- You must register as an employer before your first payday, and never more than two months ahead.
- Even a sole director paying themselves a salary of £96 or more a week needs to register for PAYE.
- HMRC posts your employer PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference after you register, usually within a couple of weeks.
To register as an employer, you sign up with HMRC through the online Register as an employer service, complete the form before your first payday, and wait for your reference numbers to arrive by post.
You’ll need to do this the moment you start paying anyone a salary of £96 or more a week, and that includes paying yourself as a director. The whole thing runs online and takes about 10 to 15 minutes to submit. HMRC then posts your references, usually within a couple of weeks.
Get the timing right and payroll runs smoothly from day one. Get it wrong and you’re chasing references while payday looms. If you’d rather not deal with any of it, the PAYE registration service handles the setup for you.
When do I need to register as an employer for PAYE?
You need to register for PAYE before your first payday if you pay anyone, including yourself as a director, £96 or more a week during the 2026/27 tax year.
That £96 figure is the secondary threshold, which is £417 a month or £5,000 a year. It replaced the old Lower Earnings Limit as the registration trigger back in April 2025, so if you’ve seen the £123 figure quoted elsewhere, it’s out of date.
You also need to register if any of these apply, even where wages sit below £96 a week:
- You provide expenses or benefits in kind, such as a company car or private medical cover
- An employee already has another job or receives a pension
- You pay statutory sick, maternity or paternity pay
Do I need to register if I’m the only director?
Yes, if you take a salary. The company is a separate legal entity that employs you, so paying yourself a wage of £96 or more a week means you operate PAYE like any other employer.
The one exception is if you pay yourself entirely through dividends with no salary at all. In that case there’s no PAYE scheme to set up. Most directors still take a small salary to protect their National Insurance record, and there’s a fuller breakdown in our guide to paying yourself from a limited company.
When should I register as an employer, and what’s the timing rule?
You must register before your first payday, but you can’t register more than two months before you start paying people. That’s a tight window in both directions: not too early, and never late.
The catch is processing time. HMRC often posts your references within about five working days, but it can stretch to 15 working days, and longer at busy periods. So while you can’t register more than two months ahead, you should still leave yourself roughly four to six weeks before your first payment.
If you’ve just set up your company, it’s worth folding this into your wider launch admin. Our checklist on what to do after forming a company covers the tasks that need doing in your first few weeks.
Set your scheme up before you've finalised the exact salary. You can register now and adjust the salary level later, which means you're never blocked waiting on references while payday approaches.
How do I register as an employer step by step?
The process is entirely online through GOV.UK, and you complete it using a Government Gateway account. Here’s the order it runs in.
- Sign in to your business tax account, or create a Government Gateway account if you don’t have one yet. A personal Self Assessment account won’t work for this, so you need the business version.
- Go to the Register as an employer service on GOV.UK and start the application.
- Enter your business details: business type, trading name and address, and your contact details.
- Add your company registration number and Unique Taxpayer Reference. If you don’t know where to find yours, our guide to the UTR number explains it.
- Give your first intended pay date and the number of employees you expect to pay.
- Confirm whether you use subcontractors for construction work, then submit the form.
The form submits instantly, but nothing else happens on screen. Your references come later, by post.
What if I’ve already missed my first payday?
Run payroll anyway and store your full payment submission. Once your references arrive, send a late full payment submission to HMRC so your records line up. There aren’t specific late-registration penalties, but you do need those submissions in place to stay compliant.
What do I receive after registering as an employer?
HMRC sends you two reference numbers by post, and you need both to run payroll. They arrive in the same letter.
Reference | What it looks like | What it’s for |
Employer PAYE reference | 123/AB45678 | Identifies your PAYE scheme; used on all payroll submissions, P60s and P45s |
Accounts Office reference | 13 characters starting with a number | Used when you pay HMRC the tax and National Insurance you’ve collected |
Keep both somewhere safe, because you’ll use them constantly. Your employer PAYE reference is your day-to-day payroll identifier, while the Accounts Office reference is specifically for making payments to HMRC.
You’ll also get activation details to enrol for PAYE Online, where you can view your filings, payments and any notices from HMRC.
How do I run my first payroll after registering?
Once your references land, you set up HMRC-recognised payroll software and report each payment on or before payday using a Full Payment Submission, known as an FPS.
That FPS tells HMRC what you’ve paid and what you’ve deducted in income tax and National Insurance, every single pay run. It’s the backbone of Real Time Information reporting, so it isn’t optional.
A few things to line up alongside your first run:
- Payroll software: choose an HMRC-recognised package, since you can’t submit RTI returns without it
- Employer National Insurance: you pay secondary Class 1 NIC at 15% on earnings above the £96 a week secondary threshold
- Employment Allowance: eligible employers can knock up to £10,500 off their employer NIC bill, though sole directors who are their company’s only employee can’t claim it
- Workplace pension: if you take on staff, auto-enrolment duties apply and you’ll need a qualifying pension scheme
If payroll already feels like a lot on top of running the business, our accountant services can take the whole cycle off your plate.
How LTD Companies helps with registering as an employer
Registering for PAYE is straightforward on paper, but the timing rules, the threshold changes and the first FPS trip up plenty of first-time employers. One missed submission and the penalty notices start.
We set up your PAYE scheme, handle the HMRC registration, and run payroll so your references, deadlines and RTI returns are all taken care of. You focus on paying your team correctly and on time, and leave the compliance to us.
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FAQs on registering as an employer
Can I register as an employer by phone or post?
In most cases you must register online through GOV.UK. You can’t register by post at all. If you genuinely can’t use the online service, for example because of a disability, you can call HMRC’s Employer Helpline to register by phone. For everyone else, the online route is the only option and it’s the fastest way to get your scheme set up.
Is there a charge to register for PAYE?
No. HMRC doesn’t charge anything to register as an employer or to set up a PAYE scheme. The costs that come later are your payroll software, if it isn’t free, and the tax and National Insurance you collect and pay over. Registration itself is completely free, so cost is never a reason to delay setting up your scheme.
Are PAYE registration and Corporation Tax registration the same thing?
No, they’re separate. Registering your company with HMRC for Corporation Tax doesn’t set up a PAYE scheme, and registering for PAYE doesn’t cover Corporation Tax. A new limited company usually needs both, but you complete each one individually. Treat them as two distinct tasks so neither gets forgotten in your early setup admin.
What happens if I stop paying salaries later on?
Tell HMRC to close your PAYE scheme if you permanently stop paying anyone. Leaving a dormant scheme open is a common mistake, because HMRC keeps expecting submissions and generates penalty notices when none arrive. Closing the scheme properly stops the clock. If you start paying salaries again in future, you simply register once more before that payday.
How long does PAYE registration take to process?
Yes. A dormant company still needs a SIC code, usually 99999, and must still file a confirmation statement every 12 months even though it isn’t trading. Skipping that filing can lead to Companies House striking the company off. When you start trading, update the code on your next confirmation statement so your record reflects real activity.
Do I need a separate Government Gateway account to register?
Yes, you need a business tax account, not a personal one. A personal Government Gateway account set up for Self Assessment can’t register an employer. If you don’t already have a business account, you can create one during the registration process using your details. Getting this right first saves a frustrating restart partway through the form.
Can I register as an employer before I have a confirmed start date?
It’s best not to. HMRC advises against registering until you have a confirmed date for paying your first person, and you can’t register more than two months before that date anyway. Registering too early with no real payday leaves a scheme sitting open and expecting submissions. Wait until you know when the first payment lands, then register in good time.
