Experiences with Xero Payroll?

[ldjames]

We have 7 employees:
- 2 50:50 shareholders whose salaries and dividends depend on how the company is doing
- 1 part time employee who completes a time sheet and is paid by the hour
- 4 full time salaried employees who are paid the same every month

Our accountant has been doing our payroll so far. Nothing wrong with their service but, because the scope of their work is a bit limited in other areas, we're in the process of switching accountants.

The previous accountant's advice is that payroll is quite complex and the cost of outsourcing it is quite low so we should outsource it. Until now, every month, I email them with the part-time employee's hours and they send me payslips and file at HMRC.

It works fine but I would like to know if this is really any easier for us than using Xero Payroll. It seems like it's just a few clicks to do it in Xero, just as it is to send the email to our accountant's payroll department. Is it really that complex if you use Xero Payroll? Is there anything Xero Payroll doesn't do that an outsourced payroll service does?

 

[Glenn Martin]

It depends on the cost, payroll is a relatively low priced service, so it would depend on if you are paying say £25 per month to have the headache passed to someone to do it for you or if you would choose to save the money and do it yourself.

Payroll is not that hard to do for the number of staff you do, and most people would be capable of doing it in house.

Xero payroll is quite basic but it will do the job for you but also does cost £5+ per month, you should also be aware that payroll potentially has lots of opportunities to incur penalties if returns are not submitted on time.

Also Autoenrolement is a right head ache and might be something you do not want to touch yourself.
for my clients I tend to do the small ones where it is not worth the client for software but on bigger ones they often do it in house.

 

[ldjames]

Thanks, Glenn. I'm asking specifically in the context of Xero Payroll. If I spend 5 minutes a month with Xero Payroll (before the deadlines), do I have anything to worry about? It seems to take care of RTI, Auto Enrolment etc.

 

[Glenn Martin]

I have a client who with no payroll experience runs a weekly payroll for 5 staff without any issues i log in periodically and check it and check the PAYE due is correct. I spent about 30 minutes running through it with her and that was enough.

AE is a different issue, the operation of it is not bad it is the setting up that is the problem part and can be time consuming if you have not done it before, but again you could do it yourself and there would be support available from pension provider or Xero to help, but like anything it depends how you value your time, you could have a go risk cocking it up, or you could just pay £250 (or whatever\) to someone to set it up correctly for you.

Some prefer to spend 40 hours on the business as that is where they make money and outsource the stuff they don't want to do.

I could paint my house myself, but choose to get a painter to do it, as they are quicker, cleaner & better than I could, and although there is a cost it means i dont have to give up my weekend doing it.

If you are moving accountants ask them to wrap the payroll up into 1 fixed price, as If the fee was decent most people would do the payroll at cost to keep it all under one roof.

 

[ldjames]

Because I have to tally up the hours for one our our employees and actually send the payments out, it seems like I might as well spend the extra few minutes doing the pay runs. Thanks for clearing that up, Glenn. Seems like my accountant overstated how complex it is.

 

[Glenn Martin]

No worries and let me know if you get stuck.

when it comes to Auto Enrolement I would recommend True Potential as the pension provider.

If you get stuck just give me a shout or there is plenty of help available within the Xero community

 

[AccountOnThis]

Payroll with cloud accounting software like Xero is straightforward. Most of the time it is something you can do yourself and don't need an accountant to help with.

 

[Intelligent Payroll]

Xero payroll is coming on leaps and bounds but is still massively behind other payroll software out there, which is a shame because it's bookkeeping offering is fantastic.

I would highly recommend outsourcing and getting a lots of quotes - I can't expect it costing you over £25 a month.

If choosing to outsource, check they can provide a journal that will import into Xero which makes things easier for yourself. You can also ask them to actually process it on Xero, which is a service we provide as we are Xero Payroll Certified, however highly recommend using other payroll software as Xero is not quite yet there.

Any queries - drop us a message

 

[Newchodge]

Running a payroll is simple. Until something goes wrong. An employee has an attachment of earnigns, someone goes on statutory leave, you need to calculate holiday entitlement. What you outsource is not pressing the buttons to make Xero, or whatever, perform its magic. You outsource the headache if something gets complex.

 

[Glenn Martin]

Long shot but will Tom who contacted me as a result of this post please give me a call as the email I have for him keeps bouncing back.

 

[ldjames]

We ended up going with Xero Payroll. Parts of the setup were a bit confusing but now it's set up, it's very easy to do the pay runs. Glad I did it.

 

[Glenn Martin]

Yes it is quite easy to use. Pleased you got it sorted.

 

[Ili]

Hi,

I'm setting up an employee on xero payroll.

its asking for annual salary, should i input net salary or gross salary in the field.

I'm new to payroll.

thanks

 

[Intelligent Payroll]

Hi,

I'm setting up an employee on xero payroll.

its asking for annual salary, should i input net salary or gross salary in the field.

I'm new to payroll.

thanks

Gross Salary

 

[Ili]

Gross Salary

Thank you