(Or: That Time of Year When Payroll People Become Marathon Champions)
Ah, payroll year end — the annual event that turns normal human beings into caffeine-fuelled superheroes with a suspicious emotional attachment to calendars and checklists.
Fortunately, handling payroll year end doesn’t need to be a battle. With the right steps (and a sense of humour), you can finish the year strong, keep HMRC smiling politely from a distance, and maybe even have time for a cuppa.
Here’s how it actually works.
🧾 Step 1 — Finalise Your Last Payslip
The UK payroll year runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year. But you don’t wait until 5 April to do the year end — you handle your final payroll as usual in the period that includes 5 April. GOV.UK
That means:
✔ All pay runs are up to date
✔ Starters and leavers are sorted
✔ Bonuses, expenses, and statutory payments are included
✔ And you’ve double-checked those tempting little decimal details that HMRC cares about
📤 Step 2 — Send Your Final FPS
Once that final pay run is done, you must tell HMRC about it via your Final Full Payment Submission (FPS).
👉 Send your final FPS on or before the last pay date of the tax year (before 5 April). GOV.UK
Make sure you tick the box in your software that says something like “Final submission for the year.”
This tells HMRC you’re done for this tax year.
📬 Step 3 — Use an EPS if Needed
If you didn’t pay anyone in that final pay period or your software doesn’t have a “final FPS” tick box, HMRC says you can send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) instead to tell them you’ve finished. GOV.UK
This is especially useful if:
✔ You forgot to tick the final FPS box
✔ You didn’t actually pay anyone in that last period
✔ Your system doesn’t support the final FPS indicator
EPS also lets you claim statutory payments or Employment Allowance adjustments for the year. GOV.UK
📄 Step 4 — Give Employees Their P60s
Once the new tax year has started, it’s time to look after your people.
👉 Give a P60 to every employee who was on your payroll on 5 April — this shows their total pay and deductions for the year. GOV.UK
HMRC requires that these are issued by 31 May — and trust us, losing a P60 leads to at least one panicked phone call a week. GOV.UK
🪩 Step 5 — Get Ready for the New Tax Year
Just when you thought you were done…
📅 New tax codes
📅 New thresholds
📅 New minimum wages
📅 New statutory rates
Because HMRC likes to keep things “interesting.”
Update your payroll software with the new year’s settings so your first April pay run is smooth, compliant, and free of “Oh no, not again!” moments.
❤️ The Love Payroll Bit
At Love Payroll Limited, we treat payroll year end like a well-choreographed dance. (And we do all the awkward steps so you don’t have to.)
We’ll help you:
✔ Prepare and submit your final FPS/EPS
✔ Issue P60s on time
✔ Handle corrections before HMRC notices them
✔ Set up for the new tax year
No stress.
No last-minute scrambling.
Just smooth, compliant payroll year after year.
Because payroll should feel like pay day… not panic day.
