If you’ve just set up a limited company and plan to pay yourself or any employees a salary, you’ll need to register your company for payroll and register for PAYE as employee with HMRC. This is a mandatory step to ensure you’re compliant and appropriately handling tax and National Insurance.
Here’s a quick guide to doing so.
Step 1: Register Your Company
Before you even consider payroll, register your company with Companies House. You’ll need your company number and details like your registered office address. Once you’ve accomplished that, you can move on to PAYE.
Step 2: Register as an Employer with HMRC
Although you may be the company’s only employee, you will need to register as an employer if you are to receive a salary. Complete the “Register for PAYE as an employee” form online on the HMRC website. Your PAYE reference numbers will usually be sent within 5 to 10 working days.
You will get:
· An Employer PAYE Reference
· An Accounts Office Reference
These are required to pay payroll and report tax information to HMRC.
Step 3: Choose Your Payroll Software
Now that you’re registered, you’ll require HMRC-compliant payroll software. It works out the maths of salary, tax, and National Insurance, and enables you to send reports through Real Time Information (RTI). Some good options are:
· FreeAgent (perfect for small business owners)
· QuickBooks or Xero
· HMRC Basic PAYE Tools (free, but very basic)
Choose the one that fits your setup and budget.
Step 4: Install and Run Payroll
Since you purchased your software, you can now install staff (and yourself if you’re a director), add salary details, and run payroll. When you pay yourself or staff, you must make a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC via RTI.
Step 5: Keep Payments on Track
After each payroll run, pay any tax and National Insurance owed to HMRC on the 22nd of the month (or 19th if paying by post).
Conclusion
Complete all this before your first payday to stay on the right side of HMRC. It might feel admin-heavy, but once set up, it’s routine.
Give Your Firm a Fresh Start This Autumn with Proposal Software
Autumn often brings a sense of renewal. The summer chaos fades, the year-end rush hasn’t quite begun, and for many bookkeeping firms, it’s the perfect time to step back and take stock. If your practice has been stuck juggling too many spreadsheets, manually chasing clients for signatures, or spending hours pulling together proposals, this could be the season to make a change.
One of the easiest wins? Upgrading the way you send proposals. Proposal software might not sound glamorous, but it’s quickly becoming a must-have for firms that want to look professional, respond faster, and reduce admin headaches.
Let’s take a closer look at how this simple change could breathe new life into your firm this autumn.
What Does Proposal Software Actually Do?
If you’re still putting together quotes in Word or chasing handwritten signatures, proposal software will feel like a breath of fresh air.
It lets you build branded, professional proposals quickly using pre-set templates. You can list your services, pricing, and terms in a way that looks clean and easy to follow. Even better, your clients can view, sign, and accept everything online—no printing, no posting, no chasing.
Some tools also include helpful extras like automatic reminders, service selection options (great for upselling), and integration with other software you already use.
Choosing the Right Software
There are plenty of platforms out there, but not all are made with bookkeepers in mind. Look for tools that let you:
· Customise proposals to match your branding
· Include flexible pricing options (like fixed fees or tiered packages)
· Use e-signatures
· Automate follow-up emails
· Connect with your other systems (like Xero or Karbon)
Above all, it should be easy to use. If it takes hours to learn or slows your team down, it’s probably not the right fit.
The Fresh Start
We all know how easy it is to keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. But as the leaves start falling and we edge toward the end of the year, it’s a good time to ask: Is this really the best way to work?
Bringing in proposal software for bookkeepers doesn’t mean changing everything overnight. It’s a small step that can create space—space to take on more clients, to spend less time on admin, or to finally get that Friday afternoon back.
If your firm’s been feeling a bit stuck, this might just be the spark you need to get things moving again.
Conclusion
The tools you choose today will shape how you work tomorrow. And while proposal software won’t fix everything, it can take a surprising amount of pressure off your plate. Cleaner processes, quicker responses, and happier clients—it’s hard to argue with that.
So as you sip your pumpkin latte or dust off your winter coat, consider giving your proposal process a quick audit. It might just be the most productive thing you do this autumn.
And if you’re curious about what’s out there, start by checking out platforms that offer proposal software for bookkeepers specifically—chances are, they’ll speak your language and slot into your firm nicely.
