reviewing promptly helps avoid an unnecessary second run.