How a Bad Pay & Bill System Could be Costing You Thousands of Pounds

The UK recruitment industry is going through a trying period. Inflation, rising payroll costs, higher interest rates, and reduced client budgets are making it harder than ever to protect your margin. Across the country, agencies are dealing with hiring freezes and layoffs in sectors like tech, media, and professional services, while even industries with ongoing demand, like healthcare and education, are hampered by talent shortages. Sales cycles are longer, placements are fewer, and back office costs are rising.

In this environment, recruitment businesses cannot afford inefficiency and wasted costs. Yet, many agencies are still relying on outdated or disjointed payroll processes and Pay & Bill systems that are draining time, eroding profits, and introducing unnecessary risk into their operations.

At Workwell Outsourcing, we’ve seen this first-hand. One agency we worked with had grown steadily to over 300 contractors through the contingent division, but was still running their payroll through spreadsheets and disconnected software. Payments were regularly misallocated, resulting in the agency overpaying contractors by over £60,000 and missing financial targets by as much as £200,000 due to poor visibility between systems.

More established firms are struggling too. An agency running for 30 years was at risk of breaching their invoice funding facility because they couldn’t track dilution levels effectively. Their invoicing system couldn’t handle the complexity of their client billing structures, and the resulting delays were damaging their banking relationship. With a better payroll solution in place with our Pay & Bill system, they gained control over their invoicing, strengthened their financial reporting, and restored confidence with both funders and clients.

Simply put, a disjointed and ineffective Pay & Bill process leads to inefficiencies. Inaccurate invoices lead to delayed payments and poor cash flow, and unintegrated tech stacks lead to unreliable reporting, increased admin costs, and lower margins.

An effective Pay & Bill system solves these problems by integrating with your CRM, automating payroll and invoicing processes, and giving you real-time visibility into the financial health of your placements. Whether you pay candidates via PAYE, CIS, or Umbrella, a well-built system ensures accuracy, consistency, and compliance every step of the way. It frees up your team to focus on growing the business, not fixing errors.

In today’s climate, where every percentage point of margin counts, you can’t afford to let your back office hold you back.

Experts Hannah Mollison, Sales Director, and Yves Bizimana, Managing Director at Workwell Outsourcing, recently discussed Workwell Outsourcing’s Pay & Bill system and how it can help you.

Watch the recording here.

Want to learn more about how Workwell Outsourcing can help reduce costs and save time?

Book a discovery call with a member of our team.