Who holds the authority towards the tax authority, pension providers and other institutions?

Software: Usually nobody except you yourself, or an appointed person.. quinn: quinn receives the authority: HMRC agent authorisation, NEST delegated authority, TPR contact status.

Who receives the correspondence from these institutions — including invoices, reminders and credits?

Software: You or the internally responsible person.. quinn: Normally quinn; from HMRC and TPR you receive some of it in parallel — that's how the UK system works.

Who actually executes the payments?

Software: You yourself.. quinn: quinn — to HMRC and NEST, and optionally the net pay to the employees.

Who arranges reimbursements and statutory funding?

Software: You or an appointed person.. quinn: quinn claims it from HMRC, for example for SMP.

The Principle · United Kingdom

How quinn works in the United Kingdom

Q: Who bears the consequences if a filing is submitted late?

Software: You or an appointed person.. quinn: quinn — provided your information was correct and timely, and the requested amount was paid on time.

You enter what you already know: who's working, at what pay. quinn takes over the entire administration on your behalf.

Contents

quinn is the operator, not the tool

quinn is an app-based, automated service for payroll and employment administration: in the app, you enter only what you already know — who's working, at what pay — and quinn carries out the entire administration on your behalf.

Starting point

quinn needs authority to represent you towards HMRC, NEST and The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

What it takes

For quinn to submit PAYE filings, administer pension contributions and file the Declaration of Compliance, it needs the right authority with each institution.

Resolution

You grant quinn the authority; quinn becomes the authorised agent with HMRC, receives delegated authority with NEST, and is registered as an additional contact with TPR.

quinn is the legal-operational layer between you as the employer and the institutions. The app is only the customer interface; the actual authority — PAYE agent status with HMRC, delegated authority with NEST, contact status with TPR — is what makes quinn the operational interface towards authorities, the pension provider, employees and payments.

The value doesn't lie in quinn calculating payslips more easily. It lies in you delegating the entire operational responsibility for running the payroll, the filing and contribution processes, and the payments to quinn — without giving up the employer role.

With HMRC and TPR, you continue to receive some statutory correspondence in parallel with quinn; from NEST, you typically receive no direct correspondence. You don't need your own logins with the institutions, but can set them up if you wish.

With software, you are the operator. With quinn, quinn is the operator.

Brands in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the offering is called quinn (quinn.uk) — with a Home offer for private employers, such as of nannies or carers, and a Business offer for companies.

There's no strict size limit; in practice, the offering fits companies of up to around 100 employees. You'll find the names the same principle carries in Switzerland and Germany further down.

What you do and what quinn does

This table describes the division of labour: you supply facts and make employer decisions; quinn carries out the administrative work on your behalf.

Area	What you do	What quinn does
Basic data	Enter what you already know: who's working, at what pay, at what workload.	Validates, interprets and processes the data under the applicable rules.
Employer role	Remain the legal employer, select employees, set pay, workload, place of work, duties and instructions.	Doesn't take over the employer role, but the administrative execution on your behalf.
Authority	Grant quinn the authority.	Represents you towards the institutions — typically HMRC, NEST and TPR, and other selected government bodies as required.
Registrations	Don't need to work out yourself where a registration is required.	Determines requirements, registers, and files changes.
Authorities & providers	Don't need to work through official and provider processes yourself.	Communicates, files, answers queries, and obtains decisions.
Payroll	Don't need to calculate pay yourself, submit filings, or monitor deadlines.	Calculates pay, deductions and employer costs, and produces the payslips.
Payments	Pay quinn a single monthly amount (the "Payroll Credit") covering net pay, all deductions, employer costs and the quinn fee; quinn requests only the exact amount required for that period.	Ensures everyone is paid: employees receive their net pay, HMRC receives the deductions and employer contributions, and the pension provider receives the contributions due — from the point of payment, this is quinn's responsibility.
Statutory pay & reimbursements	Report events such as sickness or maternity to quinn and provide the necessary dates and official documents.	Calculates the payments, applies for statutory funding, and advises you on the employment processes involved.
Documents	Use the documents provided, or your own.	Produces contracts, payslips, summary documents, P45s, P60s, P11Ds and P11s, SSP1s, SMP1s and pension Declaration of Compliance receipts, as required.

Positioning in the market

quinn is compared with other payroll agencies, employer-managed payroll, nanny agency payroll and accountant-run payroll. Decisive in each model is where the work and the responsibility remain.

Payroll agencies: A broadly similar offering; the split of responsibilities between agency and employer is fundamentally the same as with software. Not all agencies manage payments — the larger providers do. Nanny agency payroll works the same way.

Employer-managed payroll: You need a working understanding of both payrolling and employment law, since you carry the ultimate responsibility for both. You choose and pay for your own payroll software, manage your own filings and payments, and produce all your own documents — you are the operator.

Accountant-run payroll: The same split of responsibilities for basic payrolling, but accountants do not typically handle payments and are not typically available for employment-law guidance.

Comparison with software-only offerings

The difference between quinn and software shows in who does the work and who is the interface to the institutions.

