Running payroll

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Reporting to HMRC: FPS

Use your payroll software to send a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about payments to your employees and what deductions to their pay you’ve made.

Include everyone you pay, even if they get less than £123 a week.

When to send your FPS

Send the FPS on or before your employees’ payday, even if you pay HMRC quarterly instead of monthly.

You must enter the usual date that you pay your employees, even if you pay them earlier or later. For example, if you pay your employees early because your usual payday falls on a Bank Holiday, you should still enter your regular payday.

Early reporting

You can send an FPS before your regular payday, for example if your payroll staff are going on holiday.

Do not report too early - you’ll need to send a corrected FPS to update HMRC if information changes, for example an employee leaves or changes tax code.

You cannot send reports for the new tax year before March.

Late reporting

There are some expectations when you can send an FPS after payday.

Completing and sending an FPS

You’ll need to enter your PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference in your software. HMRC will have sent this to you after you registered as an employer.

To complete and send the FPS, follow your payroll software’s instructions.

HMRC has guidance on what to put in each field on an FPS, including:

  • employer information
  • employee information - only include employees you’ve paid
  • pay and deductions
  • National Insurance information

You can split your FPS into batches if it’s easier for you, for example one for employees and one for directors.

There are special rules for calculating deductions if your employee has more than one job with you.

After you’ve sent your FPS

In the next tax month (which starts on the 6th), you can:

If you need to make an extra payment to your employee, you can send an FPS after payday, in addition to the one you’ve already sent. The extra FPS needs to be sent before your next regular report (if your software has this feature).

If you made a mistake in your FPS

If you find any errors in your FPS, send a corrected FPS as soon as possible.

Reporting extra information

You need to report more information on an FPS if:

HMRC has guidance on what to put in each field on an FPS.

You may also need to report extra information about certain employee changes, for example they take a leave of absence or become a director.

There are special rules if you’re only reporting National Insurance, for example you’re an overseas employer that does not need to pay UK tax.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Part of Employ someone: step by step

  1. Step 1 Check your business is ready to employ staff

    1. Prepare your business to take on employees

  2. Step 2 Recruit someone

    You need to advertise the role and interview candidates. You can use a recruitment agency to do this or do it yourself.

    1. Find out about recruiting someone yourself on Acas
    2. Find out about using a recruitment agency

    As an employer you must make sure you recruit employees fairly.

    1. Avoid discrimination during recruitment
    2. Make your application process accessible for employees with disabilities or health conditions

  3. and Check they have the right to work in the UK

    1. Find out how to check an applicant's right to work

  4. and Find out if they need a DBS check

    You may need to check someone's criminal record, for example, if they'll be working in healthcare or with children.

    1. Find out if you need a DBS check
    2. How to do a DBS check

  5. Step 3 Check if they need to be put into a workplace pension

    Check if you need to put your employee into a workplace pension scheme:

  6. Step 4 Agree a contract and salary

    When someone accepts a job offer they have a contract with you as their employer.

    1. Check what the National Minimum Wage is for different ages
    2. Check what the National Minimum Wage is for different types of work
    3. Check what to include in a contract
    4. Agree a written statement of employment particulars

  7. Step 5 Tell HMRC about your new employee

    You must tell HMRC about your new employee on or before their first pay day.

    1. Tell HMRC about a new employee
    2. Get their personal details and P45 to work out their tax code
    3. If you don’t have their P45, use HMRC’s ‘starter checklist’
    4. Check what to do when you start paying your employee