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Adding Statutory Maternity Pay in QuickBooks Online Core Payroll

by Intuit2 Updated 1 week ago

If your employee is eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), you must fulfil your legal obligation as an employer to pay them during their maternity leave.

Note: For information on SMP in QuickBooks Online Standard Payroll, see this article.

  • SMP is calculated on a weekly basis, even if the employee is paid monthly. 
  • The SMP calculation method cannot be changed. 
  • For new employees or if you switched from another payroll, the starter declaration is used to calculate the employee's leave entitlement, amount owed, and taxes and National Insurance contributions.
  • If your employee has the MATB1 form, QuickBooks will verify their entitlement to maternity pay, determine the start of their maternity leave and calculate the associated taxes and National Insurance contributions if applicable.
  1. Go to Payroll, then Employees
  2. Select your employee. 
  3. Select Start or Edit to open the Pay Types section.
  4. Select Add statutory leave
  5. Choose Statutory maternity pay
  6. Select the start and end dates of the leave.
  7. Enter the average weekly earnings.
    Note: QuickBooks automatically calculates this unless you are switching from another payroll system or have not run payroll in QuickBooks for at least 23 weeks before the baby's due date.
  8. Enter the expected due date and birth date of the baby (you can make changes in the ‘Leave periods’ section). 
  9. Save your changes. 
  1. Go to Payroll, then Employees
  2. Select your employee. 
  3. Select Edit to open the Pay Types section. 
  4. Next to the leave period, select the following:
    • To edit, select the pencil icon and make the necessary change, then Save
    • To delete, select the bin icon and then Delete to confirm. 
  5. Select Save.

More help

Looking for guidance on navigating QuickBooks Online Core Payroll? Check out this resource page with how-to guides to help you.

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