Payroll · Central London
Payroll services in City of London
Directors in City of London paying themselves a salary need payroll just as much as a business with a team, because the salary only counts for tax and National Insurance purposes if it is reported to HMRC through RTI. Our director-only service does exactly that for £25 a month, and scales to small teams across Central London at the same fixed, published rates.
from £25/mo · fixed, per month
Next deadlines
- PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
- Workplace pension contributions paid over to the scheme
- PAYE and National Insurance for last month paid to HMRC (electronic)
- Workplace pension contributions paid over to the scheme
Who this is for
Payroll for City of London
Employers in City of London with one to around ten people on the payroll: single-director companies paying a salary alongside dividends, trades with a few employees, cafes, salons and shops with hourly staff, professional practices, and anyone taking on their first employee who needs PAYE registration and auto-enrolment set up correctly from day one.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Payroll processed every pay period with electronic payslips to each employee
- Full Payment Submission to HMRC on or before every pay day, and the Employer Payment Summary when needed
- PAYE, National Insurance and student loan deductions calculated, with a monthly payment note for HMRC
- Workplace pension assessment, enrolment and contribution files each pay period
- Starters, leavers, P45s, statutory sick, maternity and paternity pay handled as they arise
- Year-end: P60s to employees, final submissions, and P11Ds where benefits are provided
How it works
Payroll from City of London, step by step
Tell us your situation
A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.
Fixed fee in writing
You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.
Send records, review the draft
Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.
We file, you get the receipts
Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.
Why IGI
The IGI way of working, in City of London
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. City of London clients know the fee for payroll before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in City of London get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to payroll.
We serve City of London remotely by design: records by WhatsApp or email, drafts back for approval, filing electronic. The saving on premises is passed to you in the fee for payroll.
A named person handles your payroll from City of London and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
Plain English, with the numbers. Every draft for City of London comes with a short explanation of what the figures mean and what, if anything, you should do about them.
You stay in control of payroll: drafts go to City of London clients first, with the figures explained, and nothing leaves us until you say so.
Local facts
About City of London
City of London is in Central London, in the EC2V postcode district, England. Income tax in England follows the UK rates: 20% basic to £50,270, 40% higher to £125,140 and 45% additional, with the personal allowance of £12,570 tapered away above £100,000. National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to property purchases.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Guildhall, City of London | 0.0 mi | N |
| Bassishaw | 0.1 mi | N |
| Cheap | 0.1 mi | W |
| Cheapside, City of London | 0.1 mi | S |
| Cordwainer | 0.2 mi | S |
| Bank, City of London | 0.2 mi | SE |
| Coleman Street | 0.2 mi | NE |
| Moorgate, City of London | 0.2 mi | NE |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Confirmation statements and identity verification
Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once a year, within fourteen days of its review date, with a £50 Companies House fee. Since November 2025 directors and people with significant control must also verify their identity with Companies House, and the confirmation statement is where existing officers confirm they have done so during the transition year.
CIS deductions
CIS turns construction subcontractors into advance taxpayers: a fifth of every labour payment goes to HMRC before they see it. Registering keeps the rate at 20% rather than 30%; gross payment status, for established businesses with a clean record, removes deductions altogether. The annual return is where the overpayment comes back, and filing it early brings the refund sooner.
Late filing penalties
Lateness is expensive in a way that compounds. For individuals, £100 immediately, then daily penalties, then percentage-based ones at six and twelve months, with interest running on unpaid tax throughout. For companies, Companies House penalties scale with delay and double on repeat, and HMRC adds its own for a late CT600. Filing on time is the cheapest tax planning there is.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
The biggest change to Self Assessment in a generation is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, now live for higher-earning sole traders and landlords and arriving for the rest in stages. Quarterly updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May, built from digital records. The practical consequence is that spreadsheet-and-shoebox bookkeeping is ending for anyone above the threshold.
The Self Assessment calendar
The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. Anyone new to Self Assessment must register by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which their untaxed income began. The online return and the balancing payment are due by 31 January, with a second payment on account on 31 July where they apply. Paper returns have an earlier deadline of 31 October and are rarely sensible.
Payments on account
A common surprise in Self Assessment is the January payment that is far larger than expected. That is the balancing payment for the year just ended plus the first payment on account for the year ahead, which HMRC sets at half of the bill just calculated. We put the figure in your hands months ahead and tell you how to adjust it legitimately when circumstances change.
Salary versus dividends
The salary-and-dividend split is the central planning decision for an owner-managed company. Salary costs employer National Insurance above £5,000 but is deductible; dividends are not deductible but attract lower personal rates and no National Insurance. The optimum changes each April with the thresholds and depends on the director's other income, so it should be set deliberately every year.
Questions
Payroll questions from City of London
Can you take over mid-year from another provider or software?
Yes. We need the year-to-date figures for each employee, the last submissions to HMRC and the pension scheme details. The transfer is included in the fee and the first pay run under us reconciles to the previous provider's figures so HMRC sees no gap.
I am taking on my first employee. What do I need?
A PAYE employer registration with HMRC (our £49 service, or £99 with the first payroll run set up), a workplace pension scheme, employer's liability insurance, a written statement of employment terms and right-to-work checks. We handle the first two and tell you plainly what to do about the rest.
How are starters and leavers handled?
For a starter we need the P45 or a starter checklist, bank details and contract terms; we set them up and report them to HMRC on the first pay run. For a leaver we process final pay, issue the P45 and report the leaving date. Both are included in the monthly fee.
What about sick pay, maternity and paternity pay?
Statutory Sick Pay, Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Pay are calculated and paid through the payroll when the qualifying conditions are met, and the recoverable portion of parental pay is reclaimed from HMRC through the Employer Payment Summary. All included.
What salary should a director take?
For 2026/27 many directors take a salary at or just above the National Insurance thresholds so that the year counts towards the State Pension while minimising deductions, and take further income as dividends. The right figure depends on the company's profit and your other income, and our tax planning review covers it in detail.
Do I have to offer a workplace pension?
Yes, if you employ anyone aged 22 to State Pension age earning over £10,000 a year. They must be enrolled automatically with minimum contributions of 8% of qualifying earnings, at least 3% from you. Director-only companies with no employment contract are usually exempt. The £99 setup package handles the scheme, the declaration of compliance and the letters.
Do you have an office in City of London?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve City of London and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for payroll is the same in City of London as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is payroll in City of London really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in City of London pays and what a client in any other part of England pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.
Let us take the deadlines off your plate in City of London
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.