SB: Maternity pay - very confused!

cmac

hi gordonstights I know it really is a lot
Im having another accountant look at it at present it seems that my accountant over claimed by this amount and because some funding was put as credit on my PAYE and others as cheques to my company I wasnt aware that id had more funding than i should have. and somehow its me that has to pay for this mistake.

Pennywise

When we do it for our one personal limited company clients, we run the payroll for the full tax year in advance so we know exactly what SMP is payable, the SMP compensation, and the PAYE/NIC due on the SMP and other wages for the full year. Takes about 10-15 minutes to run the payroll and print off all the reports but we use probably the best small business payroll software https://www.moneysoft.co.uk which would cost you just £50 p.a and is a lot easier than Sage, the HMRC's own CD or doing it manually. We send the reports through to HMRC with our claim for the shortfall to cover the SMP and get their cheque back within a few weeks.

Of course, it gets complicated if you change your wages level or dates etc., but that is fairly unlikely if you're "the boss" and don't have other employees.

sarah1980

Pennywise wrote: »

When we do it for our one personal limited company clients, we run the payroll for the full tax year in advance so we know exactly what SMP is payable, the SMP compensation, and the PAYE/NIC due on the SMP and other wages for the full year. Takes about 10-15 minutes to run the payroll and print off all the reports but we use probably the best small business payroll software www.moneysoft.co.uk which would cost you just £50 p.a and is a lot easier than Sage, the HMRC's own CD or doing it manually. We send the reports through to HMRC with our claim for the shortfall to cover the SMP and get their cheque back within a few weeks.

Of course, it gets complicated if you change your wages level or dates etc., but that is fairly unlikely if you're "the boss" and don't have other employees.

Thanks for this - my accountact does all my Payroll so I have no clue as to what software they use!

piranha

hi, just wondering what you ended up doing.
i applied for maternity allowance but as i didnt supply smp1 i am being refered to hmrc.
also was told i could apply for housing benefits but they also want a letter from employer confirming final date of work.

i also dont have much money to pay myself smp and havent been 'earning' for ni , also accountant wouldnt help saying i could claim back.

thank you

Miss_Beaumont

I was in the same situation. I was running a Limited company when I was pregnant and needed maternity pay.

The accountant sorted everything. SMP of around £420 a month. (but they charged me £20 a month to process it) and I simply had to choose when to start claiming.

Your accountant should be able to advise on everything and fill in all the paperwork, otherwise change accountants ;o)

The only annoying thing was it was all paid via a cheque (which arrived by the post). So a newborn baby and a trip to the bank five miles away every month... handy when you don't have a car...

Anyhow, good luck with everything, hope you get it sorted.