Your salary is a tax decision before it is a payroll setting. Most directors have never had it checked.
Nasir Rasheed, Director
Payroll and auto enrolment run on schedule, with your director salary set for the year
Payroll and auto enrolment for established limited companies in Milton Keynes and across the UK: RTI submissions, payslips, pension assessment and the declaration of compliance, filed on the dates they are due.
Most directors are paid a salary nobody has revisited since the company was formed. It sits inside payroll, so it looks like an admin setting, and the dividend plan gets built around it afterwards. I work in the other order.
Nexus Tax and Accounting Solutions is a Milton Keynes accountancy practice run by Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB. It runs payroll and auto enrolment for established limited companies locally and UK-wide, inside one monthly fee that also covers accounts, corporation tax, VAT and the director’s self assessment, with salary and dividend planning included.
Accredited and certified
- Nasir Rasheed MAAT AATQB
- Established 2024
- Three new clients a month
- Milton Keynes · UK-wide remote
What payroll looks like once Nexus runs it
Payroll filed on the date it is due
Submissions, payslips and pension contributions go out on schedule every month without you chasing anyone.
A director salary that fits the dividend plan
Your salary is set alongside your corporation tax and dividend position, then reviewed before the year end.
Pension duties dealt with before a letter arrives
Assessment, enrolment, contributions and the declaration of compliance are part of the monthly routine.
Where payroll quietly costs a director money
Three things I see on almost every payroll I take over.
- Salary
“We set my salary when we incorporated and nobody has looked at it since. I assumed it was still the right one.”
Salary interacts with corporation tax, National Insurance and the dividends you can take. Left alone for years, it drifts out of date.
- Hire
“We took two people on in March and only heard about the pension duties when a letter turned up months later.”
Backdated contributions and a late declaration are avoidable. Assessment should start the week someone joins the payroll.
- Dividends
“I take dividends when the bank balance looks healthy. Nobody has ever told me what is actually available.”
Dividends drawn beyond distributable profit become a loan from the company, with a tax charge attached.
- Day 90
What changes once the advice is in the room
Payroll stops being a monthly task and becomes part of how you are paid. The salary is set against the corporation tax forecast, so the dividend decision has a number behind it. You find out what you can take out before you take it.
Quick check · no email
If your accountant can’t tell you why your director salary is set where it is, whether your pension duties are up to date, and get back to you this week, you have the wrong accountant
Three questions about the firm running your payroll now.
Question 1 of 3
Could they tell you this week why your director salary is set at its current level?
Could they confirm your auto enrolment assessment, contributions and declaration are all up to date?
Could they tell you how much you can take as dividends before the year end?
That is a real gap, and it usually shows up as a salary nobody has revisited or a pension duty found late. The set-up review puts both on paper in an hour.
That is a reasonable position with one area still open. Ask who actually looks at your payroll each month; Nexus takes three new clients a month so that person stays Nasir.
You are well served and there is no reason to move. The guides are there if you want to check the salary and dividend side yourself.
A payroll bureau and an accountant who plans your pay
Both file. Only one of them looks at what the salary is doing to your tax.
A payroll bureau or filing-only firm
Runs the salary you gave them, at the level you gave it.
Enrols staff when told, rather than assessing every pay period.
Has no view of your corporation tax or dividend position.
Speaks to you when something has gone wrong.
Payroll and auto enrolment at Nexus
Salary set against the corporation tax and dividend plan, then reviewed.
Every employee assessed each pay period as part of the run.
Payroll sits with the accounts, VAT and your self assessment.
You get a reply from Nasir, usually the same week.
Eight things worth checking on your own payroll
Answer these about the way your company pays its people now.
- 01
Has your director salary been reviewed since incorporation?
If not, it is almost certainly set at an old level.
- 02
Is every employee assessed for auto enrolment each pay period?
Assessment is a monthly duty, not a one-off at joining.
- 03
Has your declaration of compliance been filed?
It is due after your duties start, and re-declaration follows re-enrolment.
- 04
Do pension contributions leave on time every month?
Late payments are the most common thing I find on a handover.
- 05
Do you know your dividend headroom before you draw?
