Ninety days from now, could you price a new hire, overtime and the pay review in one afternoon?
Owners who can answer make the offer that week. Owners who cannot wait for a year-end conversation and hire on a hunch. Ardein runs payroll inside the monthly finance routine for Liverpool businesses, so the real cost of a hire is on the screen while you are deciding.
Three things you’d know before you make the offer.
Know what a hire costs you, all in, today
Gross pay, employer NI and pension sit in one current monthly figure.
Sign off the pay review with margin in front of you
Payroll is posted into the monthly reporting, so wages show against performance.
See what overtime cost last month, not last year
Each run is posted and reconciled as it happens, so the figure stays current.
The decisions that go wrong when the wage bill is out of date
Each of these started with a decision made without the payroll number to hand.
- Hire
“We took on two people in the spring because the work looked busy, and found out in October the margin never covered them.”
Salaries, employer NI and pension only surfaced at year end. The second hire had been costing money since week three.
- Price
“I put the rates up across the board because wages had gone up. I never checked which customers were already paying enough.”
A flat rise went to the customers who were the least of the problem. Payroll cost by job was in no report.
- Salary
“Payroll ran late twice, so I spent a Sunday fixing it instead of pricing the contract we had been chasing for months.”
The contract went elsewhere. Payroll sat outside the finance routine, so it always arrived as an interruption.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
Pay runs happen on the same dates each month and are posted as they go. When someone asks what a new role costs, you open the current month instead of guessing. The pay review is decided against this year’s margin, not last year’s accounts. The Sunday is spent somewhere else.
Payroll filed correctly, or payroll that answers the hiring question?
Both get the submissions right. Only one helps you decide before you make the offer.
Payroll as a filing task
Pay runs processed and RTI submissions made on time each period.
Auto-enrolment duties handled so The Pensions Regulator is dealt with.
Year-end accounts that confirm what the wage bill came to.
Questions answered when there is room between deadlines.
Payroll inside the finance routine
Wage costs posted monthly, so payroll shows against performance and cash.
The cost of a hire available before the offer goes out.
Pay reviews and overtime decided against current margin, by job or customer.
Reports delivered on the agreed date each month, provided the information is with us.
Eight questions you should be able to answer before the next pay day
Answer them honestly. The noes are where decisions get made blind.
- 01
Do you know what your last hire costs you in total each month?
Gross pay is the easy part. Employer NI and pension decide whether the role pays for itself.
- 02
Could you price a pay review against this year’s margin today?
If the answer waits for the accounts, the rise is agreed before the cost is known.
- 03
Do you know which jobs or customers carry the wage bill?
Without payroll in the monthly reporting, the busy work and the profitable work look the same.
- 04
Is overtime visible this month, or only at year end?
Overtime that is reviewed twelve months late has already been paid twelve times.
- 05
Are your auto-enrolment duties up to date without you having to check?
Pension duties belong in the routine, not in the post from The Pensions Regulator.
- 06
Does the wage bill appear in a monthly report you actually read?
Payroll is usually the largest cost in a service business and the last one to be reported.
- 07
Could you give a lender or a buyer your quarterly wage cost this week?
If it takes a fortnight to assemble, the conversation moves on without you.
- 08
Does payroll ever run late because you are the one running it?
Every late run costs an evening that was meant for quoting, pricing or selling.
If your accountant cannot tell you this week what your last payroll run cost you in total, and whether the next hire is affordable, you have the wrong accountant.
- 01Could they tell you the full monthly cost of your last hire, including employer NI and pension, by Friday?
- 02Could they show you this month’s wage bill against margin, rather than last year’s?
- 03Could they confirm your auto-enrolment duties are up to date without going away to check?
Three yeses and you’re fine. Anything else is what the review is for.
Entry 01
The one promise that decides whether the number is there when you need it
A wage figure is only useful if it arrives before the decision does.
Figures as recorded in client work · names withheld
“”
What is true by day ninety, and what has to happen before it
Payroll moves from something squeezed into the weekend to a routine that reports.
You find out what the records actually say
We agree the scope, complete due diligence and AML checks, and collect the payroll and accounting records. If you already have an accountant or bookkeeper, we manage the handover.
Payroll and the books finally agree
Bookkeeping complete, banks reconciled, payroll postings checked against what actually left the bank. We agree who runs each part and when each pay run happens.
Pay day stops interrupting your week
Regular routines for pay runs, auto-enrolment, supplier bills and credit control, with checks that catch errors before your people see them.
The hiring decision takes an afternoon
Monthly management information shows the wage bill against margin, cash and debtors, delivered on the agreed date so you can act while it still matters.
What we take on when payroll moves into the finance routine
Payroll is run as part of the month, not as a separate errand at the end of it.
Pay runs that land on the same dates every month
Weekly or monthly runs, submissions, starters, leavers and payslips, handled to an agreed timetable for your Liverpool team.
Auto-enrolment dealt with before it becomes a letter
Assessments, contributions and declarations handled on schedule, so your people and The Pensions Regulator are both dealt with.
The wage bill sitting next to the margin it affects
Payroll costs posted into monthly management accounts, so hiring, overtime and pricing decisions use current figures.
Who this is not for, before either of us spends the time
We do not take on cash businesses.
We do not take on CIS-dependent construction payrolls.
We walk away from anything illegal or reportable, including falsified records, and from anyone who will not complete AML checks.
It does not work when an owner cannot explain their own business or say what they actually need.
If none of that applies, the review is where we find out what your payroll and records really look like.
The questions Liverpool owners ask before they book
Is the review a sales call?
No. It is a working review with a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding if you go ahead. You leave with your top five priorities either way.
We already have an accountant. Does this still make sense?
Most people who call already have one. The gap is usually month-by-month support and payroll inside the routine, rather than the annual filing.
What happens with our current accountant or bookkeeper?
We handle it. Professional clearance, records collection and a transition plan agreed around your year end, with no separate charge.
What are we committing to?
A monthly fee scoped to the work once we have seen the records, reviewed as the business changes. New capacity is capped at four clients a month, so start dates are limited.
Do you need to be in Liverpool?
We work remotely across the UK from a base in Chester, with clients throughout Liverpool, Manchester and Cheshire. Payroll does not need a desk in your office.
Make the next hire with the real number in front of you.
The review looks at your payroll, your records and your reporting, and shows you what is missing before the next decision arrives.