BT aims to ease payroll burden of SMEs

BT is rolling out an online payroll service for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on its small business portal, called btclick for business, which it claims is the largest such website in the UK.

The telco says the service will alleviate a growing legislative burden on small companies, which must grapple with new legislation such as the Minimum Wage and the Working Time Directive, as well as changes to basic areas such as PAYE and National Insurance.

The website is integrating the staffpay.net system developed by Surrey-based payroll specialist Rutherford Webb.

"We recognise that payroll is a complicated area for small businesses," said Grant Broster, head of BT's Internet for Businesses operation. "The availability of this service on the BT portal will free small businesses from the burden of legislation - they will no longer need to know the 'ins and outs' of employment law. It is also more cost effective than bureau-based services."

To use staffpay.net you sign up online and get sent a CD with all the security controls for access to your payroll accounts, held on a secure server at staffpay.net. You don't need to worry about data back-up and the security of your data (it's less secure held on a PC in your home), as that's all part of the service.

You enter details of people to be paid through the website, and tell the system when you want to have a payrun. After the calculations are done, you get a print file to download and check. Once correct, you authorise payment through BACS, the UK's largest clearing house, and payslips are sent directly to people on the payroll. Help features are built into the system, and staffpay.net also offers email and phone support.

The system keeps up to date with changes in legislation as they happen. For example, the Working Families Tax Credits and Disability Tax Credits legislation that came into operation in the current tax year are in the system and operative for all payments made in 2000/2001.

The service has an initial registration fee to cover the cost of account set-up, but ongoing fees are estimated to be as little as £1 per payslip. Staffpay.net is currently offering a 60-day free trial.

See also:

Top portals for SMEs

End of Year Roundup: The web is awash with websites offering smaller companies advice on how to run their businesses and services for them to use. These are the ones that impressed us most in 2000.  20 Dec 2000

Insurance giant puts Color into SME service

Royal and Sun Alliance, the UK insurance giant acquired by Swiss Re last year, has launched an online service aimed at small businesses with up to 25 staff.  25 Jul 2000

Click for business.

British Telecom has a new scheme which promises to make staking your claim to a piece of online real estate easier and cheaper than ever before. BTClick for business is the unlikely name of a portfolio of web services, many of which are being offered completely free by the telecoms giant in an attempt to seduce more small business users online.  24 Jan 2000

Free BT service aims to click with small businesses

BTClick aimed at firms not on the Internet  03 Oct 1999

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