If your creator company pays you or anyone else a salary, it must run PAYE payroll: report every payment to HMRC through Real Time Information on or before payday, pay the PAYE and National Insurance over and issue payslips and year-end forms. For 2026/27, employer National Insurance is 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year. A company with a sole director and no other staff has no auto-enrolment duties.
Reviewed by Yasser Mahmood, ACCA and Zakir Gire, FCCA, ACCA-registered accountants at Viewcount Accounting. Last reviewed: . About us
When do creators need payroll?
You need payroll as soon as your creator company pays anyone a salary, including you as a director. You also need it when you take on employees such as editors, managers or assistants.
Many creators start with freelancers instead. Whether someone is genuinely self-employed or should be on payroll depends on how they work for you, not just what the contract says. We help you get that right before HMRC asks.
What's included
Weekly or monthly payroll run and payslips issued
Full Payment Submissions to HMRC on or before each payday
P60s for employees and P11Ds for benefits
Workplace pension duties assessed and managed
A director salary set in line with your dividend plan
Guidance on employment status for editors and assistants
2026/27 figures to know
- Employer National Insurance: 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year.
- Employee National Insurance: 8% main rate, 2% above the upper limit.
- Employment Allowance: up to £10,500 off your employer National Insurance bill. It is not available if the only employee paid above the threshold is a director.
How it works
- Set-up. We register you as an employer with HMRC and set up your payroll and pension scheme.
- Each pay run. You tell us about new starters, leavers or changes. We run payroll, send payslips and file with HMRC.
- Payments. We tell you how much PAYE and National Insurance to pay HMRC and when.
- Year end. We produce P60s and any P11Ds and make sure everything matches.
Payroll for a one-director creator company
Even if you are the only person paid, your company must report your salary through payroll. Most creator directors pay a modest salary and take the rest as dividends, and we set the salary alongside your dividend plan so the tax and National Insurance work together.
The Employment Allowance is not available where the only employee paid above the threshold is a director, so a one-person company usually pays employer National Insurance on any salary above £5,000 a year. See how this fits with your limited company accounts.
Employee or freelancer? Getting editors and assistants right
HMRC looks at how the working relationship operates in practice, not the label in the contract. The points that matter include:
- Control: do you decide when, where and how the work is done?
- Substitution: can they send someone else in their place?
- Obligation: are you obliged to offer work and are they obliged to accept it?
- Equipment and risk: do they supply their own tools and carry financial risk?
- Other clients: do they work for other people, or only you?
HMRC offers the Check Employment Status for Tax tool, and we review any arrangement with you before you commit. Getting it wrong can mean backdated tax and National Insurance.
Payroll calendar
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Every payday | A Full Payment Submission (FPS) goes to HMRC on or before payday. |
| Each tax month | PAYE and National Insurance are paid to HMRC by the 22nd if paying electronically (the 19th by post). Tax months run from the 6th to the 5th. |
| By the 19th | An Employer Payment Summary (EPS) is sent if you need to claim reductions. |
| Small employers | If you expect to pay HMRC less than £1,500 a month, you can arrange to pay quarterly. |
| After the tax year ends | P60s are issued to employees and, where you provide benefits, P11Ds and Class 1A National Insurance are dealt with. |
Pension auto-enrolment explained
Employers must enrol eligible staff into a workplace pension and pay an employer contribution. Eligible means aged between 22 and State Pension age, earning at least £10,000 a year and normally working in the UK.
A one-person company with a single director is never treated as an employer for auto-enrolment, so there are no duties until you employ someone else, although you should tell The Pensions Regulator that you are not an employer. Once you take on an editor or assistant who qualifies, we assess them, enrol them and keep the records.
Payroll FAQs
Official sources
- GOV.UK: Introduction to PAYE
- GOV.UK: Pay employers' PAYE
- GOV.UK: Set up and manage a workplace pension scheme
- GOV.UK: Employment status
- The Pensions Regulator: Director exemptions from automatic enrolment
Last reviewed October 2026. Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year unless stated. Tax rules change, so check GOV.UK or speak to us before you act.
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