Client Service Terms

1. About this summary

Northfield Inc Ltd, trading as Northfield (company number 16658191, registered office 22-28 Wood Street, Doncaster, DN1 3LW), provides managed PAYE payroll and workplace-pension administration for UK employers, including small businesses, growing teams, charities and recruitment agencies. This summary is for website visitors considering our services. Telephone: 0333 050 5588. Email: info@northfield.services.

2. Definitions

In this summary, “client” means the employer, agency or other organisation that instructs us. “Worker” includes employees and workers whose pay we administer. “Services” means the payroll-related work described in the accepted quotation or schedule. “RTI” means Real Time Information reporting to HMRC.

3. Scope of service

The services we provide are only those set out in the accepted quotation, proposal, order form or service schedule. Depending on what is agreed, they may include:

• processing PAYE payroll from approved starter, leaver, hours, salary, deduction and variation information
• preparing and submitting agreed FPS, EPS and other RTI filings
• producing payslips, payroll reports and year-end documents that are in scope (for example P45, P60 or P11D information)
• payroll-connected workplace-pension assessment support, deductions and contribution files
• a named contact, agreed reporting and support during UK office hours (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm)

4. What we do not do unless agreed in writing

• act as the employer of the client’s staff
• decide employment status, IR35 or whether someone is a worker or an employee
• choose the client’s pension scheme or discharge the client’s automatic-enrolment duties as employer
• pay wages, HMRC or pension contributions from our own funds unless a funded arrangement is expressly agreed
• give legal, tax, pension, investment or financial advice, or represent the client in an HMRC enquiry beyond agreed payroll administration

5. Client responsibilities

The client remains responsible for:

• providing accurate, complete and lawful information by the agreed cut-off times
• approving payroll information and outputs in time for processing and filing
• employer registrations, PAYE references and pension-scheme choice
• paying employees, workers, HMRC, pension providers and others when due, unless we expressly operate a funded payroll
• telling us promptly about starters, leavers, pay changes, tax-code notices, student loans, attachments, sickness, family leave and other events that affect pay
• ensuring it has the right to give us personal data about its staff and workers, and giving them the required privacy information
• employment-status decisions and the records that support them

6. Onboarding and information

We cannot process a live payroll until we have the information set out in our onboarding list. That typically includes employer identifiers, PAYE and accounts office references, bank details for the client’s own payments, current employee records, year-to-date figures, pension scheme details and authorised contacts. If we take over from another provider, the client must arrange a complete and timely handover. Incomplete handover can delay the first live run.

7. Deadlines and late data

We will issue a payroll timetable (information due, processing and payday). The timetable allows for UK working days and, where relevant, Bacs clearing. Late, incomplete or incorrect information, or late approval, may mean we cannot meet the original payday or RTI deadline. We may need to process on a later cycle, file a correction, or charge for additional work. We are not responsible for HMRC penalties or worker inconvenience caused by client delay or error.

8. PAYE and RTI

Where PAYE is in scope, we prepare payroll and submit agreed RTI using the data the client has approved. The client remains the employer for PAYE purposes and remains liable to HMRC for tax, National Insurance and related amounts.

We file on the basis of the information we hold at the cut-off. If the client later changes hours, pay or starters, we will process corrections in line with HMRC rules and the agreed service, which may attract additional fees.

9. Workplace pensions

We provide agreed administrative and payroll support only: for example applying contribution rates to pay, producing files for the scheme and recording opt-outs we are told about. The client remains the employer for automatic enrolment. That includes assessing workers, choosing and registering a scheme, giving statutory notices, paying contributions on time and completing declarations of compliance. We are not the scheme trustee or administrator unless a separate appointment says so. We do not provide regulated pension advice.

10. Employment status

We do not determine whether an individual is employed, self-employed, a worker, or inside or outside IR35. Those decisions sit with the client, the agency or the end client as the law requires. If the client instructs us to operate PAYE on a particular basis, we process on that instruction. Incorrect status can create tax, National Insurance and employment-law exposure for the client, not for us as payroll administrator.

11. Fees and payment

Fees are set out in the accepted quotation and are exclusive of VAT unless stated. We do not publish a price list on this website. Invoices are payable in accordance with the service agreement. Additional work may be charged, including urgent runs, re-runs, corrections caused by client error, off-cycle payments, extra reporting, year-end work outside the agreed pack, and support with HMRC queries that go beyond ordinary filing.

If fees are unpaid we may suspend processing after notice. Suspension can affect payday and RTI. Interest and recovery costs may apply as set out in the service agreement.

12. Data protection

Each party must comply with UK data-protection law. For client payroll data we normally act as processor and the client as controller. The parties will enter into a data-processing agreement where required. See our Privacy Notice.

13. Confidentiality

Each party must keep the other’s confidential information secure and use it only to perform the services, except where disclosure is required by law, a regulator or HMRC, or the information is already public through no fault of the receiving party. This continues after the services end.

14. Liability

Nothing excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded, including for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Subject to that, our liability for payroll administration is limited as set out in the signed service agreement — typically to a multiple of fees and with no liability for loss of profit or indirect loss.

We are not liable for loss caused by late or inaccurate client data, third-party systems (including HMRC or pension platforms) being unavailable, a client’s failure to fund payments, or the client’s status or auto-enrolment decisions.

15. Moving provider

If you move to us, we will agree a transition plan covering data, year-to-date figures, filing alignment and the first live run. If you leave us, we will provide a reasonable handover of payroll data we hold, subject to unpaid fees and data-protection limits, so the next provider can continue RTI. See also our Changing provider page.

16. Suspension and termination

Either party may end the services on the notice period in the signed terms. We may suspend or terminate for serious breach, non-payment, unlawful or high-risk instructions, or if continuing would put us in breach of law. After termination we will file or hand over in-flight payroll only to the extent agreed and paid for.

17. Governing law

The service agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales. Disputes are subject to the courts of England and Wales, unless the signed contract says otherwise.