Most employers have at least one employer reference number (ERN). An ERN is an alphanumeric reference that identifies a business for various employment-related purposes, including running payroll.
If you plan to hire staff or pay yourself a director’s salary, you’ll need an employer reference number from HMRC. Here’s everything you need to know.
An employer reference number (ERN) is a unique identifier that HMRC assigns to any business that registers as an employer and sets up Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Also known as an ‘employer PAYE reference’ or ‘PAYE number’, an ERN links a business’s payroll and PAYE activities to the correct HMRC tax office.
As a UK employer, you’ll need to provide your ERN when carrying out specific tasks, such as setting up and managing payroll, filing PAYE reports with HMRC, and purchasing employers’ liability insurance.
An employer reference number is a unique combination of alphanumeric characters. It consists of the following:
The ERN of a business that registered as an employer before 2001 will look something like this: 123/A45678.
The ERN of a business registered as an employer after 2001 will look something like this: 123/AB45678.
After registering as an employer with HMRC (usually online), you should receive a confirmation letter and welcome pack in the post. This will include your employer reference number – it’s normally printed in the top right corner. The letter will also contain your Accounts Office reference.
Aside from this documentation, you can find your ERN in the following places:
If you can’t find your employer reference number in any of these places, you can contact HMRC’s employer helpline . They will post a reminder of your ERN to your registered office or business address, but it may take a couple of weeks to arrive.
Your employer reference number is a crucial piece of information that identifies your business for various PAYE purposes.
As an employer, you’ll use your ERN regularly for tasks such as:
HMRC will use your employer reference number to:
Now that you know why your ERN is so important, be sure to keep it safe and easily accessible for whenever you need to use it.
To get an employer reference number for your business, you need to register as an employer with HMRC. Most businesses can register by enrolling for PAYE online, including limited companies with up to 9 directors.
Ideally, you should register before the first payday (but not more than 2 months in advance) to ensure your employer reference number arrives on time. However, if you need to pay an employee before receiving your ERN, you should run payroll, store your FPS, and send a late FPS to HMRC.
You can use HMRC’s online tool to find out how to register as an employer .
It may take up to 3 weeks to receive your employer reference number from HMRC after registering for PAYE. You can check your registration application status using HMRC’s online tool. This will tell you when you can expect to receive a reply.
You’ll also receive a separate letter with your activation code for PAYE Online . This should arrive within 10 working days of applying to register as an employer.
Not every employer is required to register for PAYE with HMRC. Therefore, you won’t need an employer reference number if:
However, even if you don’t need to register, you still need to keep payroll records detailing what you pay your staff.
Some businesses will have two or more employer reference numbers if they operate more than one PAYE scheme. However, you’ll only have one ERN if you’re running a small business in a single location.
The initial letter you receive from HMRC after registering as an employer will contain your employer reference number and your Accounts Office reference.
Your ERN is a unique identifier for your PAYE registration, while your Accounts Office reference is used to identify and link your PAYE payments to your PAYE Online account.
An Accounts Office reference is usually a combination of 13 characters in the following format:
It will look something like this: 123PX00123456 or 123PX0012345X.
Unlike ERNs, unique taxpayer references have nothing to do with employer registration or PAYE.
HMRC issues a unique taxpayer reference (UTR) to individuals who register for Self Assessment (e.g. sole traders) and to companies for Corporation Tax purposes.
There is no difference. While the official term is ’employer reference number’, many people refer to this identifier as a ‘PAYE number’ or ’employer PAYE reference’.
We hope this post answers all your questions about the employer reference number, including its purpose, what it looks like, how to get an ERN from HMRC, and where to find it.
If you’re looking to form a limited company and need to register as an employer, Rapid Formations offers an All Inclusive Package that includes PAYE registration. This is claimable at any point after company formation, allowing you to start paying employees’ wages or your director’s salary whenever the time comes.