Payroll

Payroll is not an optional extra in CUNNTAS.

It is an integral part of the financial records of an Organisation and is included within the standard £30 per Organisation per month, plus VAT CUNNTAS subscription.

CUNNTAS Payroll is being developed specifically for UK Organisations, bringing employee records, pay calculations, PAYE, National Insurance, pensions, payslips, statutory information and payroll accounting together within the same platform used for bookkeeping and accounts.

The objective is straightforward: payroll should form part of the accounts, not operate as an unrelated system beside them.

1. Payroll Included

Every subscribing Organisation has access to the CUNNTAS payroll functionality appropriate to the service.

There is no separate CUNNTAS payroll subscription simply because an Organisation employs staff.

The standard subscription includes both the accounting platform and payroll so that an Organisation does not need to purchase two separate core financial systems.

2. Built for UK Payroll

CUNNTAS Payroll is designed around the requirements of employers operating in the United Kingdom.

The platform is being developed to support the information and calculations associated with UK payroll, including:

• PAYE
• Income Tax
• National Insurance
• Tax Codes
• National Insurance Categories
• Pay periods
• Employee and employer deductions
• Workplace pensions
• Statutory payments
• Payslips
• Payroll liabilities
• Payroll accounting

Relevant statutory rates, thresholds and controlled payroll reference information can be maintained centrally so that Organisations do not need to recreate system-wide statutory values individually.

3. Employee Records

Each employee can have an appropriate payroll record within the employing Organisation.

The record can contain the information required to administer that employee's payroll, including personal details, employment information, pay arrangements, tax information, National Insurance information, pension information and other relevant payroll data.

Employee records belong to the appropriate Organisation and are subject to the User permissions applying to that Organisation.

4. Pay Arrangements

Employees may be paid according to different arrangements.

CUNNTAS Payroll is designed to accommodate the information required to calculate an employee's gross pay for the applicable payroll period, together with deductions, statutory amounts and resulting net pay.

Payroll records preserve the relationship between the employee, the relevant pay period and the calculations that produced the final payment.

5. Payroll Periods

Payroll can operate according to the pay frequency appropriate to the Organisation and employee.

Each payroll period creates a defined accounting and payroll record so that an Organisation can distinguish one completed payroll from another and maintain an appropriate historical record.

Once payroll information becomes part of a completed financial record, subsequent corrections should be properly recorded rather than silently rewriting history.

6. PAYE

CUNNTAS is designed to support PAYE administration as part of the payroll process.

Employee tax information, applicable Tax Codes and relevant statutory values can contribute to the calculation of deductions for the payroll period.

PAYE liabilities arising from payroll can then form part of the Organisation's accounting records.

This connects the amount deducted from employees with the corresponding liability recorded by the employer.

7. National Insurance

National Insurance calculations form part of UK payroll administration.

CUNNTAS is designed to support the relevant employee and employer National Insurance information, including applicable National Insurance Categories and statutory rates and thresholds.

Employee deductions and employer costs can then be reflected appropriately in both the payroll records and the Organisation's accounts.

8. Workplace Pensions

Where an Organisation operates workplace pension arrangements, CUNNTAS Payroll is designed to maintain the information required for payroll-related pension calculations and records.

This can include employee and employer contributions and the resulting payroll liabilities.

Pension information remains connected to the relevant employee and payroll period while the accounting consequences can flow into the Organisation's General Ledger.

9. Statutory Payments

UK payroll can involve statutory payments and adjustments in addition to ordinary salary or wages.

CUNNTAS is designed so that supported statutory payroll items can form part of the employee's payroll calculation and historical payroll record.

Applicable statutory values can be maintained as controlled system information where appropriate.

10. Deductions and Adjustments

Payroll may contain deductions or additions beyond ordinary Income Tax and National Insurance.

CUNNTAS Payroll is designed to record supported payroll adjustments in a structured way so that the reason for an amount remains identifiable rather than being represented merely as an unexplained change to net pay.

