The UK’s Trusted Nanny Payroll & Tax Specialists
From payslips to pensions, we handle every detail of your nanny’s payroll, quickly, clearly, and with care. You look after your family. We’ll take care of the admin.
Use our free nanny tax calculator to estimate costs
What is Nanny Payroll And Why do you need it?
Nanny payroll is basically the legit way to pay your nanny, it means handling taxes, pay slips, and government filings like a real employer instead of paying cash under the table.
It keeps you compliant with the law, protects both you and your nanny, and shows you’re a responsible employer who respects their work. Beyond avoiding fines or audits, payroll ensures your nanny gets proper benefits, social security contributions, and employment records that actually matter.
Plus, automating payroll saves you time, stress, and messy paperwork. Bottom line: if you trust someone with your kids, pay them right — nanny matters makes it simple, legal, and stress-free.
Nanny payroll
- Unlimited advice
- Responsive payroll team
- Contract templates
- One annual fee of £260*
- HMRC registration
- No hidden charges
Nanny Pensions
- Submit pension declarations
- Apply calculations to payslips
- Set up the pension scheme with NEST
- Manage communications
- Manage the payments
- From £90 per annum*
How much does a nanny cost?
Trying to work out the cost of a nanny? This is a great place to start. Enter a gross figure into our free nanny calculator to see the nanny's tax based on their personal tax situation. This gives you an accurate picture of the tax and National Insurance payable.
Why choose Nanny Matters For Your Payroll Needs?
We’re not a call centre.
You won’t be stuck in voice-menu limbo. We aim to pick up in 3 rings or less, always with a real human on the line.
Fast email response.
We aim to reply within 4 hours, and never longer than 1 working day.
Digital-forward, always.
We’re building more self-serve tools, dashboard features, and smart automations to make your life easier.
Super quick onboarding.
Once you register, we can get things moving in just one working day.
Simplifying Nanny Payroll and Tax for Parents Since 2002
NannyMatters have been providing professional nanny payroll services and expert tax advice to parents since 2002. For one affordable annual fee, we take the stress out of becoming an employer. Our team handles your nanny tax responsibilities, pension setup, employment contracts, and HMRC paperwork, so you don’t have to.
Our website guides you through everything involved in employing a nanny, including contracts, tax, pensions, holidays, sick pay, and nanny sharing. Whether you’re hiring your first nanny or switching payroll providers, we’ll make the process simple.
Got more complex needs? Check out our Expert Help section for advice on holiday pay, term-time contracts, nanny shares, and childcare vouchers.
Confused about nanny pensions? Visit our Pensions page to learn what’s required and when it applies.
Not sure about costs? Use our Nanny Tax Calculator below for a quick estimate.
Based in Bristol, NannyMatters proudly supports families across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland with trusted, personal service.
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Frequently asked questions
Any other considerations?
Think carefully and plan in advance for everyone’s holidays. Think too about what will happen when the nanny is sick. Will a parent stand in and look after all the children? And when the children are sick, are all parties happy for the nanny to cancel the day’s activities and share the germs like one big family?
You should also agree to give each other plenty of extra notice when one family decides that the share is no longer for them. This will give the other family time to find a replacement share partner or make alternative plans.
What rate should I pay?
Generally, a nanny will expect a higher pay rate if she is looking after two families at the same time. Note the distinction: it’s not the number of children that necessarily makes the difference, it’s managing the needs of two different families.
The amount varies considerably, but could be an extra £2 p/hr, or an extra 20% (just as examples).
Whatever the type of share, there is one overriding consideration: never, ever agree a net rate. In a share situation you simply cannot run the risk of a dispute over who pays extra taxes, nor can you expect your share partner to pick up unexpected costs. If you do find yourself negotiating a net, all is not lost: we can translate it into a gross offer for you.
One employer or two?
Nannyshares can be particularly confusing, and there is a lot of conflicting advice about the best way to deal with nannyshare payroll. That’s because it varies from situation to situation.
In a clear cut share where one family uses the nanny for 2 days and the other for 3 days, that’s a two-employer situation, with two separate payrolls.
In a joint share arrangement, when the nanny looks after both families for 5 days, that’s normally a one-employer situation, with all the wages going through one payroll. However, you may feel strongly about keeping the finances separate, in which case two employers may be more appropriate.
Many shares fall somewhere in between, so they all have to be looked at on their own merits. Ask for our helpsheet explaining how we can help.
Will a nannyshare give me significant savings?
Nannysharing is a great way to access all the benefits of your own nanny, at a significantly reduced cost. However, it must be set up properly, with each family aware of their responsibilities. DO NOT enter into a share with your eyes closed!
Is paying the actual hours worked any easier?
This method requires a bit of counting and keeping track, but we have ways of simplifying that. The main benefits are complete flexibility and transparency. However, if there are significant peaks and troughs, both employer and nanny may pay more in National Insurance.
Sometimes we use both methods, e.g. the core hours make up an annual salary and then any extra hours worked during the school holidays are paid at the time.
Whatever your arrangement, we’ll find the best method to suit you and your nanny.
How do you spread the pay evenly?
We do this by paying 1/12 of the nanny’s annual salary each month, regardless of when the school holidays fall. We work out the annual salary by looking at the hours worked in term-time and in school holidays and adjusting for paid annual leave. The arrangement is popular because it helps both parents and nannies to budget. We can easily adjust for extra hours as and when they are worked.
How do you work out different hours in and out of term times?
This is another subject that causes concern, but many nannies work variable hours and we easily manage the pay.
Some work term-time only, others top and tail in term-time and work full days in the school holidays. Whatever the arrangement, parents and nanny need to decide if they want to pay the actual hours worked each month, or spread the pay evenly across the year.
How should you handle maternity leave?
Maternity is often a source of concern to parents, because they know from experience the impact a pregnancy can have. However, in practice it is much easier to deal with than sick leave, because you know when the baby is coming and can plan accordingly.
Also, the full cost of the SMP (Statutory Maternity Pay) is met by HMRC up front, so that you are not out of pocket. There are extra holidays to plan for, employer pension contributions to maintain and there is also the administration of the SMP payments, but NannyMatters take care of that for all our clients, at no extra charge.
The nanny is off sick, what do you do?
If your nanny is sick, you don’t have to pay her anything at all until her 4th consecutive day off. That’s when SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) kicks in, at the rate of £118.75 per week. To be clear, the first 3 days are generally unpaid.
If the nanny has been with you for some time, and never been sick before, you might decide to pay her anyway. However, if sick leave causes you a major childcare meltdown, you might prefer to make the deduction from pay, and reward reliability instead (perhaps with a Christmas bonus, or some extra holiday days).
Can a parent refuse a particular holiday request?
Yes, provided they allow the nanny to take the holidays at another time, before the end of the holiday year. If the nanny requests holiday at a time that is simply too inconvenient, then the parent can deny the request. That’s why it is so important to get the holiday authorised before making a booking.
