The proprietor of any small business will tell you that life is simple until the day when you take on your first employee, for it is then that you find what "red-tape" really means. You become an unpaid tax collector and may even be fined for accidentally getting it wrong or sending forms in late.

Actually, dealing with employee payroll should not be particularly difficult. The Inland Revenue provide each employer with comprehensive manuals, flowcharts, help-cards, tax tables, free pay tables, national insurance tables and a stack of forms ready for completion and submission.

The problem is that, quite rightly, most business people do not have the time nor the inclination to wade through all of the paperwork given to them. Nor do they have the time to perform all the necessary calculations and complete all the legal forms simply to be able to pay the weekly wages.