Drawing beyond profit creates a loan account and a tax charge.
- 06
Does your payroll software talk to your bookkeeping?
If it does not, the wage journal is being rekeyed every month.
- 07
Are new starters and leavers processed the same week?
Late starters cause backdated pension contributions and corrections.
- 08
Does one named person handle your payroll all year?
If the name keeps changing, so does the knowledge of your set-up.
What sits alongside payroll in the monthly fee
Payroll is not sold on its own here; it runs with the rest of the compliance.
Accounts, corporation tax and VAT
Year-end accounts, the CT600 and VAT returns prepared from books that reconcile.
Salary and dividend planning
How you take money out, set against the corporation tax forecast rather than habit.
Your self assessment
Handled as part of the company routine, using the salary and dividend figures already on file.
Entry 01
Why the same person runs your payroll every month
Payroll deadlines repeat. The person who knows your set-up should not keep changing.
Clients described by type. Names withheld.
What clients say
What happens in your first ninety days
Payroll moves across without a missed filing, and the salary question gets answered.
Your current payroll and pension position is on paper
I check the pay run, the PAYE scheme, the pension scheme and where the auto enrolment duties stand.
The first run goes out under Nexus, filed on time
Payslips, submissions and pension contributions run to your pay date, with employee records assessed each period.
Your salary and dividend split is set for the year
The set-up review looks at structure, VAT scheme, software and how you are paid, and tells you what to change.
You know your tax position before the year end
Corporation tax and dividend headroom are forecast ahead of the bill, so the drawing decision is yours to make.
When Nexus is not the right fit for your payroll
Companies in their first year or two are usually better served elsewhere; Nexus works with established limited companies.
I do not take payroll on its own; it sits inside the monthly package with the accounts and tax.
Cash businesses and property-only landlords are not a fit for the way this practice works.
If the decision is about price rather than advice you can act on, another firm will suit you better.
If you are unsure which side of that you sit on, the set-up review will tell you in an hour.
Questions directors ask about payroll and auto enrolment
What does the monthly fee include for payroll and auto enrolment?
One monthly fee covers the payroll runs, payslips, RTI submissions, pension assessment, contributions and the declaration of compliance, along with year-end accounts, corporation tax, VAT, bookkeeping, the confirmation statement and your self assessment. Salary and dividend planning and a corporation tax forecast are included on a fair-use basis. The fee is scoped after the set-up review.
We already have an accountant running our payroll. Is it worth moving?
Only if something is missing. Ask whether they can tell you why your salary is set where it is, whether your pension duties are current, and what dividends you can take before the year end. If those answers do not come back quickly, the set-up review will show you what is being left alone.
Do we have to change payroll or accounting software?
Usually not. I look at what you already run during the set-up review and tell you whether it works for the size of your payroll and how it feeds the bookkeeping. If a change is worth making, I explain why and handle the move. If it works, it stays.
What happens with our current accountant if we switch?
I handle it. Professional clearance goes out, records and payroll data are collected, and the pay dates are mapped so nothing is missed in the changeover. You do not chase your old firm yourself. There is no separate charge for the handover, and a first-year timetable follows the set-up review.
How do you decide what salary a director should take?
The salary is set against your profit, your corporation tax position and the dividends you plan to draw, then reviewed before each year end. It is a tax decision that happens to be processed through payroll. Most directors I take on have a figure that was set at incorporation and never looked at again.
What are our auto enrolment duties once we hire staff?
Every employee has to be assessed in each pay period, eligible staff enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme, contributions paid on time, and a declaration of compliance filed with The Pensions Regulator. Re-enrolment comes round again every three years. All of that runs as part of the monthly payroll here.
Three ways to take the next step
Take the two-minute quiz
It tells you whether Nexus is the right fit, and if it is, the set-up review follows and your payroll and salary are looked at in full.
See if Nexus fits your company 02 · A question firstGot a question about your pension duties?
Call or email and Nasir answers it himself, usually the same week.
Ask Nasir a question 03 · Still decidingStill deciding
The guides cover how salary, dividends and corporation tax fit together before you change anything.
Read the guides →