RTI · March 2026 · FPS due on or before payday

Run payroll once, filed to HMRC before anyone's paid.

ac-co works out gross-to-net for every employee, gets the PAYE, National Insurance, workplace pension and student loan right, runs the auto-enrolment and minimum-wage checks — then files the FPS to HMRC on time, every pay period. You review once and approve.

See the pay run

No card · UK-only · HMRC-recognised

BUILT FORSmall companiesDirectorsHourly & salaried staffAuto-enrolmentStatutory pay

Live · click to watch

Wired into

HMRC · RTI · FPS & EPSNEST · auto-enrolmentSmart Pension · auto-enrolmentOpen Banking · pay employeesXero · journalsModulr · BACS paymentsRotas / time · timesheets

employees paid in this run

2 directors + 4 staff · gross-to-net

of pay periods filed on time

FPS on or before payday, automatically

£0k

due to HMRC this month

PAYE + employee & employer NIC

RTI submissions a year, handled

monthly FPS + year-end EPS

HOW IT WORKS

From connected to filed, in four moves.

Connect

Link HMRC, your pension provider and your bank. ac-co reads employee records, tax codes and the period's hours, read-only.

Calculate

Gross-to-net for everyone: PAYE, NIC by category, pension, student loan and any statutory pay — all to the penny.

Check

Minimum-wage, auto-enrolment and NIC-category checks run before you approve; anomalies are flagged.

File & pay

FPS filed to HMRC on or before payday, payslips issued, pension and net pay scheduled. EPS at year-end.

THE PAY RUN

Gross to net, right for everyone , every period.

Salaried, hourly, directors on the cumulative method — ac-co calculates PAYE, National Insurance, pension and student loan for each employee, produces the payslips, and totals what's due to HMRC.

PAYE & tax codesRight code applied — including emergency, K-codes and HMRC code changes pulled in automatically.
National InsuranceCorrect category letter per employee; directors on the annual cumulative method.
Student & PG loansPlan 1, 2, 4 and postgraduate loans deducted at the right thresholds.
Statutory paySSP, SMP, SPP and SAP calculated, with the recoverable amount claimed on the EPS.

RTI · March 2026 · Month 12

Drafting from live data

HMRC connected

GROSSTotal gross pay — 6 employees£28,400

PAYEPAYE income tax−£4,920

NIC.eeEmployee National Insurance−£1,860

SLStudent loan (Plan 2)−£180

PEN.eeEmployee pension (auto-enrolment)−£710

+ 4 more boxes · 4 pages

reconciling…

PENSIONS · AUTO-ENROLMENT

Auto-enrolment, assessed and filed — without the admin.

Every pay period ac-co assesses each worker for auto-enrolment, applies the right contributions, and sends the data to your pension provider — with re-enrolment and the declaration of compliance tracked for you.

Worker assessmentEligible, non-eligible and entitled workers classified each period against the thresholds.
ContributionsEmployee and employer contributions on qualifying earnings, posted to NEST or Smart Pension.
Opt-ins & opt-outsHandled and recorded, with refunds processed inside the opt-out window.
Re-enrolmentThe three-year re-enrolment date is tracked and the declaration of compliance prepared.

RTI computation

PAYE income tax£4,920

add Employee NIC£1,860

add Employer NIC£2,540

add Student loan deduction£180

Liability before allowances£9,500

less Employment Allowance−£180

PAYE & NIC due to HMRC£9,320

RTI FILING

FPS and EPS, on time , to the second.

Real Time Information means HMRC expects a Full Payment Submission on or before every payday. ac-co files the FPS automatically, sends the EPS when you're reclaiming or reporting nil, and produces P60s and P45s when they're due.

FPS on or before paydayFiled automatically every period — no missed deadlines, no late-filing penalties.
EPS when neededStatutory-pay recovery, Employment Allowance and nil-payment months reported correctly.
Starters & leaversNew-starter checklist and P45s handled; the right starter declaration applied.
P60s & year-endYear-end EPS and every employee's P60 produced and distributed automatically.

Pre-submission checks

✓All 6 employees at or above National Minimum/Living Wage

✓NIC category letters correct for each employee

✓Directors on the annual cumulative NIC method

✓Auto-enrolment assessed — no new eligible workers

✓Student-loan plan matches HMRC notice

!New starter on an emergency tax code

SEE IT END TO END

Watch a whole RTI file itself — connect, draft, compute, check, submit.

A real return, start to finish, in about ninety seconds. Six steps, every figure traced to its source, ending in an HMRC acceptance receipt.

01Connect02Draft03Documents04Compute05Check06Submit

PRICING

One price a month — every payslip filed.

Simple monthly pricing — no per-payslip fees and no setup cost. Cancel anytime.

Micro

1–3 employees

£15/ month

For a director or a tiny team. Full RTI payroll, payslips and pensions, filed every month.

Start payroll

✓Up to 3 employees
✓FPS filed every period
✓PAYE, NIC & student loans
✓Auto-enrolment pensions
✓Payslips + P60s

Team

4–25 employees

Most picked

£4/ employee / month

For a growing team. Hourly and salaried, statutory pay, EPS and full year-end — handled.

Start payroll

✓Everything in Micro, plus:
✓Hourly + timesheet pay
✓Statutory pay (SSP/SMP/SPP)
✓EPS + Employment Allowance
✓Starters, leavers & P45s
✓NMW + auto-enrolment checks

Bureau

Accountants & agencies

Custom

For practices running payroll for many clients — multi-employer console and white-label.

Talk to us

✓Multi-employer console
✓Bulk pay-run approval
✓Client payslip portals
✓Agent services + BACS
✓API + journal export

TRUST

We file in your name, so we hold ourselves to the highest bar.

ac-co is HMRC-recognised software submitting through the official API. Connections to your bank and books are read-only. Every figure traces to a source, and every receipt is stored for six years.

Security paper →How we use your data →

HMRC

recognised

UK GDPR

data resident in London

Open Banking

read-only

Read-only

default access

Human-in-loop

you tap to file

OAuth 2.1

scoped tokens

FAQ

Questions people actually ask.

Real Time Information is HMRC's requirement to report payroll every time you pay someone — through a Full Payment Submission (FPS) sent on or before payday. ac-co files the FPS automatically each period and the EPS when you're reclaiming statutory pay or reporting a nil payment.

Yes. Every period we assess each worker against the thresholds, apply employee and employer contributions on qualifying earnings, and send the data to NEST or Smart Pension. Opt-ins, opt-outs, re-enrolment and the declaration of compliance are all tracked.

Yes — connect your rota or time system and we'll pay hourly staff from their actual hours, including overtime and holiday pay, and run the minimum-wage check on every employee before you approve.

Directors are put on the annual (cumulative) NIC method by default, so their National Insurance is calculated correctly across the year rather than month by month. You can switch to the alternative method if you prefer.

Yes. P45s are generated for leavers, the new-starter checklist is handled for joiners, and at year-end we file the final submission and produce every employee's P60 automatically.

A small monthly fee, or per-employee for larger teams — billed monthly, no setup fee. See pricing above.

RUN THIS MONTH'S PAYROLL

Payday's coming. Let it run itself.

UK payroll · RTI-recognised · FPS on or before payday · auto-enrolment included.

Most beta pay runs reviewed and filed in under 5 minutes