Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) in QuickBooks Advanced Payroll

Statutory Paternity Pay is available for qualifying employees whose partner is having a child, adopting a child, or having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement.

This article will cover:

• Add SPP
• Check the amount of SPP recovered from HMRC

Before you start

Want to find out if your employee qualifies for SPP? Take a look at the employer guidance. It's got all the info you need, from entitlement and eligibility to notice periods and more.

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Add SPP

1. Go to Payroll, and then Employees.
2. Select the employee you want to add SPP for.
3. Select Statutory/Occupational pay.
4. Select Add.
5. Select Statutory Paternity Leave from the options.
6. Enter the start date.
7. Enter the baby's due date. If the SPP is for adoption, use the matching date instead of the expected due date.
8. QuickBooks automatically calculates the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE), but you can enter the correct amount in certain cases, like when switching from another payroll software.
9. The View log will show the info used to determine eligibility, such as the employee's start date and the calculation of their AWE.
   • If you choose to offset the SPP, check the box. This will reduce the employee's salary payment by the amount of SPP paid, so their overall pay remains the same. If you don't tick the box, the employee will only receive the SPP payment. Any pending or processed payments will be listed with their status.
   • All upcoming payments will be listed with their current status, which could be either pending or processed.
10. In the Advance Settings section you have 4 options:
    • Set employer pension protection: If you enter a figure here, it will override the employer pension amount in the pay run.
    • Do not pay: If you choose this option, you can select a reason from the dropdown menu. This will create a link to the SPP1 form for you to complete and give to your employee.
    • Pay lump sum: If you prefer to pay the SPP in one lump sum.
    • SPP Adjust: This option allows you to make adjustments to the SPP within the pay run. It's useful if a backdated pay rise has affected the SPP amounts.
11. If you need to, select Add to attach any necessary files.
12. Add notes to the employee's record.
13. Select Save.

QuickBooks will automatically apply payments in each pay run and update the record after finalising the pay run.

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Check the amount of SPP recovered from HMRC

1. Go to Reports.
2. Look for Payroll HMRC reports, and select P32 Report.
3. Select the tax year.
4. Select the NI deductions summary tab.

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