A week in the life…

A week in the life of…Ros Hendren, Payroll Consultant from Well Paid.

MONDAY

It’s the start of another busy week, the first order of the day being to contact a prospective client, referred to us by their consultant FD who wants to separate payroll from their accountancy service as a strategic move to reduce risk

It’s a small company with fewer than twenty employees, and a mix of weekly and monthly paid. It fits our core business, the call went well, and a follow up visit has been booked to hopefully seal the deal, a good start!

The rest of the day is taken up with chasing missing client information and finishing a report for a client who commissioned a review of their payroll processes.

We’ve identified a number of areas where they can make efficiency savings, so another satisfied customer.

TUESDAY

Having dealt with today’s admin and caught up on email, I take the opportunity to follow up on an outstanding project with a local sports club, who unwittingly got into a bit of trouble with payments to players who came to the UK for the playing season from overseas.

HMRC have reviewed the last 6 years and are expecting payment of outstanding NIC’s as well as compulsory fines and interest due. I have been negotiating with HMRC for four months, and am expecting a decision regarding the amount that must be paid so I call for an update.

As they are an amateur ‘not for profit’ club, I am delighted when HMRC confirm that the appeal has halved the bill, as the original amount due could quite easily have put the club out of business. A great end to the day.

WEDNESDAY

The day starts with a call from a client asking for advice regarding a pregnant employee. It’s the first time they’ve had to deal with maternity pay, and they were delighted when we were able to advise them they are eligible to recover 103% of the cost from HMRC.

Today is a busy day for weekly payroll as we have reports to produce along with finalised payslips ahead of Friday’s payday.

THURSDAY

A quieter day so there’s chance to catch up on the ‘to do’ list. We’ve had an update from HMRC about the Tax Widget that we host on our website so we spend some time making the updates.

Next up is dealing with an enquiry about auto enrolment. Like many companies, our client was unsure of when their staging date was and didn’t really know what was expected of them. After 45 minutes on the phone they were a lot happier and a lot clearer. I make notes in a follow up email and send them over.

Late afternoon a client rings in a panic as they have forgotten to add overtime for an employee and want to know if it’s too late to make the change. Luckily the final submissions haven’t been done yet and we can make the late amendment for them.

FRIDAY

A busy day for payroll, the weekly payments are all due today and the FPS submissions have to be made to HMRC.

Friday afternoon is reserved for catching up with emails and reviewing next week’s schedule. Then my husband announces that it is time to pack up for the day and so I stop and reflect on what has been a busy but satisfying week, and gratefully accept the gin and tonic he has placed in front of me!