Hiring a Manager or Editor? A Guide to Payroll for Influencers

 As an influencer or content creator, growing your business may eventually mean hiring someone to help with your workload. You might bring in a social media manager, video editor, personal assistant, photographer or another member of staff.

Hiring support can give you more time to create content and work with brands, but it also creates new responsibilities. If someone is an employee, you may need to operate PAYE, calculate deductions, provide payslips and report payments to HMRC.

Understanding payroll for influencers can help you manage your growing creator business and stay organised with your tax and employment responsibilities.

When Should an Influencer Consider Hiring Someone?

Influencers often start by managing every part of their business themselves. As your income, audience and content demands increase, you may decide that hiring support makes sense.

A manager could help with:

• Brand negotiations
• Sponsorships
• Campaign management
• Emails and administration
• Content planning
• Business development

An editor could help with:

• Video editing
• Short-form content
• YouTube videos
• Reels and TikTok content
• Graphics and thumbnails

You may also decide to hire an assistant, photographer, designer or other professional as your business grows.

Before hiring someone, consider the expected cost and whether the role will genuinely help you manage your workload and develop your creator business.

Employee or Self-Employed Contractor?

One of the first payroll considerations is determining whether the person you hire is an employee or genuinely self-employed.

You cannot simply decide that someone is self-employed because it is easier or because they send you invoices.

The correct employment status depends on the actual working arrangement and circumstances.

An employee may work under your direction, have agreed working hours and receive regular pay. A genuinely self-employed contractor will generally operate their own business and have more control over how they provide their services.

If you are unsure about someone's employment status, check the relevant HMRC guidance before deciding how to pay them.

Do Influencers Need to Operate PAYE?

If you employ a manager, editor or another member of staff, you will generally need to register as an employer with HMRC and operate PAYE.

PAYE allows you to calculate and report deductions from employees' pay, including Income Tax and National Insurance where applicable.

You may also have employer National Insurance responsibilities depending on the employee's earnings and circumstances.

Payroll should be treated as an ongoing business responsibility rather than something to deal with only at the end of the tax year.

What Does Payroll for Influencers Involve?

Running payroll involves more than simply transferring a salary to an employee's bank account.

You may need to:

• Calculate gross pay
• Calculate Income Tax deductions
• Calculate National Insurance
• Apply relevant payroll allowances and deductions
• Produce payslips
• Report payroll information to HMRC
• Make payroll payments on time
• Keep payroll records
• Handle workplace pension responsibilities where applicable

Using payroll software or professional payroll support can make these tasks easier to manage.

Understanding Payslips

Employees should receive payslips showing important information about their pay.

A payslip will generally show details such as gross pay, deductions and net pay.

Keeping accurate payroll records is important for both you and your employee. It also gives you a clear record of the costs of employing someone in your influencer business.

Workplace Pensions

If you employ eligible workers, you may have automatic enrolment responsibilities under workplace pension rules.

This means you may need to assess employees, enrol eligible staff into a qualifying workplace pension scheme and make employer pension contributions.

Your responsibilities depend on factors such as the employee's age and earnings.

Do Not Forget Holiday Pay

Employees have employment rights that do not apply in the same way to genuinely self-employed contractors.

Holiday entitlement is one important consideration when employing someone.

If you hire a full-time or part-time manager or editor, make sure you understand the applicable employment rights and calculate holiday pay correctly.

National Minimum Wage

If you employ someone, you must also consider the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage rules that apply to their circumstances.

Make sure you understand the current rates and eligibility rules before agreeing an employment arrangement.

What If You Pay a Freelance Editor?

Not every editor or manager needs to become an employee.

You may work with a freelance editor who operates their own business and invoices you for their services.

If the individual is genuinely self-employed, you would generally pay their invoices rather than adding them to your PAYE payroll.

However, you should still check the employment status carefully. The fact that someone sends you an invoice does not automatically make them self-employed.

Keep Proper Payroll Records

If you employ someone, maintain accurate records of:

• Employee details
• Employment contracts
• Gross wages
• PAYE deductions
• National Insurance
• Pension contributions
• Payslips
• Payroll submissions
• Holiday records
• Payments made to employees

Keeping these records organised can make payroll administration much easier.

Separate Personal and Business Payments

Influencers sometimes pay assistants or editors directly from personal bank accounts, particularly when their business is still growing.

This can make bookkeeping and payroll more difficult.

Where possible, keep business income and expenses separate from personal transactions. This creates a clearer financial record and makes it easier to identify payroll costs.

Budget for the Full Cost of Employment

The salary you agree with a manager or editor may not represent the full cost to your business.

Depending on the circumstances, you may also need to budget for:

• Employer National Insurance
• Pension contributions
• Holiday pay
• Payroll software
• Employment benefits
• Recruitment costs
• Professional accounting or payroll fees

Understanding the full employment cost before hiring someone can help you create a realistic business budget.

Payroll and Influencer Business Expenses

If you employ someone for genuine business purposes, relevant employment costs may form part of your business expenses, subject to the normal tax rules.

Keep records of salaries, employer contributions, payroll costs and other employment-related expenses.

Accurate bookkeeping can help you understand how much your manager or editor is costing the business and how these costs affect your overall profit.

When Should You Start Using Payroll Support?

Managing payroll yourself may be possible when you have one employee and straightforward arrangements. However, payroll can become more time-consuming as you hire additional people or introduce different types of payments.

Professional payroll support can help with:

• PAYE calculations
• Payroll submissions
• Payslips
• Employee records
• National Insurance
• Workplace pension administration
• Payroll deadlines

This can allow you to spend more time on content creation, brand relationships and growing your creator business.

Can an Accountant Help With Influencer Payroll?

Payroll can become complicated when you are already managing content, brand deals, sponsorships and multiple income streams.

A specialist accountant can help with payroll setup, PAYE, payslips, payroll reporting, pension responsibilities and payroll records.

Professional support can also help you understand whether someone should be treated as an employee or contractor before you start paying them.

Common Payroll Mistakes for Influencers

One common mistake is treating every person who works with you as self-employed without checking their actual employment status.

Other mistakes include paying employees without operating PAYE, failing to provide payslips, missing payroll reporting requirements and forgetting workplace pension responsibilities.

Another issue is failing to keep proper records. Good bookkeeping and organised payroll records can make it easier to manage your obligations and understand the true cost of hiring staff.

Final Thoughts

Hiring a manager or editor can help an influencer manage a growing workload, but employing someone also creates additional responsibilities.

Before hiring, establish whether the person is an employee or genuinely self-employed. If they are an employee, make sure you understand PAYE, National Insurance, payslips, workplace pensions, holiday pay and other employment responsibilities.

Good payroll records and regular bookkeeping can help keep your creator business organised and make it easier to manage your HMRC obligations.
If you are planning to hire a manager, editor or other member of staff, getting professional advice from Influencers.Accountants can help you set up your payroll correctly from the beginning.