Payroll-provider handover checklist for agencies

A payroll-provider handover starts with a date, but it succeeds through named decisions. Who closes the previous period? Who owns a correction discovered afterwards? Who tells a contractor where to send a pay query? Write those answers before moving the live file.

This checklist is for an agency operations lead coordinating a change. The exact records and responsibilities depend on the payroll arrangement. A bureau handling calculations, an agency running its own PAYE and an umbrella employing workers are different arrangements; establish which one you are changing first.

Define the boundary of the change#

Create a one-page scope with the outgoing provider, incoming provider, employing entity, affected population and proposed first pay date. Record the last period each organisation will process and the person authorised to approve changes. Include assignments that finish during the transition, not just active starters.

Keep a separate list of items outside the move: historical queries, disputed adjustments, unapproved timesheets and records awaiting clarification. An unresolved item should have an owner and a next action rather than disappearing into the new provider's opening balance.

Assemble the handover pack#

Use a controlled transfer channel agreed with the providers. The pack should identify:

• The worker and assignment references used in each system, with a mapping between them.
• The agreed pay calendar, cut-offs, approval contacts and backup contacts.
• The records the incoming provider requires, together with their effective dates and the source of each figure.
• Relevant opening balances and prior-period totals, with a named reviewer for discrepancies.
• Current deductions, expenses or other adjustments that need specialist confirmation.
• The process for worker questions, rejected payments and later corrections.

Do not send a complete personnel archive merely because it exists. Ask the recipient to specify what is needed for the agreed task, and record that the transfer was received and checked. Retention is a separate decision from migration: HMRC's PAYE record guidance explains the employer's payroll record obligations.

Rehearse a representative pay period#

Choose examples covering a normal payment, a starter, a leaver, a rate change and an adjustment. Agree expected inputs and compare the providers' outputs. A difference needs an explanation; matching a total without checking its components is weak evidence.

Use an exception sheet with columns for reference, difference, cause, owner, action and approval. Rehearsal files should be clearly marked as test material and must not authorise a live payment or duplicate a statutory submission.

Example: a late timesheet crosses the cut-off#

In this illustrative scenario, the outgoing provider has closed its final run when an amended timesheet arrives. The agency logs the affected period and asks the agreed payroll owner how the correction will be handled. The incoming provider receives the approved adjustment and its reference, rather than a second version of the whole previous run.

The agency then checks the worker communication, payment outcome and reconciliation record. The handover is complete for this case only when all three agree. A message saying “sent to payroll” does not establish that the adjustment was processed.

Make the first live run a formal checkpoint#

Confirm receipt of the input file, approval of the output, payment authority and access to the resulting reports. Retain the outgoing contact route until the agreed historical-query arrangements are working. Review the first run with both the operational owner and whoever handles worker queries.

If the underlying route is also changing, read how to assess payroll options. For help defining the route and provider brief, start with Freelancer Supermarket payroll support and bring your pay calendar, headcount and outstanding handover questions.