For UK building & construction
Petl is the pay run for UK contractors who pay subcontractors weekly. Your subbies log work in plain language, from site, in any chat. Petl turns it into a self-billed invoice, works out the right CIS deduction for each one, and lets you approve and pay everyone over open banking. One screen, no spreadsheets.
WhatsApp
Claude
Slack
Petl never holds your money. You approve every payment, and it settles from your own bank over open banking, or wallet to wallet in USDC. CIS is calculated and tracked, not filed, so always check your position at hmrc.gov.uk.
The problem
Most UK subcontractors still run the weekly pay off a group chat, a spreadsheet, and a bank portal. Someone rebuilds the records by hand, works out CIS in their head, keys payments one at a time, and hopes the labour and materials split is right.
It's slow, it's error prone, and it sits on the one person who can't afford to get CIS wrong. Petl turns the work your subbies log into a compliant pay run you approve in one place.
How it works
They describe what they did, from site, in WhatsApp, Claude, Slack, or the web. No app to download, nothing to set up. You can log it for them just as easily.
The message becomes a self-billed invoice on the subbie's behalf, with the right deduction applied to labour, materials kept separate, and everything tracked for the return.
Review the whole project on one screen, approve once, and pay every subbie over open banking. Nothing moves without your approval, and it all lands on your dashboard for reporting and reconciliation.
Log work in plain language. From any chat, or the app.
Who it's for
Petl fits the whole labour chain, from the operative logging work on site to the accountant closing the month.
Drylining, groundworks, M&E, fit-out, roofing. You pay operatives weekly under CIS and you've no in-house quantity surveyor. This is the pay run built for you.
Take a price, do the work with a gang, split the money. Petl handles multi-party splits so each share is paid and recorded, with CIS on every one.
The person who runs the Friday pay run gets one screen instead of a spreadsheet, a chat thread, and a bank portal. Approve once, pay everyone.
Log work in seconds, see the CIS deduction and what you'll take home, and get paid fast. No app, no login, nothing to chase.
Since April 2026 agencies carry more PAYE liability. Many are moving to direct engagement, which in construction means CIS. Petl runs that pay run cleanly.
Cleaner records, less month-end chasing. Petl keeps CIS calculated and tracked per subbie, ready for you to review and submit.
CIS, explained
Under CIS, a contractor takes a deduction from the labour part of a subcontractor's payment and passes it to HMRC. The rate depends on the subbie's status, and it applies to labour, not materials, plant, or hire.
Petl works out the right rate for every subbie, keeps labour and materials apart on each invoice, produces a payment and deduction statement, and tracks it all for the monthly return. Petl calculates and tracks CIS. It doesn't file it. For how one client payment splits across a gang or several trades on a build, see how to pay subcontractors across a project.
CIS is calculated and tracked, not filed on your behalf. Rules and rates change, so always check your position at hmrc.gov.uk before you rely on any figure.
Why now
Verification, monitoring, and clean digital records are shifting from nice-to-have to expected. Dates below are current at the time of writing, so confirm against gov.uk.
The first cohort, around 780,000 sole traders and landlords, came into scope. Many CIS subbies are sole traders, so digital records now matter for them directly.
HMRC can act immediately where a payment is connected to fraud, remove gross payment status on the spot, and the bar on reapplying rose to five years. Being able to evidence that you verify and monitor subbies is now the point.
Agencies, and in some cases end clients, can be liable for PAYE where an umbrella fails. The response many are choosing is direct engagement, which in construction means CIS.
The first quarterly update falls due. High salience for sole trader subbies and the accountants who serve them.
Checks are expected to extend to self-employed subcontractors and other working arrangements, with penalties per worker. Confirm the final position and date on gov.uk before you rely on it.
A further group, around 970,000 people, comes into scope, widening the number of subbies keeping quarterly digital records.
We're pursuing HMRC recognition so Petl can do more of the compliance heavy lifting over time. Today, Petl calculates and tracks CIS, keeps labour and materials apart, and produces payment and deduction statements ready for your return. It doesn't file on your behalf yet, so you or your accountant stay in control of what goes to HMRC. Always check your position at hmrc.gov.uk.
Capabilities
The right deduction on every subcontractor payment, 20, 30, or 0 percent, labour split from materials, tracked for the return.
Pay subbies and suppliers over open banking, across 45+ UK banks, with nothing moving until you approve.
Subbies log work in plain language from site, in WhatsApp, Claude, Slack, or the web. No app to install.
One price, split across a gang, each share paid and recorded, with CIS applied to every one.
The whole project in one place. Approve once, and pay everyone in a single run.
Query and action your pay run from Claude or ChatGPT through our MCP, which reads and writes, or build on the API.
Check a subbie's CIS status before you pay, built into onboarding.
The domestic reverse charge handled on the same invoice as CIS, treating materials the way each rule requires.
Push payments and deductions straight through to your ledger.
Questions
Petl Pay is the middleware that connects your project finance, internal tools, and the AI your team and clients already use, so one client payment flows out to every contributor.