Payroll Services
For UK and International Businesses
Running payroll sounds straightforward until it isn’t. Employment tax rules change, your workforce becomes more mobile, contractors blur into employees, benefits need reporting, and the cost of getting it wrong – with HMRC, with your people, and with your business – adds up quickly. Fortunately, our payroll services take that complexity off your desk.
We provide outsourced payroll services and employment tax support to businesses across the UK and internationally. From a straightforward monthly payroll run to shadow payroll for globally mobile executives, IR35 compliance programmes and share scheme reporting, we handle the detail so you don’t have to.
What our payroll services cover
Our payroll and employment tax team covers the full spectrum from day-to-day payroll processing and RTI compliance through to complex international arrangements, workforce compliance reviews and equity reward schemes. Whether you need us to run your payroll entirely, or to sit alongside your in-house team on specific compliance challenges, we can work either way.
Ben Aspinall
Outsourced Payroll
Weekly, fortnightly or monthly payroll runs. RTI filings. Payslips and management reports. Pension auto-enrolment. We become your payroll department.
Employment Tax Compliance
P11Ds, PSAs, PAYE health checks, employment status, IR35. The reporting and compliance obligations that sit alongside payroll.
International & Global Mobility
Shadow payroll, short term business visitors, permanent establishment risk, hypothetical tax. For businesses and workforces that cross borders.
Contractor Compliance
IR35 / off-payroll working assessments, status determination statements, deemed employer payroll. Confidence that your contractor population is correctly treated.
Share Schemes & Equity Reward
Enterprise Management Incentives, Company Share Option Plans, Save As You Earn, unapproved options. Setting up schemes, HMRC registration, annual reporting, employee communications and leavers.
Connected to the Right People
Through our network, we can provide support with employment law, HR, immigration and insurance.
Thinking about outsourcing your payroll?
Let’s have a quick chat about what you need – no obligation, no jargon.
Where our network adds value
We’re specialists in accountancy and employment tax, and that focus is exactly what allows us to do those things brilliantly. For everything that sits alongside payroll – employment law, HR, immigration, insurance – we bring in trusted experts from our wider network, so you get the right specialist for every part of the picture.
Where our clients need employment contracts reviewed, HR policies drafted, right-to-work compliance, visa support for international hires, or employer liability advice, we connect them with trusted specialists from our network, firms we know and whose work we respect.
We handle:
- All payroll processing and compliance
- Employment tax and PAYE
- IR35 and contractor compliance
- Share schemes and ERS
- International payroll and global mobility
- Permanent establishment assessment
We refer to specialists for:
- Employment law and contracts
- HR policy and people strategy
- Immigration and right-to-work compliance
- Employer liability and group risk insurance
- Employee benefits and flex platforms
Why choose Ecovis for payroll services?
Global reach, local knowledge
We are part of Ecovis International, a global professional services network operating in over 90 countries. For businesses with international payroll and employment tax needs, this matters. It means we can coordinate advice across borders, access local employment tax expertise in the jurisdictions that matter to you, and manage international mobility questions without leaving you to brief multiple advisers in multiple countries yourself.
One team, all the disciplines
Our payroll and employment tax team works alongside our outsourced accounting, VAT, corporate tax and personal tax colleagues. When a share scheme question has a corporate tax dimension, or a director’s remuneration question touches on personal tax planning, you don’t need to brief a different firm, the expertise is in the same building.
A note on our approach
We will always tell you if something is wrong, even if you didn’t ask. Payroll errors, missed P11Ds, IR35 risk we’ve spotted in passing. We raise them because leaving them unreported isn’t in your interest. It’s not always a comfortable conversation, but it’s the right one to have.
Not sure where your payroll sits?
A 20-minute conversation with our payroll services team is usually enough to identify the priorities.
Who uses our payroll services?
Our clients range from owner-managed businesses running their first payroll to international groups with UK employees navigating complex cross-border obligations. What they tend to have in common is that they take compliance seriously, they want a firm that will tell them when something needs addressing rather than just process and file, and they value genuine expertise over a transactional relationship.
