WageFlow by The Business Consortium Ltd

UK Payroll Readiness Checklist

18 practical prompts for onboarding a UK employee and reviewing their first payroll. Core starter information is separated from situational checks so every new starter does not become an unnecessary forensic exercise.

Employee
Start date
Payroll / company
Completed by / date
Scope: This is a practical payroll operations checklist, not legal, tax, pension or compliance advice. Use current GOV.UK, HMRC and The Pensions Regulator guidance where a statutory rule or unusual case needs confirmation.

Starter essentials — 8 checks

These are the core items that should normally be resolved for every starter.

  1. Legal name, date of birth, home address and basic employee details are complete and consistent with the information supplied.
  2. Employment start date, job title and contract or engagement details are confirmed.
  3. Pay basis, salary or hourly rate, pay frequency and normal working hours are recorded where relevant.
  4. P45 information or the correct starter declaration is available, and the resulting tax code/basis input is understood.
  5. National Insurance category is correct and the National Insurance number is recorded where available.
  6. Bank or other payment details are complete and have been handled through the employer's normal verification process.
  7. Pension/automatic-enrolment inputs needed for assessment are complete, including relevant age and earnings information.
  8. Payroll identifier and any other core payroll record needed to prevent duplicate or misallocated employment records are set correctly.

Situational checks — 5 checks

Only apply these where the employee's circumstances or the employer's setup make them relevant.

  1. Student Loan or Postgraduate Loan information has been captured where applicable.
  2. Director status and the correct NIC treatment have been identified where applicable.
  3. Apprenticeship status and apprenticeship start date have been recorded where they affect statutory treatment.
  4. Relevant statutory absence/pay information already known at commencement has been recorded where needed.
  5. Department, cost centre, location or other employer-specific coding has been added only where the employer actually uses it.

First payroll run — 5 checks

A focused sense-check before the starter's first payment is approved.

  1. The employee is included in the correct payroll and pay period from the correct commencement date.
  2. Basic pay, hours and any first-period allowances or adjustments agree to the supporting information supplied.
  3. PAYE, NIC, pension and any applicable loan or other deductions look reasonable for the known starter information.
  4. First payslip and net pay are reviewed for obvious anomalies before release.
  5. Required starter information is ready for the relevant FPS/RTI reporting record.