Terms and
conditions.

1. About these terms

These terms govern access to smrc-pay.com, use of the public website and, where purchasing is enabled, orders for SMRC Pay licences. Please read them before using the website or placing an order.

The website and SMRC Pay are operated by SMRC PAY LTD, company number 17499973, registered in England and Wales. You can contact us at admin@smrcpay.co.uk.

2. When you accept the terms

By browsing or using the website, you agree to the website-use sections of these terms. If you install, activate or use released software, you also agree to the licence terms presented with that software. If you place an order, the product description, price, licence period, order confirmation and any terms shown at checkout form part of the agreement.

If you act for a company, partnership, employer, bureau, practice or other organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind it. If you do not accept the applicable terms, do not use the relevant website function or software.

3. Order of documents

If two documents conflict, the following order applies: first, any individually signed agreement; second, the order confirmation and product-specific terms; third, the End User Licence Agreement supplied with the software; and fourth, these general terms. The Privacy Policy explains how personal information is handled and does not reduce contractual rights.

4. Current product status

SMRC will label products and features according to their actual status. Payroll must not be used for live payroll or HMRC filing until the relevant release, validation and production connection are complete. Bookkeeping and SMRC Practice remain unavailable while marked “coming soon”. Draft screens, sample figures and roadmaps are illustrative and may change.

5. Website access

The public website is normally available without charge. We may change, suspend or withdraw any part for maintenance, security, legal or operational reasons. We do not promise uninterrupted availability or that every page will always be complete, current or free from errors. You are responsible for your connection, browser and device and for anyone using the website through them.

6. Acceptable use

You must use the website and software lawfully. You must not attempt unauthorised access; defeat licensing or security controls; introduce malware; probe, scrape or overload systems in a harmful way; use the service to infringe rights; or help another person do any of those things. Suspected criminal activity, including conduct covered by the Computer Misuse Act 1990, may be reported to the appropriate authorities.

7. Product descriptions and suitability

Before ordering, check the edition, employer and employee capacity, supported Windows version, licence period, included functions, exclusions and product-status notice. You are responsible for deciding whether the product suits your organisation, workflow, security arrangements and legal obligations. Product information is not legal, tax, accounting or payroll advice.

8. Prices and VAT

Prices on the website are stated in pounds sterling and exclude VAT unless the page clearly says otherwise. VAT will be added at the applicable rate. Before payment, checkout must show the selected product, total charge, licence period, renewal position and any other mandatory cost.

Monthly plans renew each month until cancelled. You may cancel a monthly plan at any time before the next renewal charge. Cancellation prevents future monthly charges; unless the order terms or applicable law say otherwise, access continues until the end of the billing period already paid for.

9. Orders, payment and contract formation

An order is an offer to buy the selected licence. A contract is formed when payment is accepted and SMRC sends an order confirmation. An automated acknowledgement that an order was received does not by itself mean the order has been accepted.

Payment will be handled by an identified payment provider. Do not send card information by email. We may refuse or cancel an order where payment fails, the price or description contains an obvious error, fraud is suspected, legal restrictions apply or the product is not available. If we cancel after taking payment, the amount taken for the cancelled item will be refunded.

10. Delivery and activation

For released software, the order confirmation will explain how to obtain the installer and activation details. Delivery is made to the email address supplied at checkout, so you must provide an address you control and check filtering or junk folders. Keep activation information confidential. Contact support promptly if confirmed delivery does not arrive.

11. The licence we grant

Subject to payment and continued compliance, SMRC grants the named customer a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to install and use the purchased edition for its internal business purposes during the stated licence period. Use is limited by the edition’s published employer, employee, device or practice capacity.

The software is licensed, not sold. No ownership of the software, source code, branding or documentation transfers to the customer.

12. Licence restrictions

You must not resell, sublicense, rent, publish or distribute the software or activation credentials; use one licence for more employers, people, devices or organisations than permitted; bypass activation or technical restrictions; copy the software except for a lawful backup; or reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble it except to the limited extent that applicable law does not allow that restriction.

13. Authorised users and administrators

The customer is responsible for deciding who may access the software and local files, removing access when a person no longer needs it and ensuring users follow these terms. Where a product supports multiple users or client files, the customer remains responsible for its users, clients, permissions and instructions.

14. Customer data

You keep ownership and control of data entered into the software. You give SMRC only the rights reasonably needed to provide a function you request, activate or support the product, protect the service and meet legal obligations. Our handling of personal information is described in the Privacy Policy.

You must have the rights, notices, lawful bases and permissions needed for information you enter, import, transmit or ask us to handle. Do not use SMRC to store or process information unlawfully.

15. Local files and backups

SMRC Pay is designed to keep payroll files and backups on the customer’s device or chosen storage location unless an online function clearly states otherwise. You are responsible for secure, tested backups; access control; device security; retention; and restoring your own data. Before an update, transfer or major change, make a separate recoverable backup.

16. Payroll, tax and HMRC responsibilities

You remain responsible for accurate inputs, settings and authorisations; checking calculations, payslips, reports and submissions; meeting payment and filing deadlines; and keeping evidence of acceptance or rejection. A draft XML file, status screen or local record is not proof that HMRC received or accepted a submission.