11. Gross Pay to Net Pay

A payroll calculation should provide a clear path from what the employee earned to what the employee receives.

CUNNTAS is designed to preserve the components contributing to that calculation, including:

• Gross pay
• Taxable pay
• Income Tax
• National Insurance
• Pension contributions
• Other applicable additions or deductions
• Net pay

This provides both the employer and employee with an understandable record of the calculation.

12. Payslips

CUNNTAS Payroll includes the production of employee payslip information.

A payslip records the relevant pay-period information and explains how the employee's payment has been calculated.

Payslip information forms part of the payroll record and can be generated from the same underlying information used to calculate payroll rather than being maintained as an unrelated document.

13. Payroll and the General Ledger

This is one of the principal advantages of integrating payroll into CUNNTAS.

Completing payroll has accounting consequences.

An Organisation may incur:

• Gross wage or salary expense
• Employer National Insurance expense
• Employer pension expense
• PAYE and National Insurance liabilities
• Pension liabilities
• Net wages payable

CUNNTAS is designed so that these amounts can be reflected in the Organisation's General Ledger from the completed payroll.

The Organisation should not need to manually recreate the accounting consequences of payroll in a separate bookkeeping system.

14. Payroll Payments and Banking

When employees are paid, the resulting banking transactions can be reconciled with the payroll and accounting records.

This preserves the distinction between the different parts of the process:

• The payroll record explains what was due to the employee.
• The General Ledger records the financial consequences.
• The bank transaction provides evidence of the movement of money.

CUNNTAS connects those records rather than treating them as unrelated information.

15. PAYE and Other Payroll Liabilities

Amounts deducted or incurred through payroll do not necessarily leave the Organisation's bank account at the same time that employees are paid.

CUNNTAS can therefore distinguish payroll expenses from liabilities that remain payable.

Payments subsequently made to HMRC, pension providers or other relevant recipients can then be reconciled against the appropriate liabilities.

This produces a more accurate accounting record than treating every payroll amount as though it were paid simultaneously.

16. Real Time Information

CUNNTAS Payroll is being designed around the statutory reporting requirements applicable to UK employers, including HMRC Real Time Information processes where applicable.

Payroll information required for supported statutory submissions can be derived from the underlying employee and payroll records.

The objective is to reduce unnecessary duplication between calculating payroll, maintaining payroll records and satisfying the associated reporting obligations.

17. HMRC Integration

CUNNTAS is being developed to integrate appropriate payroll and tax functions with HMRC services where the necessary interfaces and authorisations are available.

HMRC submissions require the appropriate Organisation information, User authority and technical authorisation.

CUNNTAS will distinguish between preparing payroll information and successfully transmitting or receiving information through an HMRC service.

A submission should not be treated as successfully filed merely because it was calculated within CUNNTAS.

18. Payroll History

Payroll records may need to be retained for statutory, accounting, tax and employment purposes.

CUNNTAS is therefore designed to maintain historical payroll information rather than treating each new payroll run as a replacement for the previous one.

Historical payroll records can provide evidence of what was calculated for a particular employee and pay period.

19. Corrections and Auditability

Mistakes sometimes occur.

Where completed payroll requires correction, CUNNTAS should preserve an appropriate history of the original information and the subsequent correction rather than silently replacing important historical records.

This supports both payroll administration and accounting integrity.

Important User and system activity can also contribute to CUNNTAS audit and event records.

20. Payroll Security

Payroll contains some of the most sensitive information held by an Organisation.

Employee identities, addresses, National Insurance information, pay, deductions and payment information require appropriate protection.

CUNNTAS therefore applies the platform's security principles to payroll, including mandatory Two-Factor Authentication, controlled Organisation access, individual User Accounts, secure sessions and auditability.

Security is included as part of the standard subscription.

21. User Permissions

Not every User who can access an Organisation necessarily needs access to every payroll record.

CUNNTAS is designed around User and Organisation relationships so that access can be controlled according to the responsibilities assigned to the User.

This is particularly important for payroll, where unnecessary access to employee pay and personal information should be avoided.

