How to get your payroll ready for hiring an apprentice

Start preparing for hiring an apprentice

How to make sure your payroll is set up and ready to go. 

If you do not already have an Apprenticeship Service account before you start you will need to set one up.

Before setting up your apprenticeship service account

You’ll need:
•    a GOV.UK One Login account linked to an email address you use for work - you can create this at the same time as creating your apprenticeship service account
•    the Government Gateway login for your organisation (or you can use the accounts office reference number and employer PAYE scheme reference number if your annual pay bill is less than £3 million)
•    authority to add PAYE schemes to the account
•    authority to accept the employer agreement on behalf of your organisation

You will be asked to
•    create an account
•    add a PAYE scheme on behalf of your organisation
•    accept the employer agreement with the Department for Education (DfE)

Where to find your PAYE and accounts office reference numbers

Your PAYE and accounts office reference numbers can be found on the:

• letter HMRC sent you when you first registered as an employer
• front of your payment booklet (or the letter from HMRC that replaced it)

The accounts office reference number is 13 characters. The employer PAYE reference number is 11 characters.

How to get a PAYE scheme reference number

If you are a small employer who does not pay the apprenticeship levy, you will need your PAYE scheme reference number, also known as an employer reference number (ERN), and your account office reference number (AORN).

If your business has no employees, then you may not have a PAYE scheme reference number. You will need to register as an employer with HMRC to receive your PAYE scheme reference number.

Setting up your PAYE scheme reference number

If you have recently received a PAYE scheme reference number, you need to complete some steps before setting up your apprenticeship service account:

• submit at least one payroll return to HMRC using their basic PAYE tool- this can be a blank employer payment summary (EPS) if you are not yet employing someone
• notify HMRC that you will be taking on an apprentice under your business’s PAYE and submit the data

Registering on the apprenticeship service

Once you are ready to register, you can create an account to manage apprenticeships.

This helpful video below provides more useful information from the Department for Education