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Payslips, tax codes and payroll

Understand your own payslip first. Then work out gross pay, deductions and net pay for a whole team, and what the employer owes HMRC.

Easy4 of 4 modules open20 rooms

This path is practice in how the records and the sums work. It is not tax advice. Any rate or allowance in a question is an example for that question, so check GOV.UK for the current figures.

Module 1

Read your payslip

For anyone with a job: what each line of a payslip means, how gross pay becomes net pay, and how to check the figures.

  1. 1How to read your payslip6 min, easy
  2. 2Gross pay and net pay: what is the difference?7 min, easy
  3. 3What does my tax code mean?8 min, easy
  4. 4National Insurance on your payslip7 min, easy
  5. 5How to check your payslip is right8 min, easy
Recap this moduleSix questions, starting with the ones you got wrong.
Module 2

Gross pay

How pay is built up before any deductions: salaries, hourly pay, overtime, commission, bonuses, piecework and time off.

  1. Salary or hourly pay: how gross pay is worked out6 min, easyPremium
  2. How to work out overtime pay8 min, easyPremium
  3. Bonuses and commission in gross pay8 min, easyPremium
  4. Piecework: pay for each item made7 min, easyPremium
  5. Holiday pay and time off8 min, easyPremium
Module 3

Deductions from pay

What comes off gross pay and why: income tax through PAYE, National Insurance, pension, student loans and the rest.

  1. How income tax is taken through PAYE10 min, mediumPremium
  2. How National Insurance is worked out9 min, mediumPremium
  3. Pension contributions from pay9 min, mediumPremium
  4. Student loans and other deductions from pay7 min, mediumPremium
  5. Statutory and voluntary deductions8 min, mediumPremium
Module 4

Running a payroll

Pay a whole team: from gross to net for everyone, what the employer pays on top, paying HMRC and reporting on time.

  1. From gross to net for a whole team10 min, mediumPremium
  2. What the employer pays on top of gross pay9 min, mediumPremium
  3. How and when employees are paid7 min, mediumPremium
  4. Paying HMRC what was taken from pay9 min, mediumPremium
  5. Reporting pay in real time, and payroll records8 min, mediumPremium