Payroll and auto-enrolment on a fixed monthly date, so a hiring decision takes an afternoon
Payroll and auto-enrolment handled every month for owner-managed UK businesses, with pension duties done on schedule and the payroll cost posted into your books the same week it is paid.
Most owners can tell you the salary they offered. Fewer can tell you the full monthly cost once employer National Insurance, pension and holiday cover are in, or which job that cost sits against. That gap decides whether the hire pays for itself.
Ardein runs payroll and auto-enrolment for owner-managed UK businesses and grant-funded organisations, remotely from Chester. Runs and pension duties go out on an agreed monthly date and post into the bookkeeping, so payroll cost reconciles to the bank. Fees are a monthly amount scoped to the work, with the handover managed at no separate charge.
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
- IAB member (MIAB 292185)
- Anti-money-laundering supervised
- Established 2021
Three things you’d know before you send the offer letter
The full monthly cost of the next hire
Gross pay, employer National Insurance and the pension contribution arrive as one figure you can test against the work coming in.
Payroll cost sitting where the money went
Each run posts into the bookkeeping, so wages reconcile to the bank and to the jobs they paid for.
Pension duties already done for the month
Assessment, enrolment, contributions and declarations run on the same timetable as everything else in the routine.
Three payroll decisions that cost more than the payslip showed
Each of these was a reasonable decision made with a number missing.
- Hire
“We took on a second engineer at a salary we could afford. Nobody added the pension, the National Insurance and the cover for holidays.”
The real monthly cost was well above the salary and only surfaced at the year end. The figure had been in payroll from the first run.
- Contract
“We priced a twelve-month contract on last year’s labour cost, before the pay review and before the employer National Insurance went up.”
The margin was thinner than the quote assumed for every month of the term. Payroll cost was never carried into the job costing.
- Price
“Wages went up in April. Our prices went up in September, once the bank balance made the point for us.”
Five months of work went out at last year’s rates. Cost per head had been visible since the April run.
- Day 90
What it looks like when the answer is in the room
You open one report and see payroll cost by month, per head, against the work it supported. The pay review is modelled before it is announced, not after. When a contract comes up for renewal, the labour cost in it is this year’s, not last year’s. Nobody is looking for the pension letter from three months ago.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant cannot tell you this week what a new hire actually costs you each month, pension and all, and which job carries it, you have the wrong accountant
Three questions to put to whoever runs your payroll now.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you by this afternoon what your next hire costs per month, employer National Insurance and pension included?
Could they show you payroll cost by month in your accounts, reconciled to what actually left the bank?
Could they confirm today that your auto-enrolment assessments, contributions and declarations are up to date?
Payroll is running, and nobody is using what it knows. The review looks at where the cost of your people should be showing up and does not.
The filings are being done, which is most of the risk handled. The area to check is whether payroll lands in your reporting on a date you can rely on, which is what Entry 01 is about.
You are well served and there is little here for us to fix. The guide on the first ninety days will tell you if the routine still holds as you add people.
Where a payroll bureau stops and the question you still cannot answer
Both run payroll correctly. Only one of them changes what you know before you decide.
Payroll run as a separate job
The run is filed on time and the payslips are right.
The cost reaches your accounts whenever someone posts the journals.
Pension assessment depends on whoever in the office remembers it.
Nobody ties wages back to the jobs or contracts carrying them.
Payroll inside the finance routine
The run goes out on the agreed date and posts into the books that week.
Employer cost per head is in front of you before you make the offer.
Assessment, enrolment and declarations sit on the same monthly timetable.
Wage cost reconciles to the bank and to the work it paid for.
Eight questions about your people that your numbers should already answer
Answer each one yes or no, from what you can see today.
- 01
Do you know the full monthly cost of your next hire?
Salary alone understates it by more than most owners expect.
- 02
Does payroll cost show in your accounts every month?
If journals are posted annually, your monthly margin is wrong all year.
- 03
Can you see wage cost against the jobs it paid for?
Without it, job pricing repeats last year’s labour rates.
- 04
Do you know your pension contribution cost for the year ahead?
It changes with every new starter and every pay rise.
- 05
Are your auto-enrolment declarations up to date?
