What it is
Tide's payroll functionality, whether delivered directly or via a partnered integration, lets a small business calculate employee pay, handle statutory deductions such as PAYE and National Insurance, and submit the required reports to HMRC through RTI (Real Time Information), with actual payments made from the linked Tide account. It's aimed at small employers who'd otherwise need a standalone payroll software subscription or an external bureau for what might be a handful of employees.
Who can access it and on which plans
Payroll functionality is more likely to sit as a dedicated add-on, a partner integration, or a feature reserved for specific plan tiers than something included by default across every plan, given the compliance overhead involved in running it correctly. Check current availability, plan requirements and whether it's a native feature or a third-party integration on our plans and fees page or Tide's own product pages before assuming it's included at your plan level.
How it works step by step
- Set up employee records with salary, tax code and relevant employment details.
- Run payroll each pay period, calculating gross pay, tax, National Insurance and any other deductions.
- Submit the required RTI report to HMRC as part of the payroll run.
- Pay employees their net pay from the linked Tide account, either automatically or by initiating the transfers.
- Pay HMRC any tax and National Insurance due by the relevant deadline, separately from employee net pay.
- Issue payslips and retain records as required.
Current cost and allowances
Payroll functionality of this kind typically carries its own cost, whether a monthly fee per employee, a flat monthly fee, or inclusion only at a specific plan tier — it is not usually free simply by virtue of having a Tide account. Check current payroll-specific pricing on our plans and fees page, since this is one of the features most likely to sit outside the standard plan fee structure entirely.
A worked example
A small café with four part-time staff previously paid an external payroll bureau a monthly fee to run payroll and handle RTI submissions, separate from its banking relationship. After a review, the owner switches to running payroll through the Tide-linked functionality instead, consolidating the process with the account payments are made from. The overall saving is modest, since payroll for four staff was never a large monthly cost, but the owner values not needing to log into a separate portal or forward bank details every time an employee's pay changes.
Limitations and exclusions
Payroll is a compliance-heavy area, and a built-in or integrated tool is only as good as the accuracy of the data entered — tax code errors, missed pension auto-enrolment obligations or incorrect statutory pay calculations remain the employer's responsibility regardless of which software is used. It's also generally aimed at straightforward payroll for small headcounts rather than complex scenarios involving multiple pay frequencies, significant benefits-in-kind, or large workforces, where a dedicated payroll bureau or specialist software may handle edge cases more reliably.
How it compares with alternatives
Dedicated payroll software such as BrightPay or Sage Payroll, or an external payroll bureau, are built specifically around payroll compliance and often handle a wider range of scenarios — multiple pension schemes, complex benefits, larger headcounts — more robustly than a feature bolted onto a business current account. Tide's version suits a very small employer wanting one less login and one less relationship to manage; a growing employer with more complex pay arrangements should weigh a dedicated provider on capability rather than convenience alone.
Relationship to the REFER200 offer
Payroll runs and any associated fees have no bearing on the REFER200 offer. Paying employees or HMRC via bank transfer isn't a card transaction and doesn't count towards the £100 qualifying spend step, and payroll costs sitting in the current account don't affect the separate Instant Saver funding step either.