Even in 2025, many UK companies are still running payroll the hard way.
If you work in finance or HR at an SME, this might feel painfully familiar. The spreadsheet. The emails. The third-party back-and-forth. The late nights chasing approvals. Let’s break down what a “standard” monthly payroll process still looks like — and why it’s overdue for change.
Step-by-Step: The Old-School Payroll Routine
1. Open the master spreadsheet (again)
Every month starts by duplicating or editing the same spreadsheet — tabs, filters, formulas, and the risk of human error.
2. Collect all the changes
You’re now gathering:
- New joiners and their right-to-work documentation
- Leavers and final payments
- Bonuses, commissions, sick leave, and maternity pay
- Deductions (e.g. student loans, salary sacrifice, childcare vouchers)
3. Confirm with other teams
You double-check everything with line managers, HR, finance, and ops to ensure nothing’s missing.
4. Send the data to your payroll provider
Once the spreadsheet is ready, it’s sent to your outsourced bureau or accountant to process.
5. Respond to follow-up queries
Expect questions like “Is this a one-off or recurring?” and “Has this leaver received holiday pay?” — and be ready to dig out answers.
6. Receive the gross-to-net report
You’re sent a first version of the payroll run — time to check everything looks correct.
7. Review against previous months
You cross-check figures, look for anomalies, and flag any unexpected differences.
8. Make adjustments
If needed, you update the figures and send back a revised version for reprocessing.
9. Wait for the final file
The updated file arrives — fingers crossed there are no final snags.
10. Get sign-off from a manager
You send the final payroll for approval, often via email or Slack, and wait for the green light.
11. Log in to the banking portal
You manually input each employee’s name, sort code, account number, and net pay line by line.
12. Submit the payments
You check the totals and hit submit — hoping no digits were mistyped.
13. Handle employee queries the next day
Your inbox fills with questions like:
- “Why is my pay different this month?”
- “Where’s my payslip?”
- “Can I get my P60?”
And the cycle begins again.
Why This Approach Is Risky
Running payroll this way leaves you vulnerable to:
- Payment errors
- Delayed approvals
- Missed compliance requirements
- Limited audit trails
- High dependence on individuals and manual workarounds
What Modern Teams Are Doing Instead
More finance and HR teams are switching to:
- Automated systems that integrate with HR platforms
- Approval workflows built into the payroll process
- Instant gross-to-net calculations as data is updated
- Direct payments from payroll systems to bank accounts
- Self-serve payslip and document access for employees
It’s faster, safer, and scales with your business.
Still stuck in spreadsheets?
It might be time to modernise your payroll for the way people work today.