How do I actually claim the Employment Allowance in my payroll software?

It's effectively a tick-box, but the tick-box lives in the EPS rather than in the payroll run itself. In most payroll software you claim Employment Allowance by setting the Employment Allowance indicator on your Employer Payment Summary (EPS) — once HMRC receives it, the allowance is applied against your employer NICs bill automatically, up to £10,500 for 2026-27. You must make the claim each tax year — it doesn't roll over automatically. Your instinct on single-director companies is right: you can't claim where the only employee paid above the secondary threshold is a director, so a one-director company with no other staff is excluded. Also watch out for connected companies: only one claim is allowed across the group, so the connected companies must agree which one claims. If your software doesn't show the option, check the employer settings or your software's help pages for the 'Employment Allowance indicator' — every HMRC-recognised payroll product supports it.