Fee for Maternity / Paternity processing

Whats a typical fee for this work?

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Just out of interest I've processed a couple recently and wondered what others charge for this burdensome task?

Work includes collecting MAT B1, sc3 forms, advising, calculating rates etc, advance funding claim, processing via payroll and then dealing with the inevitable mis-allocations on HMRC PAYE online account - so I therefore keep a carefully PAYE reconciliation during SMP months.

I've been resentfully charging £195 as its about covered by the 3% compensation on a typical £6,000'ish claim but I reckon my time cost would amount to nearer £1,000 mark. What do you charge?

Replies (20)

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RLI
By lionofludesch
05th Oct 2018 13:20

A lot less than £1000.

Calculating pay rates ? Have you not heard of software to do this ?

I've did one for a client in July. Stuck the numbers into the software, claimed funding, advised the client what to pay (which I'd do anyway, so no extra time there). Probably took me 1 - 1½ hours. If you estimate your costs at £1000, you need to look at more efficient ways of working. £195 is far too much for this simple, routine task.

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By Livepay
05th Oct 2018 13:52

We don't charge any extra as it is all part of the payroll process and included in our pricing to clients.

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By SteveHa
05th Oct 2018 14:00

As above, this is just a part and parcel of processing payroll. I suspect you'll lose clients very quickly if you start itemising payroll tasks in order to bill them separately (at well above any value).

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By mbee1
05th Oct 2018 15:32

Same here. It's part of the payroll process and no additional fees.

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ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
05th Oct 2018 16:21

Ditto - just included. If I had an hourly rate of £1k, I’m still it sure now my additional WIP would be £1k.

Client says “Here’s the MATB1”, you enter a few dates in your software, then another when SML starts. 5 mins work. Add in some generous correspondence, say 20 minutes all in.

Out of curiosity, what’s your charge out rate to hit £1k WIP?

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By Matrix
05th Oct 2018 17:37

I don't charge extra as most clients have the same pay each month and then once or twice a year have joiners/leavers/ssp/smp.

The most work is the pensions so I may change my fees for that but I have never charged for entering SMP in the software or making calls to HMRC.

If you are not happy with your payroll charging structure then build in a bit of a buffer so you don't have to charge for extras.

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By chewmac
05th Oct 2018 18:56

.

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By clark.hall
05th Oct 2018 18:58

Maybe just me that finds them such a nuisance. It’s just never as simple as should be. Only the other day a client received a PAYE debt management letter chasing exactly the funded OSPP amount. Simply a case of lag on HMRC systems.

But what I will say is- as there’s a separately identifyable piece of work for which we take responsibility and for which the clients receives 3% HMRC compensation shouldn’t we be charging them at least something equivalent - around £150-200 mark? It’s an easy enough one to explain and don’t we absorb enough unpaid, unrecognised admin?

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Replying to clark.hall:
By Moonbeam
06th Oct 2018 08:43

I was surprised to see that most people don't charge extra for different things on the payroll. I do. I charge oneoff £17 a person for new SMP and SPP. Clients often need lots of educating and that cost doesn't really cover the time it takes to get the information. The charge is £32 for new SMP person in company enhanced SMP scheme.
I charge £6 a month for EPS.
I think payroll is a minefield, even when you've done everything right.
HMRC's systems are so awful that you could spend more than half a day trying to work out why they've got different information - as I did last year. I didn't feel I could charge the client as it turned out the problem related to a payroll run several years previously when my version of Sage had a "known error"(eg only known to Sage and HMRC) and transmitted the wrong P45 information for a joiner via the FPS.
So its important for me to charge via a menu system that is clear to the clients, that pays me for my time.

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Replying to Moonbeam:
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By mbee1
08th Oct 2018 11:50

Moonbeam wrote:

I was surprised to see that most people don't charge extra for different things on the payroll. I do. I charge oneoff £17 a person for new SMP and SPP. Clients often need lots of educating and that cost doesn't really cover the time it takes to get the information. The charge is £32 for new SMP person in company enhanced SMP scheme.
I charge £6 a month for EPS.
I think payroll is a minefield, even when you've done everything right.
HMRC's systems are so awful that you could spend more than half a day trying to work out why they've got different information - as I did last year. I didn't feel I could charge the client as it turned out the problem related to a payroll run several years previously when my version of Sage had a "known error"(eg only known to Sage and HMRC) and transmitted the wrong P45 information for a joiner via the FPS.
So its important for me to charge via a menu system that is clear to the clients, that pays me for my time.

Wow. £6 per month for an EPS which, in most cases its just a button press, and £32 if an employee gets pregnant and all these on top of your normal monthly or quarterly payroll charge? Surprised you've got any payroll clients at those prices.

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Replying to mbee1:
By Moonbeam
08th Oct 2018 12:14

@mbee. EPS is not "just a button press". You have to remember to do it and so much else every month. I have to set up schedules for each client to make sure I do everything right each month.
If you've ever had to work out the difference between the company SMP scheme and the state scheme bearing in mind all sorts of other issues you will know you need to set up a spreadsheet comparing the company payment and the state payment etc etc. £32 to set up this sheet is fair for me and no-one has queried it.
Some of my clients are 40 person companies. Maybe your client list has different characteristics than mine for payroll.
Anyway, no-one's complaining.

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Replying to Moonbeam:
By SteveHa
08th Oct 2018 13:20

Moneysoft reminds you, so you don't even need to remember. It is literally a couple of clicks, that takes seconds.

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Replying to SteveHa:
RLI
By lionofludesch
08th Oct 2018 13:39

Let's not get involved in the minutiae.

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By WhiteRose
06th Oct 2018 08:45

For me, it’s part and parcel of payroll processing. Maybe you should revisit your charging structure? I charge on a “per payslip” basis, with a minimum fee. You should expect to have to deal with the odd coding query from time to time.

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Replying to WhiteRose:
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By mbee1
09th Oct 2018 08:40

WhiteRose wrote:

For me, it’s part and parcel of payroll processing. Maybe you should revisit your charging structure? I charge on a “per payslip” basis, with a minimum fee. You should expect to have to deal with the odd coding query from time to time.

Similar here. I have a flat standing charge per month plus so much per employee invoiced quarterly at the same time they pay the tax and nic over to HMRC so those months do take a little longer as I reconcile the payment for the previous quarter and I raise an invoice.

I don't diarise the submissions though. Once the employer has approved the payroll the payslips are, in most cases, emailed through to the employees and I submit the FPS and EPS at the same time.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
06th Oct 2018 08:56

I'm still at a loss to understand how time costs could've mounted up to £1000.

I wouldn't have spent so much time if I'd calculated the SMP by hand, without a calculator.

And that 3% ? It's supposed to be compensation for NIC costs, not payroll agents' fees.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By clark.hall
06th Oct 2018 12:06

Maybe a little exaggeration but I stand by it's never one hour, done and dusted.

About the 3% it hadn't dawned on me! But, ok, ok, you've convinced me - I'll not increase my £195 then ;-)

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By Mr Hobbit
10th Oct 2018 17:00

As others have already mentioned, most payroll software packages offer automated SMP and SPP calculations so therefore it shouldn't be necessary to charge for that service. BrightPay practically does the work for me so I simply charge my clients' a set fee for payroll.

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