Live filing must not be used until SMRC identifies the function as released and the required HMRC onboarding, authorisation, testing and fraud-prevention controls are complete. SMRC does not act as your tax adviser or agent merely because you use the software.

17. Updates and system requirements

We may issue fixes, security updates and improvements. A supported update may be required for continued safe use or compatibility with law and third-party services. You are responsible for using a supported Windows environment, applying trusted updates and checking published requirements. We will identify material licence or price changes separately.

18. Support

Support is provided through the channels and scope published on the website. Unless expressly agreed, support does not include payroll processing, legal or tax advice, recovery of an unsupported system, correction of customer data or guaranteed response times. Never send passwords, card data, Government Gateway credentials or unnecessary employee records by ordinary email.

19. Third-party services

Some functions may depend on Windows, HMRC, pension providers, payment services, email delivery or other third parties. Their own terms, availability and technical rules may apply. A link or compatibility reference does not mean that SMRC controls or endorses the third party. We are not responsible for a third-party service outside our reasonable control, but this does not affect rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

20. Trials, samples and pre-release features

A trial, sample, prototype, beta or pre-release feature is supplied for evaluation and may be incomplete, change without notice or be withdrawn. It must not be relied on for live payroll, statutory filing or a production decision unless we expressly identify that version and function as released for that purpose. Test data should be used unless we tell you otherwise in writing.

21. Cancellation and refunds

Monthly plans: you may cancel at any time. Cancellation stops the next and later monthly renewals; it does not normally create a refund for the current billing period, and access continues until that paid period ends. We do not charge a separate cancellation fee.

Consumer cancellation period: if you buy as a consumer, you may have a 14-day right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. If you ask us to supply downloadable digital content immediately, we must first obtain your express consent to begin supply and your acknowledgement that the 14-day cancellation right will be lost once supply begins. If those requirements are not met, your legal cancellation rights remain.

After 14 days or immediate supply: once the applicable 14-day period has expired—or the cancellation right has been lawfully lost following the required consent and acknowledgement—payments are non-refundable except where a refund or other remedy is required by law, expressly promised in the order terms, or agreed by SMRC. Your statutory rights remain unaffected, including rights where digital content is faulty, not as described or not of satisfactory quality.

Business purchases and refunds outside statutory rights are governed by the terms shown before payment and the order confirmation. If SMRC cancels an accepted order without supplying the purchased licence, the payment taken for that cancelled item will be refunded.

22. Intellectual property

SMRC PAY LTD and its licensors retain their rights in the website, software, branding, documentation, design and related materials. You may print or save reasonable website extracts for lawful personal or internal business use. You must not republish, sell or commercially exploit website material without permission. Third-party marks belong to their owners.

23. Confidentiality

Each party must take reasonable care of confidential information received from the other and use it only for the agreement or as required by law. This does not cover information that is already public through no breach, was lawfully known without restriction, or is independently developed.

24. Warranties and legal rights

We will provide paid digital content with reasonable care and skill and in accordance with rights that apply by law. We do not promise that software will meet every individual requirement, prevent every user error or remain compatible with an unsupported device or third-party change. Website information and unreleased features are provided for general information and evaluation.

25. Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of rights that cannot lawfully be excluded, or any other liability the law does not permit us to limit.

For business customers, and to the extent permitted by law, SMRC is not responsible for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, revenue, anticipated savings, business opportunity or goodwill arising from website use or from matters the customer was responsible for checking, backing up or submitting. Any product-specific financial cap or different allocation of risk must be stated in the applicable licence or order terms. Consumer rights remain unaffected.

26. Suspension and termination

We may suspend access or activation where payment is overdue, a licence is used beyond its scope, security is threatened or these terms are materially breached. Where the issue can reasonably be fixed, we will normally explain what is required. On termination, the right to use the software ends, but provisions intended to survive—such as payment, confidentiality, intellectual property, data protection and liability—continue.

27. Events outside reasonable control

Neither party is responsible for delay caused by an event it could not reasonably prevent or overcome. This may include widespread network failure, failure of a public authority or essential third-party platform, natural disaster, industrial action or serious cyber incident. The affected party should take reasonable steps to reduce the impact.

28. Changes to these terms or the service

We may update website-use terms by publishing a new dated version. A material change to a paid licence will be communicated appropriately and will not retrospectively remove rights already accrued. If a future renewal is offered on different terms, those terms must be shown before renewal becomes binding.

29. General contract terms

You may not transfer a licence or contract without written consent, except where law gives you that right. We may transfer the agreement as part of a genuine business reorganisation or sale, provided your rights are not reduced. If one provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue. A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver. A person who is not a party to the agreement has no right to enforce it under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 unless the agreement expressly says otherwise.

30. Governing law, disputes and contact

These terms and any non-contractual dispute are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory right a consumer has to bring or defend proceedings elsewhere in the United Kingdom or in their home jurisdiction.

If a problem arises, contact admin@smrcpay.co.uk with the product, order reference and a clear description, but do not include confidential payroll records or credentials.