Enhanced maternity for company director

[Redyarn]

Hi wise Mums,
looking for some advice as it seems my accountant is rubbish!
As the sole director of a Ltd company, I know I can claim SMP, but does anyone know if I can take ‘enhanced maternity’ e.g either full salary (PAYE) or an upfront maternity ‘bonus’ if funds in the company permit? Do I need to put this in place in an employment contract?
Essentially hoping to take money out of the company in a tax efficient fashion to survive over maternity leave before company accounts are due. Any help welcome!

Does anyone have any advice?

Absolutely. You can pay yourself full salary if you want over your maternity leave. It's no different than being employed and them paying you full salary as part of their maternity package.

HMRC won't care as long as you are paying the correct tax. Technically you should have something written down but if you were audited you could always knock something up then. But lots of small companies only quickly write their maternity leave policy once someone on the payroll becomes pregnant