What is the Best Way to Pay Yourself as a Business Owner?
What is the Best Way to Pay Yourself as a Business Owner?
Business Management
Peninsula Group, HR and Health & Safety Experts
(Last updated )
Peninsula Group, HR and Health & Safety Experts
(Last updated )
As a small business owner, how do you pay yourself? It may seem like a strange question, but many SME owners simply don't know. Read our guide for the full lowdown.
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What is the Best Way to Pay Yourself as a Business Owner?
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HR management outsourcing is when a team of experts manage your HR by looking after your contracts, policies, and procedures.
These are the HR essentials every business needs. Without them, your staff could bring successful claims against you, you could lose thousands in legal fines, and even face prosecution. Never underestimate the benefits of HR support for a small business.
We have years of experience in providing HR for SMEs and HR management outsourcing. Contact us to see how we can support you, including HR advice for small businesses - as well as medium and large companies.
Good human resource management is having round the clock support when you need it the most.
Whenever there’s a staff challenge or an important legal update, you just pick up the phone and get the help you need – no matter the time or place.
The main benefits of HR outsourcing are:
- Cost saving: Reduces the expenses for such things are hiring, training and employing an in-house HR team.
- Time saving: Saves time for staff members away from HR tasks.
- Improves expertise and compliance: Provides ongoing advice and support to ensure complete and total compliance.
- Reduces risk: Reduces the risk of any payroll and compliance failures.
Outsourcing HR is cheaper than hiring internal staff and saves you money overall when it comes to your HR service. Plus, you avoid making mistakes that could cost you heavily in claims and legal fines down the line. Every business should consider HR support as a way to avoid claims.
Peninsula is one of the leading HR outsourcing services in the UK, and by working with us you get access to our HR advisory service. Contact us for your outsourced SME HR today.
The key functions of HR outsourcing services are:
- Payroll and benefits: Helps a business to manage employee wages, tax processing, and employee enrolment.
- Recruitment and onboarding: Helps with job descriptions, sourcing new candidates, interviewing, and ensuring a smooth onboarding process.
- Compliance with employment law: Helps to ensure compliance with ever-changing employment legislation.
- Employee relations: Helps to manage grievance and disciplinary procedures, and any ongoing support that's required.
- HR admin: Helps to handle and manage daily tasks, such as employee records, sorting employment contracts, and processing any leave requests.
- Training and development: Helps to create and deliver staff training programs to improve employees' skills.
Having one flagship store is a success in itself. However, some retailers choose to open multiple sites to further increase sales revenue, customer footfall, and brand awareness.
During her Autumn Budget speech, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed changes to National Insurance Contributions (NIC). For business owners, employers NIC is a crucial part of their payroll calculations.
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As a small business owner, you’ll need (and, no doubt, want) to pay yourself a wage. But in the hectic rush of managing other aspects of your business, you may not know how to do this.
So what are the allowable expenses to provide yourself?
In this guide, we’ll point you towards the best option available.
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To take the first step, you’ll need to determine what your business is. This defines your payroll procedure, from your staff members through to yourself.
For example, your business may be a sole trader, in a partnership, or a limited company. These all affect how you could pay yourself.
How to pay yourself
It’s important to remain realistic with your wage - especially if you run a small business and money is tight. If you overpay yourself, you could end up jeopardising your business.
Conversely, if you underpay yourself, you may accidentally place yourself in financial hardship. When considering your wage, you must work out what your business can afford.
Manage your expectations as, further down the venture, you’ll have the opportunity to advance your wage as you see fit. Remember, you should pay yourself out of your profits (as opposed to your revenue).
Once you begin earning money, you have to consider tax, payroll for your staff, overheads, and various other fixed costs. You’ll need to separate personal and business expenses. You can do this easily through two different bank accounts.
So, you’ll need to open up a business bank account. Through this, you can determine the profitability of your business. After this, maintaining detailed records of expenditure can help you to determine your wage.
But consistency is the key. If you’re paying yourself £2,000 p/m for example (circa £25,000 p/a) then you’ll have to work on bringing in revenue to your business.
But throughout this you must remember revenue isn’t outright profit—all your expenses should receive consideration before deciding on your worth to your business and then choosing your wage.
Tax efficiency
A small business owner salary can take time to reach its full potential, so you shouldn’t worry if it’s lower than expected to begin with. But there are some techniques you can use to improve your pay.
With your salary decided, you can enhance your wage through tax efficiency tactics. Tax laws are, of course, complicated and there are various other ways to maximise how much you earn. The following pointers are an effective starting point.
Take a straight salary – This is your easiest option as it’s simple to manage.
Have a salary alongside dividend payments – If you have stocks or shares in your business then you could take a low salary and pay yourself with dividend payments. The latter receive less tax on an annual basis, which can save you more money. You’ll have to check this is a legal option for you first, though, so have a word with your tax office to make sure.
Payment through stock/stock options – Another tax efficient option. You should, again, talk to your tax office for advice.
Combine your salary with an annual bonus - The same as above.
Establish a business agreement and pay yourself at a later date – If you’re in a sound financial situation then it’s possible to make a business agreement to defer a payment.
Need more help?
Still wondering what the best way to pay yourself as a small business owner is? Our teams provide 24/7 HR advice which is available 365 days a year.
We take care of everything when you work with our HR experts. Call us today on 0800 028 2420.
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Take the first step towards a safer business. Answer a few questions about your HR and Health & Safety management and we’ll direct you to the support you need
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