Our blogs
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Paul Chappell
Payrolling benefits in kind should make life simpler. Tax gets collected through payroll every month, so nobody gets a nasty tax code surprise a year later. But payroll can only report what it knows, and for some benefits, you won’t...
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Victoria McKay
Every payroll bureau has its non-negotiables. Ours include the cut-off date, the accuracy of every payslip and the thermostat setting we agreed after lengthy talks. We’ve recently learned the tea bags belong on that list too. In most offices, swapping...
- Paul Chappell
On 3 September 2026, the government named 658 employers for underpaying the National Minimum Wage. Between them, they’d shortchanged more than 27,000 workers by around £4 million and picked up £7 million in penalties on top. Plenty of the names...
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Alison Clynes
Ascend Payroll has teamed up with Aslan, the 2026 CIPP Software Product of the Year, so our managed payroll clients can now add on-demand pay and a reward and recognition platform to their service. Pay is usually the biggest cost...
- Alison Clynes
Meet Chloe Mckeown, our new Content and Engagement Manager. Chloe joins Ascend’s growing marketing team alongside our vastly experienced Marketing and Branding expert Alison Clynes, bringing with her a passion for all things social media and marketing. From payroll to...
- Paul Chappell
You’ve set up a UK limited company. Your director lives in Spain, your sales team’s in the US and nobody actually works in the UK. So do you need a PAYE scheme? It’s a question that catches out a lot...
- Paul Chappell
After the National Insurance shock of 2024, employers went into this Budget expecting a quieter ride. And that’s what they got. Quiet doesn’t mean nothing to do, though. There’s a wage rise to plan for, new mileage rates, a big...
- Paul Chappell
Showing you appreciate your employees at Christmas time is a lovely gesture. Landing them, or the business with an unexpected tax bill, is not so festive! The rules about what is and isn’t tax free, are a headache. And, for...
- Paul Chappell
For most of the last decade, the company car looked like a relic. Tax bills climbed, perks shrank, and plenty of employees and directors took the cash allowance instead. The sums have moved since then. EVs sit in the lowest...
- Paul Chappell
For income tax, HMRC treats a geographical area as one big permanent workplace when an employee’s duties are formally tied to that area, they’ve no single base, and they work there regularly. Get that call right, and your mobile staff’s...
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