Payroll processing support: where the line sits between us and you

In an outsourced payroll processing arrangement, the delivery partner prepares the run and you approve it. In the illustrative workflow below, the partner processes starters, leavers, changes and hours in your payroll software, produces payslips and the statutory submission figures, reconciles the run, and hands you a draft with a variance note two working days before the pay date. You check it, approve it, submit it under your own credentials and release the payment. Agree that handover buffer and the employee-contact route in the written scope. Here is where each line sits and why.

Why payroll needs a clearer line than bookkeeping

Errors in either bookkeeping or payroll can matter. Payroll errors can directly affect employees, payments and statutory submissions, so checks and an escalation route should be agreed before each run. Payroll obligations attach to the employer or its registered agent: RTI in the UK, STP in Australia, FS5 in Malta and TDS on salaries in India. The written scope should identify who reviews, submits and pays.

What the partner does

• Collects changes from your change log or a shared inbox in your name: starters with their forms, leavers with their dates, salary changes, hours, overtime, bonuses, absences, statutory leave, deductions and attachments.
• Processes the run in your payroll software (BrightPay, Xero Payroll, KeyPay, MYOB, Shireburn Indigo, GreytHR or whatever you use) under a named login.
• Checks it against the previous period: every employee whose net pay moved by more than a set percentage is listed with the reason, every new starter and leaver is confirmed, and statutory calculations are reviewed.
• Prepares the outputs: payslips, the payment file for your bank, the statutory submission figures, the pension or superannuation contribution file, and the journal.
• Hands over a draft with a variance note and a decision list: the timesheet that did not add up, the leaver whose holiday balance needs confirming, the starter without a tax code or TFN.
• Reconciles after payment: the payroll control account, the liabilities, and the payment file against the bank.
• Prepares year-end: P60s, P11D and P11D(b) workings, STP finalisation, FS3 and FS7, and Indian salary TDS certificate workings, for your review.

What you do

• Own the change log. Changes come from you or from the client through a channel you control. The partner does not take instructions from employees.
• Decide the decision list. Every item the partner could not resolve without a judgement comes to you. You decide; the partner applies the decision.
• Approve the run. Nothing is final until you say so.
• Submit and pay. RTI, STP, FS5 and TDS submissions go under your credentials or your client's. Payments are released from your bank or your client's. The partner never holds funds and never submits in its own name.
• Talk to the employees. Payslips are released by you. Queries from employees come to you. If an employee needs a letter, you sign it.

What nobody on the partner's side does

Advise on employment matters. Decide whether a payment is taxable. Decide what an employee should be paid, whether a contractor is an employee, whether a benefit is reportable, or how a settlement should be treated. Those are questions for you, for the client, or for the client's adviser. The partner applies the rules and the decisions it is given, checks the arithmetic, and flags anything that looks wrong. Flagging is not advising: "this looks like it should be reviewed" is a preparer's job; "here is what you should do" is not.

The calendar

This is a planning example. Actual cut-offs, review steps and handover times need to be agreed for each engagement.

In this example, the two-day buffer between handover and pay date gives the reviewer time to resolve open points. Agree a realistic buffer for the payroll cycle before work begins.

Market-specific lines

United Kingdom

The partner prepares the FPS and EPS figures in your software; you submit as employer or agent. Auto-enrolment assessment and pension contribution files are prepared; you upload to the provider. Year-end: P60s prepared for release, P11D and Class 1A workings for your review by 6 July.

Australia

STP Phase 2 pay events are prepared in your software; you or your registered agent lodges. Superannuation guarantee schedules can be prepared per pay run; under payday super, contributions generally must reach the fund within seven business days of payday from 1 July 2026, with extended timeframes in some cases. Payment is yours. STP finalisation is normally due 14 July for arm's-length employees; closely held payees have different dates.

Malta

FS5 monthly workings in Shireburn Indigo or your system, with tax and social security figures; you remit. FS3 and FS7 by 15 February, prepared for your review.

India

Monthly pay runs with salary TDS and applicable EPF or ESI schedules; you deposit and file. For tax year 2026-27, salary TDS statements use Form 138 instead of the old Form 24Q. The salary TDS certificate for tax year 2026-27 is Form 130 instead of Form 16, generally issued by 15 June after the tax year. Form 16 still applies to FY 2025-26.

How mistakes are handled

Agree who checks the run, who reconciles it after payment and how corrections are handled. If an error reaches a payslip, the scope should say whether it needs a supplementary run, who pays for the correction and how the checklist is updated. Track corrections per hundred payslips to see whether the process is improving.

Why the line protects everyone

The employer keeps the obligation, credentials and payment approval. A firm running a payroll bureau keeps its client relationship and agent status while using a delivery partner for preparation. Agree who checks each run, when the draft is handed over and who releases the payslip. Those steps make the review line visible before the first pay date.