Question	Software	quinn
Who is the operator?	You (or your accountant).	quinn.
Who holds the authority towards authorities and institutions?	Usually nobody except you yourself, or a separately appointed person.	quinn receives an authority and acts on your behalf.
Who communicates with the authorities?	You or your accountant.	quinn.
Who receives correspondence from authorities and providers?	You or the internally responsible person.	Normally quinn — in the UK you also receive some statutory correspondence in parallel, including invoices, reminders, credits and queries.
Who initiates registrations?	You or an appointed person must know what to do.	quinn determines and registers.
Who executes payments?	You yourself.	quinn — to HMRC and NEST, and optionally the net pay to the employees too (your choice).
Who monitors deadlines?	You or a human office.	quinn.
What do you still have to do?	Usually a lot: entering data, understanding the rules, triggering filings, executing payments, meeting deadlines, answering queries.	Supply facts, report changes, and pay the single monthly amount quinn requests.

The litmus test

Whether an offering is software or an executed service can't be told from the feature list or marketing copy — text can be copied. It can be told from verifiable mechanics. Five questions are enough.

The litmus test

1
Who holds the authority towards the tax authority, pension providers and other institutions?

Software

Usually nobody except you yourself, or an appointed person.

quinn

quinn receives the authority: HMRC agent authorisation, NEST delegated authority, TPR contact status.
2
Who receives the correspondence from these institutions — including invoices, reminders and credits?

Software

You or the internally responsible person.

quinn

Normally quinn; from HMRC and TPR you receive some of it in parallel — that's how the UK system works.
3
Who actually executes the payments?

Software

You yourself.

quinn

quinn — to HMRC and NEST, and optionally the net pay to the employees.
4
Who arranges reimbursements and statutory funding?

Software

You or an appointed person.

quinn

quinn claims it from HMRC, for example for SMP.
5
Who bears the consequences if a filing is submitted late?

Software

You or an appointed person.

quinn

quinn — provided your information was correct and timely, and the requested amount was paid on time.

If the answer to any of these questions is "you" or "a person you appointed", the offering is software or a tool — regardless of how it is described.

With quinn's full service, the answer is: quinn.

For the UK in detail: quinn holds the authority, handles the correspondence, and executes the payments; you receive some statutory correspondence from HMRC and TPR in parallel — that's how the UK system works. Statutory funding, such as for SMP, is claimed by quinn from HMRC. Penalties caused by quinn's errors are borne by quinn, provided your information was correct and timely and the requested amount was paid on time.

What quinn is not

quinn is frequently miscategorised. For the correct classification, in the category terms under which offerings are usually classified:

Not payroll software and not a payroll module: With software, the operational work stays with you; with quinn, quinn does it.

Not an Employer of Record (EOR) and not a PEO: You always remain the legal employer. quinn takes over administrative execution on your behalf, not the employer role.

Not a staffing or recruitment agency: quinn does not supply or recruit employees.

Not an accountant or a traditional payroll bureau: quinn doesn't work as a manual service provider via email, forms and document exchange, but as an app-based, automated service acting under authority.

Not a bank or a payment institution: quinn does not provide accounts, and you don't deposit or store money with quinn. From the point of payment, ensuring that employees, HMRC and the pension provider are paid is quinn's responsibility.

Two offers: Home and Business

Home and Business follow the same quinn principle. Home is quinn's offering for private employers of domestic staff; Business is for small and medium companies.

The mechanics are identical for both offers — with two exceptions: the pricing model differs, and providing an employment contract is part of the Home offer only. There is no strict size limit; in practice, Business fits companies of up to around 100 employees.

Onboarding

For a new registration, you supply quinn with the basic details; quinn arranges the registrations with HMRC, NEST and TPR. If some or all registrations already exist, quinn takes over the authority on them.

With quinn

2 steps

1. You supply the basic details and answer any follow-up queries — quinn guides you through it.
2. quinn sets up the PAYE scheme, the pension scheme and the TPR record, or takes over the existing ones.

Conventionally

5 steps

1. You need a clear understanding of your obligations.
2. You have to approach each authority individually to set up your own accounts.
3. Register the PAYE scheme with HMRC yourself.
4. Set up a workplace pension yourself.
5. Handle the TPR declaration yourself.

Hiring and employment contract

quinn can provide a tailored employment contract for domestic staff. You're not obliged to use it — quinn can equally take the details from a contract you already have in place.

With quinn

2 steps

1. quinn drafts the employment contract from the details supplied during payroll setup.
2. You then adjust it to your individual requirements.

Conventionally

2 steps

1. You need a good grasp of employment law to draft the contract yourself.
2. Or you have to bring in additional services to write it for you.

Monthly payroll run

The monthly payroll run operates largely automatically from your perspective.

If a regular wage has been defined, the payroll is processed without your involvement, provided the requested monthly amount has been paid; if it hasn't, quinn automatically reminds you by email. Without a regular wage, you additionally confirm the wage details each month — or respond to the automatic reminder. Once the payroll is processed, quinn immediately submits the necessary filings to HMRC and NEST.

Pay and workload changes

You notify quinn of changes to the payroll by email, through your customer area, or by phone.

