White label payroll for accountants

Payroll is the service clients notice fastest when it goes wrong and value least when it goes right. It is low fee, high risk and tied to a date that does not move, which is why so many practices either run it at a loss or turn it away. Our own delivery business, Buzz, runs payroll for other accountancy practices on a white label basis. Your client deals with your firm, payslips carry your firm’s name, and we do the work behind it.

What we take on

• Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly payroll runs
• Real time information: the full payment submission on or before payday and the employer payment summary when one is needed
• Starters and leavers, P45s, tax code notices and student loan changes
• Statutory sick, maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Workplace pensions: assessing staff, contribution files uploaded to the pension provider, re-enrolment and the declaration of compliance
• Year end: final submissions, P60s and P11D benefit returns
• Construction Industry Scheme monthly returns and subcontractor verification, where the client needs them

We work in the payroll software you already use, including BrightPay, Moneysoft, Sage, Xero Payroll and Staffology.

How a pay run works

Each client has a timetable agreed with you: the day their hours and changes are due, the day drafts go for approval, and payday. Before the cut-off we chase any client who has not sent their changes, in your name and from your systems if you want us to.

The run is prepared and then checked against the previous period. Changes from the last run are listed with the reason, so whoever approves it can look at the exceptions instead of every payslip. Once approved, payslips go out, the submission is made to HMRC and the pension file is uploaded to the provider on the same day.

Who carries the responsibility

The client is yours and so is the engagement. We prepare and submit on your instruction, using your agent credentials or the access you give us. Approval of each run stays with your firm or with the client, whichever your engagement letter says. Payments to staff are made by the client or by your firm, as they are today.

Changes coming that make payroll harder to do casually

Payroll is getting more involved. Reporting benefits through the payroll is due to become mandatory from April 2027, which moves work that used to sit in one P11D exercise into every pay run. The Employment Rights Act changes how statutory sick pay and other day-one rights work, and we have set out the dates in the Employment Rights Act countdown. HMRC is also changing how PAYE is collected, covered in mandatory direct debit for VAT and PAYE. A practice running forty payrolls on the side of someone’s desk will feel each of these.

How you buy it, and what it costs

This work is sold through Muckin, the business we own for exactly this. It is staffed by the same Buzz team described on this page. You take a seat, which is a fixed share of a named person's month, and fill it with whatever work you need. The price is the same whether a job runs long or short, so there is no hourly bill to check. Muckin publishes its seat prices, and its capacity calculator turns your workload into the number of seats it would take.

Frequently asked questions

Do payslips and emails show your name or mine?

Yours. Payslips, reports and client emails carry your firm’s name only. If we chase clients for their hours, we do it in your name and from your systems.

Which payroll software do you use?

The software you already run, including BrightPay, Moneysoft, Sage, Xero Payroll and Staffology. We work inside your licence, so your payroll data stays where it is.

Do you deal with workplace pensions as well?

Yes. We assess staff each pay period, upload contribution files to the pension provider, handle opt-ins and opt-outs, and deal with re-enrolment and the declaration of compliance when they fall due.

Can you take on a payroll bureau I have bought or inherited?

Yes. A block of payrolls from a retiring practitioner or an acquired firm is a common starting point. We move them across in stages, between pay runs.

Where is the work done?

By Buzz’s own employed team, across our UK offices and our office in Pretoria, South Africa, working to one standard with review in the UK.

The rest of the back office

• White label bookkeeping
• White label accounts and tax
• White label company secretarial
• White label tax for solicitors