The duty does not pause because payroll is running smoothly.
- 06
Do you know which month the wage bill peaks?
Holiday pay and cover move it more than most owners track.
- 07
Could you model a pay review before announcing it?
The employer cost of a rise is roughly a fifth more than the rise itself.
- 08
Does payroll reconcile to the bank each month?
If it does not, the cash figure you are planning from is not real.
What running payroll properly actually covers
Three parts, run on one timetable, because they only work together.
Runs on the date you agreed
Weekly or monthly runs, starters, leavers, statutory pay and submissions, prepared from records we already maintain.
Auto-enrolment duties kept current
Assessment, enrolment, contribution uploads and declarations handled to schedule, so The Pensions Regulator is dealt with.
Cost of people in your monthly figures
Payroll posts into the bookkeeping and into the management accounts, so wage cost sits next to the margin it affects.
Entry 01
What you can hold us to on the date, and what we need from you first
One promise, recorded plainly, because a payroll date only works if both sides keep it.
Figures as recorded in client work · names withheld
What clients say
“They don't feel like a contractor. They get fully involved in the business and are well respected by all.”
UK SME owner
What changes between your first payroll run with us and day ninety
Four points where you get something back, not four stages of work.
You stop running the handover yourself
We agree the scope, complete the AML checks and collect payroll records, pension scheme details and employee data from whoever holds them.
Wages appear where the money went
The first runs go out on the agreed date and post into the bookkeeping, so payroll reconciles to the bank rather than waiting for the year end.
Pension duties stop depending on memory
Assessment, enrolment, contributions and declarations move into a fixed routine sitting alongside supplier bills, credit control and VAT.
The hiring decision takes an afternoon
Cost per head, payroll by month and the cash effect arrive on one report, on the same date, while you can still act on it.
Where Ardein is the wrong answer for you
We do not take on cash businesses, whatever the payroll size.
We do not take on construction work that depends on CIS.
We walk away from anything non-compliant or reportable, and from clients who will not complete AML checks.
The relationship does not work when an owner cannot explain their own business or say what they need.
If any of that applies, the review will say so early and you will not have lost anything but an hour.
Questions owners ask before they move payroll
Is the finance review a sales call?
No. It is a sixty-minute working session covering your bookkeeping and reporting workflow, debtor and creditor visibility, payroll and recurring finance, and systems. You leave with the top five priorities and an indicative monthly service structure. It carries a fixed review fee, credited in full against onboarding if you go ahead.
We already have an accountant. Why would payroll and auto-enrolment move?
Usually because payroll is filed correctly and then goes quiet until the year end. If the cost of your people is not in your monthly figures, hiring and pricing decisions are being made on last year’s numbers. Some clients move payroll and bookkeeping only and keep their existing accountant for the statutory work.
What happens with our current accountant or payroll bureau?
We handle it. We write for professional clearance, obtain the payroll records, pension scheme details and employee data, and agree a transition date that avoids splitting a tax month awkwardly. The handover is managed by Ardein and there is no separate charge for it.
How long do we have to commit for?
The engagement is monthly and scoped to the work agreed at the start. There is no long tie-in. What we do ask is for the information to reach us on the dates we agree, because the reporting date depends on it. Capacity is capped at four new clients a month.
Can you do payroll and auto-enrolment only, without the bookkeeping?
It can be done, though it is rarely what an owner actually needs. Wages are the largest number in most service businesses, and the figure is only useful once it posts into the books and reaches the monthly reporting. We normally run payroll as part of the wider finance routine for that reason.
How do you charge for payroll and auto-enrolment?
It sits inside a monthly fee scoped to the work, agreed after we have seen the records and understood how the business runs. Scope reflects transaction volume, payroll size and how much reporting you want. The handover from an existing accountant or bookkeeper is not charged for separately.
Three ways to take the next step
Start the review
You get the top five priorities and an indicative monthly structure, and we tell you plainly if Ardein is not the right fit.
Find out what you’d know 02 · A question firstGot one question about your payroll?
Call or email Gavin directly and get an answer rather than a brochure.
Ask Gavin a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guide walks through the first ninety days, so you can see what changes and when before you commit to anything.
Read the guides →