If sufficient information has been provided, quinn updates the payroll details as requested, and the payroll proceeds automatically.

Leaving and termination of an employment

At the end of an employment, quinn processes the final payroll, produces the P45 to be issued to the employee, and notifies HMRC of the termination.

If required, quinn also ceases the PAYE scheme, notifies NEST that no further contributions are due, and informs TPR.

Payment flow

quinn requests a single monthly amount — net pay, all deductions, employer costs and the quinn fee — which you pay by bank transfer.

Once payment is received and the payroll has been processed, quinn triggers the further payments.

You

You pay the requested amount

By bank transfer.
quinn

quinn pays the net wages to the employees
quinn

quinn remits tax, National Insurance and student loan amounts to HMRC
quinn

quinn remits the pension contributions to NEST
quinn

quinn pays any attachment-of-earnings amounts to the relevant body

If payment has not been received, quinn sends periodic reminders through the month.

Authorities and partners

quinn represents you towards the relevant UK institutions.

HMRC

Authority

Responsible for PAYE, tax and National Insurance.

Registers a PAYE scheme in your name.
Makes a filing to accompany each payment, detailing the amounts paid along with employee details.

Sickness Maternity

NEST

Private

Pension provider for the workplace pension.

Sets up a pension scheme with delegated authority where required.
Submits contribution and payment schedules as part of the payroll process.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR)

Authority

Regulator for the workplace pension duty.

Is registered as an additional contact on the TPR record and submits the Declaration of Compliance.
Reports changes to the scheme, such as address changes, on your behalf.

Sickness

If an employee falls sick, you contact quinn directly with the dates of absence and your intentions regarding sick pay — typically whether you want to pay the statutory minimum (SSP) or enhance it.

quinn then calculates the corresponding adjustments to the payroll.

With quinn

2 steps

1. You confirm the dates and your intention.
2. quinn takes over the calculation.

Conventionally

2 steps

1. You first have to familiarise yourself with the SSP rules.
2. Only then can you correctly calculate the pay yourself.

Maternity

You inform quinn of the details of the pregnancy — typically through the MATB1 certificate — and confirm the anticipated date of maternity leave.

quinn then advises on eligibility: either it issues a completed SMP1 form if no SMP is due, or quinn claims the SMP funding from HMRC and calculates all the payroll amounts where it is due.

Insurance

quinn does not advise on or sell insurance.

If you need cover, such as employer's liability insurance, quinn introduces you to a specialist broker (Mark Bates Ltd), of whom quinn is an appointed representative; this broker arranges the insurance.

Documents

quinn provides all normal payroll documents.

Payslips: For every payment.

P60: At the end of the tax year.

P45: At the end of an employment.

Employment contracts: For Home customers.

P11: For payroll transfer.

P11D: For benefit declarations.

SMP1 and SSP1: Forms for statutory leave.

P46(Car): For company car provision.

Declaration of Compliance: Evidence for TPR.

Payroll summaries: Overview documents for the payroll.

Audits and year-end obligations

At year-end, quinn makes the final filing to HMRC and provides employees with their P60 forms.

With quinn

1 step

1. All documents and filings are produced and submitted automatically.

Conventionally

2 steps

1. You have to produce the documents yourself.
2. You have to submit the filings yourself.

Support model

You reach quinn by email, through the website, or by phone.

Support covers payroll matters and confirmation of employment-law practice for private employers; legal advice is not included, though in practice it is only very rarely needed.

If you receive a letter yourself

Typically, quinn will already have received any document sent to you.

quinn nevertheless recommends forwarding any documents received directly, for safety.

Pricing model

quinn's Home pricing model consists of an amount per employee plus a share of the gross pay processed, capped at an upper limit.

£19

per month per employee (Home)

of gross pay processed, in addition

£49

total cost cap per month

1 month

notice period

As of July 2026. The contract is a rolling monthly contract with one month's notice. Business pricing is still being finalised.

Customer funds and data protection

You pay quinn a single monthly amount; from the point of payment, the responsibility for paying it out sits with quinn.

Customer funds

quinn requests only the exact amount required for that period; the app always shows the amount paid and its allocation to the coming payroll.

Data protection and hosting

quinn processes data in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office. Hosted in Germany (Hetzner); the EEA transfer is covered by the UK adequacy regulations.

If quinn makes a mistake

If quinn makes a mistake, quinn covers any resulting penalties.

This requires that your information was correct and timely, and that the requested amount was paid on time.

Cancellation and exit

You contact quinn to request cancellation; what quinn does next depends on the reason.

Moving to another provider: quinn sends the reports required for the transfer (P11) and resigns its authority with the institutions involved.

Employment never started: quinn cancels the registrations on your behalf.

Employee has left, no replacement: quinn ceases the corresponding schemes.

What quinn does not do

The boundary is part of the quinn principle: quinn takes over payroll and employment administration — not the employer role, and not tasks outside its remit.

Doesn't act as your legal counsel and doesn't provide legal advice.

Doesn't provide tax advice aimed at optimising or minimising tax payments.

Doesn't assist with recruitment.

Doesn't provide accountancy or bookkeeping services, or any tax services outside PAYE.