- International businesses: Overseas businesses establishing or expanding their UK presence, particularly where payroll, PE risk and cross-border employee mobility are live questions.
- Owner-managed businesses: UK businesses where the directors are also employees, remuneration planning matters, and getting employment tax right is as important as getting accounts right.
- Fast-growing companies: Businesses scaling their headcount quickly, implementing equity reward schemes, or managing a growing contractor population under IR35.
- Professional services firms: Firms with contractor or flexible workforce considerations, partner remuneration structures, and employee benefit arrangements that need proper reporting.
- Corporate service providers: CSPs who need a reliable payroll and employment tax partner for their client base, especially where international clients are involved.
- Any business with complexity: Shadow payroll, share schemes, STBV populations, PAYE health checks after a period of growth. If the payroll situation is complicated, that’s where we add the most value.
Frequently asked questions about our payroll services
Do you handle payroll for businesses outside the UK?
Yes, we run UK payroll for businesses based anywhere in the world. We are not a global payroll provider ourselves, but through the Ecovis International network we coordinate international payroll with local payroll providers in other countries where needed, all supported by our global payroll platform.
Can you take over from our existing payroll provider?
Yes. In fact, payroll migrations are something we manage regularly. We handle the transfer of historical data, liaise with HMRC to update scheme registration details, and plan the transition carefully to ensure continuity of payroll runs. Ultimately, our aim is to make the changeover invisible to your employees.
We only have a small number of employees, is it worth outsourcing payroll?
Often yes, once you factor in the compliance obligations that apply regardless of headcount. RTI filings, P11Ds, year-end reconciliations, auto-enrolment. Many of our clients outsource from their first employee. The cost of getting it wrong typically outweighs the cost of doing it properly from the start.
What is IR35 and does it affect us?
IR35, the off-payroll working rules, applies where you engage individuals who work through their own company (typically a personal service company). If those individuals would be treated as employees if engaged directly, the rules require you to deduct PAYE and NIC on their fees. Medium and large businesses are responsible for making that determination. Small businesses are currently exempt from the engager obligations, though the rules still apply at the contractor level. If you engage contractors and haven’t reviewed your IR35 position recently, it’s worth doing so.
We’re thinking of setting up an EMI scheme, where do we start?
First, it’s worth checking whether your company and the employees you want to benefit from the scheme actually qualify for EMI, the eligibility conditions are reasonably specific. Assuming they do, the next steps are agreeing the share valuation with HMRC, preparing option documentation, and registering the scheme. We can take you through the whole process. The sooner you start the better, since agreeing a valuation with HMRC can take time.
What is permanent establishment and why does it matter for payroll?
Permanent establishment is the threshold at which HMRC considers an overseas business to have a taxable presence in the UK, which would mean UK corporation tax obligations arise, even without a formal UK subsidiary. The activities of employees and contractors in the UK, particularly where they’re concluding contracts or carrying out core business activities, can cross that threshold. It’s a risk that’s easy to overlook when setting up UK operations, and one that’s much easier to manage proactively than retrospectively.
Do you file ERS annual returns?
Yes. ERS annual returns must be filed with HMRC by 6 July each year for any company that has granted options, issued employment-related shares or made other ERS transactions during the year. This includes EMI, CSOP, SAYE and unapproved arrangements. We prepare and file returns for all scheme types, and we can help businesses that have fallen behind on historic filings.
We use contractors rather than employees. Do you cover that?
Yes. Specifically, we advise on employment status generally and on IR35 / off-payroll working compliance specifically. If you’re engaging contractors through PSCs and haven’t carried out formal status determinations, or if your determinations haven’t been reviewed recently, we can carry out a compliance review across your contractor population.
Can you help with share scheme reporting if someone else set up the scheme?
Absolutely. We can take over ERS reporting and share scheme administration from other advisers. From there, we’ll review what’s in place, identify any gaps in historic reporting, and take responsibility for ongoing compliance from the point we’re instructed.
Talk to our payroll services team
Setting up or reviewing compliance – we’ll flag the things others miss