Blog

If you’ve ever felt a small shiver at the thought of “P11D season,” you’re not alone. Traditionally, if you gave an employee something more than salary — a company car, private health cover, a perk here or there — you had to fill in a form called P11D at the end of the tax year. Everything was bundled up, sent to HRMC,

(When “We’ll Just Reimburse You” Suddenly Means More Than Coffee) Expenses — the category that gives accountants a mild panic and employees a hopeful glance at their inbox.Whether it’s travel, subsistence, mobile phones, or “I needed this for work” claims — it all needs doing properly. Because “I paid for parking” doesn’t always mean “no tax due.” Let’s walk through

(Or: The Wonderful World Where Perks Meet Tax… Yay.) Benefits in kind — or BiKs, as HMRC calls them when they want to sound cool — are one of those payroll topics that seem glamorous.Company cars! Private medical! Gym memberships!But behind every shiny perk lies a spreadsheet whispering,“Someone needs to tax this…” Let’s break down exactly how benefits in kind work, especially now

(Yes, Even When Dave’s Timesheet Looks Like Hieroglyphics) Ah, overtime — the place where maths meets chaos.It starts off simple enough: someone works extra hours, so you pay them more. Lovely. Except overtime is never just “a few extra hours,” is it?It’s: But don’t panic — overtime is absolutely manageable once you understand the basics.(And have a good payroll provider. Hi. 👋) 🧮 Step 1: Know

(Or: Why Your Bonus Never Feels Quite as Big as You Expected…) Ah, bonuses and commissions — the glittering unicorns of payroll.You see the number, you get excited, you mentally spend it three times over… and then the payslip arrives. Suddenly your glorious £2,000 bonus has transformed into something that looks suspiciously like £1,200 and a heartfelt apology.What happened?In short: tax.Let’s

(Or: Why One Is the Legal Minimum and the Other Is the Nice-To-Have) Ah, payroll terminology — where two phrases sound almost identical but mean completely different things.Enter: statutory pay and contractual pay. If you’ve ever had an employee, ask, “Which one do I get?” while you attempt to smile calmly and not mutter, “Well, that depends on 74 different rules…” — this

(Featuring the Very Updated 2025/2026 SMP Rates) Nothing brings joy to the office quite like an employee announcing a new arrival — and nothing brings a tiny flutter of panic to payroll quite like the words:“Can you work out my maternity pay?” Deep breaths.Yes, parental pay is basically the alphabet soup of payroll (SMP, SPP, SAP, SPL… help), but once you know

Ah yes — the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.Two things that change more often than HMRC’s mind about what “simple payroll” looks like. Every April, just when payroll folks are settling down with a nice cup of tea and a sense of calm, the government announces new rates and sends us all back into spreadsheet mayhem. And — because they love

Ah, Christmas.The season of joy, twinkly lights, endless Quality Streets… and the annual payroll debate that divides the nation: “Do we pay staff early for Christmas?” If you’ve ever worked in payroll, you can practically hear the dramatic music playing. On one side, you’ve got the festive cheerleaders:🎅 “Give them their wages early! It’s Christmas!” On the other, the realists:💼 “If we

Sick pay.Two words that can turn an otherwise calm payroll run into a quiet internal scream. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is one of those things that sounds simple on paper. After all, it’s just paying someone when they’re off sick… right? Except it isn’t.Because SSP comes with rules. And thresholds. And qualifying days. And waiting days. And just enough exceptions

Ah, holiday pay — the thing every employee loves, every employer dreads, and every payroll person has nightmares about. ( At Love Payroll Limited we can handle all of this for you so you don’t need to read further) Because let’s be honest: if there’s one part of payroll guaranteed to cause mild confusion, it’s trying to figure out what

Ah, payroll deductions — the reason your gross pay looks so exciting until you scroll down to the actual number that hits your bank account. There’s that brief moment of “Ooh, I did well this month!” followed swiftly by “Wait, who’s taken all my money?” That, my friends, is the world of deductions — where your payslip tells two stories: what you earned, and