Payroll & Pensions

Whether you’ve been paying your employees for years or have recently grown your company to a size where you can take on staff, outsourcing your payroll has numerous benefits.

Our Process

Collaborate

Automate

Optimise

How Gravitate Payroll works

At Gravitate, our mission across all services is to save you time, money, and reduce stress. We will deploy the latest technologies in the industry to automate and streamline your payroll and pensions, so you can spend your valuable time and energy on business strategy and growth.

Not everyone is passionate about payroll, but we are. And we will ensure you have a robust, efficient, and hi-tech payroll system in place, whatever your business size.

Our Payroll Process

We collect all your employees’ information up front.
We provide an online portal where you can make any changes mid-month, whether pay rises or new starters.
Once there are no further changes, we will send out concise payroll reports for you to review.
Once approved, we will send out the payslips on pay day.
We then complete the payroll journal in your accounts.
We even have a solution for making payments to avoid you having to process them yourselves manually.

If your company is new, no problem! We can walk you through all of this, including setting up your PAYE scheme to allow you to focus on your business.

Pensions Auto Enrolment

If you employ staff, you’re legally required to comply with auto-enrolment pension obligations.

This means enrolling eligible employees into a workplace pension scheme and making minimum contributions. The current minimum contributions are 3% from the employer and 5% from the employee.

At Gravitate, we help you choose the right pension provider for your business needs. While common options include Nest and Smart Pension, we use Penfold — a platform that offers excellent transparency for team members and aligns with our commitment to financial wellbeing.

Our team will manage pension payments and ensure you’re compliant with all statutory responsibilities.

For company directors with private pension schemes, we also offer advice on contribution limits and tax planning.

Key considerations for directors

Contribution Methods

Company Contributions: Treated as a tax-deductible business expense, reducing corporation tax and exempt from National Insurance.
Personal Contributions: Paid from post-tax salary with income tax relief of 20%–45%, depending on your tax bracket.
Dividend-Funded Contributions: Possible, but not tax-efficient, as they do not attract income tax relief.

Tax Benefits

Corporation Tax Relief: Company contributions reduce taxable profits.
Annual Allowance: £60,000 (2023/24 onwards) for combined personal and company contributions.
Carry-Forward Rule: Unused allowances from the previous three tax years can be utilised if eligible.

Key Limits

Earnings Cap: Personal contributions are limited to 100% of salaried earnings.
Tapered Annual Allowance: Reduces by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, down to a minimum of £10,000.
Lump Sum Allowances:

Tax-Free Cash: 25% of pension pot, up to £268,275.
Death Benefits: While the lifetime allowance was abolished in April 2024, the previous £1,073,100 cap may still apply under certain protections.

Pension Scheme Options

SIPPs (Self-Invested Personal Pensions): Offers full control over investments, including stocks and commercial property.
SSAS (Small Self-Administered Schemes): Allows family pooling and business property investments
Personal Pensions: Simpler option with a more limited investment range.

Strategic Considerations

Over-55 Access: Withdraw up to 25% tax-free while continuing contributions.
Profit Shelter: Significant company contributions can reduce corporation tax (19%–25%).
Auto-Enrolment Exemption: Company directors are not required to be enrolled in workplace pension schemes

Got a question? Get in touch with our team today

Client Testimonials

"I genuinely feel like the team is on our side, trying to save us money and help us make better decisions year on year. What we save far outweighs what we spend on the service, and it feels like a real investment."

Sarah Busceddu

Owner / Director

"It's been brilliant... [Gravitate] know what’s going on, so I don’t have to explain everything every time. We can just get straight to the point and make decisions quickly. That’s how I like to work."

Ash Young

Founder & Managing Director

"Gravitate understand precisely what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, the structure of the business, and the relationship with overseas entities, making it all flow under one roof. That level of trust gives me freedom to focus on the things I really like, product, marketing, and getting our brands out there, without being bogged down by accountancy!"

Sylwester Wacht

Managing Director

"Friendly, knowledgeable and professional, Gravitate speak in my language, as accounts are foreign to me. They're always there and if one person is out of the office, another picks up the query immediately. They allow me to focus on what I do best, work on and in the business!"

James Biggin

Managing Director

"If there’s ever an issue, I can call Mike or Charlotte, and it’s resolved quickly. That’s a big difference compared to the typical “just another client” experience. Mike really understands manufacturing, which is rare in accountancy. His background means the advice he gives is pragmatic and grounded in how businesses actually run."

Thomas Harrison

Managing Director

"Gravitate played a key role in strengthening our internal finance function and recruiting top-tier senior finance support. Their Outsourced Finance Director service provided us with the expertise we needed to scale from £15million to £45 million in revenue.

"The Gravitate team have been more than just advisers. They’ve been true partners in our growth journey."

Rob Carlin

Managing Director

"With Gravitate's expertise, we grew our turnover from £4m to £29m, secured £2m in funding to fuel our growth, and achieved a remarkable 10x EBITDA exit.

"Their strategic guidance and hands-on approach were instrumental in achieving these results. We cannot recommend their services highly enough."

Tom Beaufoy

CEO (former)

"I'm so pleased that Gravitate are my accountant, especially with two businesses (sole-trader and Ltd) I always have that peace of mind that my tax returns, VAT etc. are in check. They explain everything thoroughly, help me understand what I can/can't claim, tax etc. (as it really is a minefield to me), and look to help me grow. Can't thank the team enough!"