Member Article

Yorkshire accountants double payroll portfolio

Yorkshire accounting firm Garbutt & Elliott has almost doubled its payroll portfolio during the past two years.

Garbutt & Elliott, which has offices in York and Leeds, has taken on 97 new payroll clients since November 2012 and the firm’s payroll department now looks after over 4,300 employees.

In 2011 Garbutt & Elliott had 160 companies on its payroll books. This number had increased to 196 by the end of last year and it now stands at 310.

In response to this, the firm’s payroll department has increased from one manager and two executives in 2011 to one manager, five executives and two administrators today.

Lorraine Young, the firm’s payroll manager, commented: “Our payroll portfolio has increased by 94 per cent during the past two years, which is an amazing rate of expansion. We have had to take on five extra staff, which is great news in a challenging employment market.

“The new payroll regime, which saw the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI) in April this year and is the biggest change in the PAYE system since its introduction in 1944, makes it crucially important that employers submit their payroll information on time. Any who don’t will face fines of up to £1,200 a year.”

Under RTI, which is estimated to save the taxman £7.5bn a year, information about income tax, National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and other deductions due under PAYE must be submitted throughout the year as part of the payroll process, rather than at the end of the year as they are now.

Young added: “Errors submitted under the new RTI regime will incur stiff penalties. To prevent this, we have worked closely with all our payroll clients and non-payroll clients to ensure they are aware and ready for RTI.

“Every employer must ask themselves whether they are absolutely sure that they have put the necessary changes in place to ensure compliance with the new regulations.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .