Independent salary benchmarks for owner-managed company directors.
We work out what a director or executive role would actually pay on the open market, and we back it with sourced evidence. It comes as one clear document, built for the people who advise owner-managed businesses.
Owner-managed · 2026
Independent Market-Rate Benchmark
Managing Director · Owner-managed healthcare provider
We answer one question properly. What would this role pay on the open market?
Every benchmark sets out the rate for a specific director or executive job, with the comparator evidence behind it and a clear note on how we got there. It fits on a single page and it's built to hold up if someone challenges it.
We give you the evidence. What you do with it, and how it's treated for tax, stays with your client's accountant or solicitor. We don't advise on what to pay or how to pay it, and that's exactly what keeps the evidence independent.
Four moments where an independent figure changes the conversation.
Valuation & sale
Replacing the owner: EBITDA normalisation
When a business gets valued or sold, the owner's pay has to be restated to what you'd pay a hired manager to do the same job. We give you the independent figure behind that add-back, so it stands up when the buyer's side starts picking at it.
HMRC
Family-member pay justification
A spouse or a son is on the payroll, and HMRC wants to know the pay matches the actual job. That needs evidence, not an assertion. We show what the role pays at arm's length.
Pensions
Pension-contribution support
A big employer pension contribution has to sit inside a sensible total package. We evidence the market rate for the role, so you've got a solid basis for the whole thing.
Disputes
Disputes and earning capacity
In a shareholder fight, a divorce or a settlement, someone usually has to prove what a director could earn elsewhere. We provide independent market-pay evidence for the role, written to survive cross-examination.
Independence is the product.
A benchmark is only worth anything if it's objective. We've got no stake in the number. We don't recruit and we don't place people. We don't advise on what anyone should pay, or how it's taxed. Every figure comes from real comparator data and a method we'll happily show you, and it reads like the kind of standalone document you'd get from a valuer or an actuary. Because there's no agenda baked in, it backs up your file instead of competing with your advice. Where the number leads is for your client's own advisers to decide.
The same method, every time.
We pin down the role first. What it covers, the sector, the size of the company, the location. That's what makes sure the benchmark answers the real question.
We pull the comparator data, rank it by how reliable each source is, and run the same method every time to land on the market rate.
You get one citable report with the rate, the comparators and the method, ready to drop into a valuation, a filing or a case.
A single, defensible document.
- One page with the assessed market rate and range for the role
- Every source we used, cited and ranked by reliability
- A plain statement of the method, the scope and our independence
- Written to hold up against HMRC, a buyer's advisers, an opposing expert or a court
- Usually back with you within a few working days of agreeing the scope
Built for the professionals who advise owner-managed companies.
What advisers ask before instructing.
No. A Payband benchmark establishes the independent open-market rate for a role and nothing more. It is evidence, not advice. The deductibility, timing, tax treatment and the decision on how any remuneration is paid remain entirely with the client's own accountant or solicitor.
Each benchmark triangulates official and sector pay data, weighted by how closely each source matches the specific role, company scale, sector and location. Sources are tiered by quality and cited in full, so the figure can be tested against external evidence rather than assertion.
The report is prepared as a dated, sourced, independent record designed to withstand scrutiny from HMRC, an acquirer's advisers, an opposing expert or a court. Because Payband has no stake in the figure, it strengthens the file rather than competing with the client's own counsel.
We benchmark what it would cost to hire someone to do the working owner's job. That's the figure you use to restate owner pay in an EBITDA add-back. We give you the independent rate. The adjustment itself stays your call as the valuer.
Yes. When a spouse or family member's pay has to match the actual job they do, we give you independent evidence of what that role pays at arm's length. We don't advise on what to pay. Only on what the open market pays.
Tell us the role. We'll tell you what it's worth on the open market, and give you the evidence to prove it.
Independent benchmarks for valuers, accountants, expert witnesses and brokers across the UK. If your firm instructs us regularly, we'll set up a referral arrangement.
enquiries@payband.uk