Pay your coaches: timesheets, pay runs, holiday pay, tax and NI
Set each paid coach’s rate, approve a timesheet built from the sessions they ran, and run payroll with rolled-up holiday pay and, if you want, PAYE and National Insurance. Paid pay runs go straight into the books.
Reviewed 29 September 2026 · Verified for Clubs web and app · September 2026
Before you start
- Club owner, club admin or treasurer access
- Playlee Accounts
- A season covering the pay date
How it works
Payroll lives in Accounts, under Payroll. Only the club owner, admins and treasurer can see it, because what each coach earns is private.
Sessions a coach was assigned to become timesheet lines once they have happened. You approve the lines, run a pay run, and Playlee works out each coach’s pay, payslip and the amounts to pay them and HMRC. When you record the pay run as paid, the money goes into the club’s books, ready to match against your bank statement.
Run payroll
- 1
Choose your settings
In Payroll settings, choose how often you pay, and whether Playlee should work out PAYE tax and National Insurance. Add your PAYE and Accounts Office references.
- 2
Add each paid coach
Under Coaches and rates, choose the coach, whether they are on the payroll or self-employed, and a rate per session or per hour. For coaches on the payroll, add their tax code and National Insurance letter, and choose rolled-up holiday pay if they work irregular hours.
- 3
Approve the timesheet
Press Update from sessions, check each line, change the time or pay if needed, and approve. Add a line by hand for work that was not a session.
- 4
Start a pay run
Under Pay runs, choose the period and pay date. Everything approved up to the end of the period goes in, and each coach’s figures are worked out.
- 5
Finalise
Check the figures and any warnings, then finalise. Payslips then appear for coaches under My sessions, then My pay.
- 6
Pay and record it
Pay the coaches, then choose Record as paid. Each coach’s take-home pay goes into the books under Coach payments.
- 7
Pay HMRC
Under HMRC, see what is owed for each tax month and when. Record the payment and it goes into the books under PAYE & National Insurance.
Tax, National Insurance and HMRC
- Playlee does not send your payroll to HMRC. Report each pay run through HMRC’s free Basic PAYE Tools or your payroll provider, and check the figures match. Download CSV on a pay run gives you every figure.
- If your payroll provider works out the deductions, leave the calculation off and type their tax and National Insurance into each draft pay run.
- Rolled-up holiday pay adds 12.07% of the pay for work done to each payslip, as its own line. It is for coaches with irregular hours or who work part of the year.
- Playlee warns when pay works out below the National Living Wage, and when earnings are above the workplace pension trigger.
- If the club claims the Employment Allowance, turn it on in Payroll settings and it comes off employer National Insurance in the HMRC totals.
- Self-employed coaches are paid what they invoice, with no holiday pay or deductions. HMRC’s Check Employment Status for Tax tool helps you decide which a coach is.
Common questions
I recorded a pay run as paid by mistake. Can I undo it?
Yes, choose Undo paid on the pay run, as long as the payments are not yet matched to your bank statement and the books are not locked for that date.
A coach started with us part way through the tax year. What do I do?
On their pay details, open Started mid-year and add the pay and tax to date from their P45, so their tax is right from the first pay run.
Can coaches see each other’s pay?
No. Each coach sees only their own payslips.