If you don’t have a dedicated HR department, payroll can become a headache often pushed to the last minute where it causes more trouble than it should.
Here are some simple payroll tips that we employ for our clients. Making sure they are part of your schedule now will help streamline your end of month, and keep your employees happy.
- Diary 10 minutes into your week to keep an eye on your ROS inbox for updates to make sure that you have up to date tax credits for all your employees. Check it 3 weeks out of 4.
- NEVER agree an after tax wage with an employee. By doing so you agree to pay the tax due on top and if your employees tax credits are allocated to a spouse or another employer then you could pay more than expected.
- Keep an eye on Benefit in Kind, use your final week out of 4 of that 10 mins in your diary to periodically review all additional payments made to an employee or on their behalf and check if they should be taxed as a Benefit In Kind.
- Make use of tax free payments whenever you can, such as Rail/Bus Pass, Cycle to Work Scheme, and non cash vouchers of up to €500 per employee per year.
- Find out about allowable travel or subsistence payments to employees and when you must make sure to tax them. See full details on Revenue website.
- Get up to date on back to work schemes. Government supported schemes such could be very beneficial to your business, and provide you with help in return for training at no cost to your company, or with subsidised new employees.