22. Data Protection

Payroll information is processed in accordance with the CUNNTAS Privacy Policy and the principles described in Data Protection & Your Data.

The employing Organisation will ordinarily determine why employee information is processed for payroll purposes.

Mayside Partners Limited, trading as CUNNTAS, processes that information through the platform to provide the relevant services and fulfil the responsibilities applicable to CUNNTAS.

Mayside Partners Limited, trading as CUNNTAS, is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office for data protection purposes.

23. Payroll and Departments

An Organisation may want payroll expenditure analysed according to the part of the business in which employees work.

Where appropriate, CUNNTAS accounting structures can allow payroll expenditure to be associated with Departments or supported financial classifications.

This allows management reporting to reflect where employment costs arise without requiring separate payroll systems for different parts of the Organisation.

24. Multiple Organisations

A CUNNTAS User may manage several Organisations through the same User Account.

Each Organisation nevertheless maintains its own payroll records.

Employees of one company do not simply become employees of another company because both Organisations are accessible by the same User.

This separation is important for accounting, PAYE, employment, data-protection and statutory purposes.

25. Payroll Within Groups

Businesses operating through groups of companies may employ people through different legal entities.

CUNNTAS can maintain the relationship between Organisations within a group while preserving the payroll records and employer responsibilities belonging to each employing Organisation.

This complements the platform's broader support for multi-Organisation accounting, VAT groups and applicable group tax arrangements.

26. Starting Payroll on CUNNTAS

An Organisation moving to CUNNTAS may already have processed payroll during the current tax year.

CUNNTAS is being designed to accommodate the payroll information required to establish appropriate starting or year-to-date positions where supported.

The objective is to allow an Organisation to move its payroll administration without incorrectly treating every employee as though their payroll history began on the date CUNNTAS was adopted.

27. Payroll and Financial Reporting

Because payroll integrates with the General Ledger, payroll costs contribute to the Organisation's financial reports.

Salary and wage expenditure, employer costs and outstanding payroll liabilities can therefore be reflected in the same Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, General Ledger and management information used for the Organisation's other financial activity.

This is one of the reasons CUNNTAS treats payroll as part of accounting rather than as an isolated administrative function.

28. Help and Warnings

Payroll terminology and statutory requirements can be complicated.

CUNNTAS uses contextual Help (?) facilities to explain functions and terminology where additional information is useful.

Separate Warning (!) facilities identify matters requiring particular attention.

This guidance is available within the interface rather than requiring Users to leave the payroll workflow merely to understand an unfamiliar field or concept.

29. Payroll Is Not an Add-On

CUNNTAS was designed on the principle that payroll belongs alongside the Organisation's accounts.

An employer should not have to choose between maintaining payroll outside its accounting system or paying an additional core software subscription merely to connect the two.

That is why payroll forms part of the standard CUNNTAS service.

30. One Integrated Platform

CUNNTAS connects the principal stages of payroll administration:

• Employee information
• Payroll calculations
• PAYE and National Insurance
• Pensions and supported statutory items
• Payslips
• Payroll liabilities
• General Ledger accounting
• Bank reconciliation
• Financial reporting
• Auditability

The result is intended to provide an Organisation with a coherent payroll and accounting record rather than several systems containing different parts of the same financial event.

31. Included in the CUNNTAS Subscription

CUNNTAS Payroll is included within the standard:

£30 per Organisation per month, plus VAT subscription.

There is no separate CUNNTAS payroll subscription required to obtain the core payroll functionality included with the platform.

The same subscription provides the Organisation with its integrated bookkeeping, accounting, banking, VAT, Corporation Tax, payroll, reporting, security and financial administration environment.

Payroll is part of the accounts. In CUNNTAS, it is part of the platform too.

The name CUNNTAS is pronounced “KOON-tas”. It comes from the Scottish Gaelic word cunntas, meaning “account”, “accounts”, “accounting” or “reckoning” — a name that reflects both the purpose of the platform and its Scottish identity.

Last Updated: 10 August 2026