On Payroll as a Service for Umbrella Companies

OPRaaS supports umbrella companies with a white-labelled, hands-on approach that helps them prove, promote, and protect their compliance in a highly competitive marketplace.

Our services include PAYE and SDC model verification, in-depth payslip audits to ensure transparency and fairness, expert guidance ahead of licensing and regulatory reform, and tailored education on SDC and IR35 for your internal teams and agency partners—backed by the documentation HMRC expects to see during due diligence.

Umbrella Companies: Regulation Is Coming—Are You Ready to Prove You’re Compliant?

The Bigger Picture

The UK government is turning its attention to umbrella companies, officially referred to as Specialist Payroll Intermediaries (SPIs).

In the 2024 Budget, HMRC announced plans to legislate that:

“Agencies that use umbrella companies will be held responsible for correct PAYE and NIC deductions.”
– Autumn Budget 2024, HMRC Consultation​

This isn’t just oversight—it’s aregulatory shiftthat could redefine your role in the market.

Umbrellas: A Market Under the Microscope

While the majority of umbrella providers are compliant, a minority of bad actors have tainted the industry with:

  • Tax avoidance schemes disguised as umbrellas

  • Loan-based remuneration models

  • Use of hundreds of Mini Umbrella Companies (MUCs) to fraudulently exploit the VAT Flat Rate Scheme and Employment Allowance​

Umbrellas: The risks you now face

  • Loss of contracts if agencies fear non-compliance risk

  • Regulatory displacement by legislation that transfers compliance to agencies

  • Collapse of trust with workers and end-clients if transparency is lacking

  • Falling outside new licensing regimes being considered by HMRC and the DBT​

How OPRAAS Supports Umbrella Providers

We help compliant umbrellas prove, promote, and protect their compliance through:

  • PAYE and SDC model verification

  • Payslip audits (e.g. employment costs, holiday pay, margin transparency)

  • Support preparing for licensing and regulatory reform

  • SDC and IR35 education for your staff and agency partners

  • Clear documentation for HMRC due diligence

FCSA-accredited umbrellas remit £12.5 billion in employment taxes annually—don’t let bad actors damage a system that works​

Stay Compliant. Stay Competitive.

The umbrellas that survive the upcoming reforms will be the ones that:

  • Embrace transparency

  • Work closely with agencies

  • Provide provable value to workers

  • Proactively prove their compliance to regulators

Be part of the compliant future. Partner with OPRaaS.

OPRaaS Online Training Course

OPRaaS’s NEW Self-Certification Course in Labour Supply Chain Assurance

The OPRaaS Labour Supply Chain Assurance (LSCA) Self-Certification Audit is a structured, online compliance solution for the entire temporary workforce supply chain:

  • Built around HMRC guidance, IR35, VAT fraud risk, Criminal Finances Act, and the upcoming Employment Rights Bill

  • Offers a compliance report, risk score, and pathway to improvement

  • Designed and delivered by OPRaaS, the UK’s specialist in labour supply chain risk and compliance

This is not just training.

It’s an independent, audit-ready assurance tool that future-proofs your workforce compliance.

This practical, step-by-step, 11-module course is for HR, Tax, Procurement, Recruitment, and Payroll professionals, like you, to identify and mitigate these risks, ensuring a compliant, ethical, and transparent labour supply chain.

  • Non-compliance with PAYE, CIS, and VAT regulations can result in HMRC fines and audits.

  • Allegations of modern slavery, worker exploitation, or unethical practices can severely harm your brand

  • Under the Criminal Finances Act 2017, companies can be prosecuted for failing to prevent tax evasion.

  • Poor supplier oversight can result in legal battles, workforce instability, and business losses.

Keep YOUR Business Compliant with OPRaaS

Contact us to find out how we can help your business.

Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch promptly to answer your queries, enroll you on the NEW Online Certification Course, or take you through our onboarding process.

We look forward to hearing from you!