Set up automatic payments

Automatic payments allow you to pay your employees and make HMRC payments automatically.

Before you begin

To ensure automatic payments go through on payday, Confirm payroll with two-factor authentication and make sure there are enough funds on account by 11:59 pm on the night before payday.

An at-a-glance view of your Payments timeline within a payroll cycle is found in the Summary page of each payroll.

1. From the left sidebar, click Payrolls.
2. Select the relevant payroll cycle.
3. Click Summary in the top bar.

If employees have an upcoming negative net pay, the Summary may not be accurate. If this is the case, check Payments from the left sidebar to view your account balance.

How to fund your account

Each customer has a unique bank account set up with Modulr that must be funded prior to pay day. This is the account where employee payments are sent from.

1. From the left sidebar, select Payments.
2. Click on Fund your account in the top right corner.
3. Transfer the funds from your bank to the account details provided in the pop-up box.

Note: You can only transfer funds to Modulr from a UK bank account.

Insufficient funds on account

Our Support team checks payment statuses each payday and will contact you to let you know if any payments have failed due to insufficient funds on the account. In some cases, you may have already contacted us before we managed to reach out to you.

Note: Our support working hours are 9 am - 5 pm, therefore you will be contacted shortly after 9 am on your chosen payday.

If the balance on the account was £0

Our support team will contact you and let you know that there were insufficient funds on the account. Once you have transferred the monies, the payment request will reset automatically for you.

Once reset, it should take 5–10 minutes for the payments to be made, at which point the payroll status will update to Submitted. The Employee Payslips & HMRC FPS submission will also be sent automatically.

Note: Payment requests generally activate between 12am and 1 am. If the funds arrive on account after the payment request, it may cause an error and need to be reset.

If the account had some funds available

If there aren’t enough funds on the account to cover the total net payments, payroll will be partially paid automatically. Payments to staff will be sent until the balance has reached £0. The remaining payments to employees will fail.

You can check the status of the payroll in Payments. If a payroll cycle is only partially successful, it’ll be marked with “Error” under Status.

If this happens, you will need to make manual payments to the remaining employees.

UK Payroll Support will submit the payslips and the HMRC submission for you manually.

Note: Partially completed payrolls can’t be reset.

Incorrect bank details

1. If an employee’s bank details are incorrect, UK Payroll support will contact you with a request to amend the employee’s information.
2. Once the details are updated, notify UK Payroll support to arrange a manual payment. Payslips and HMRC submissions will be submitted as normal.

Note: Payments can only be made to UK bank accounts.

High-value payments

Modulr’s Customer Thresholds are in place to satisfy financial regulatory requirements and safeguards, including anti-money laundering laws.

If you are expecting to make any payments that go beyond Modulr’s Customer Thresholds, please contact UK Payroll Support to find the best solution to suit your payroll needs.

Note: Failing to give advance notice could result in a hold placed on your payment.

HMRC Payments

HMRC payments are sent on the 18th of the month following payroll. This date includes weekends.

Note: The deadline for HMRC payments is the 22nd of each month. For example, July PAYE liabilities are paid to HMRC on 18th August, and are due 22nd August.

This payment is sent automatically when:

1. Payroll is confirmed with a verification code.
2. Your Modulr account is funded by 11:59 pm the night before payment.

Insufficient funds on account

If there are insufficient funds on the account, UK Payroll support will contact you the day before the payment is due.

If you are able to fund the account by the payment date: The payment request will reset automatically and no further action will be required.

If you are unable to fund the account until a later date: Contact UK Payroll support to reset the payment request manually when the account is sufficiently funded.

Note: Late payments may result in HMRC issuing a penalty.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I submit the payroll by 11:59 pm the night before payday, what time will it be available in people’s accounts?
If payroll has been confirmed before payday, employees will usually get paid just after midnight on payday, with a possible delay of a few hours (the latest being around 4 am).

Can I transfer the funds for Net Payments and HMRC separately?
Yes. As long as the funds for each of the payments are on the account by 11:59pm the night before payment, they will go through automatically.

What if I can't fund the account on time?
Let UK Payroll support know as soon as the funds are available and to reset the payment request for you.

What if I want UK Payroll to pay Net Payments, but not HMRC?
Contact our support team to disable the automated payments to HMRC for you. It can be re-enabled at any point.

What if I accidentally confirm payroll without payments?
If you accidentally select Confirm payroll without payments, you will be prompted to confirm manual payments.

If you select Yes, I will pay my employees outside of UK Payroll by accident or change your mind, you can reset automatic payments.

1. Navigate to Payrolls > relevant payroll cycle.
2. Click Edit payroll in the top right corner.
3. Once you have made any necessary edits, click Confirm payroll in the top right corner.
4. Select Verify and confirm payments.

If an employee's bank details are updated after the payroll has been confirmed, will net payments go to the new bank account?
Payment details are locked in for payment transfer one day before your scheduled payday. If the employee's new bank details are updated in UK Payroll before this day, they will get their salary paid into their new bank account.