Essential Questions to ask your Payroll Software Provider

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Essential Questions to ask your Payroll Software Provider

How to choose a quality scheme and not get

lost trying to navigate the auto-enrolment jungle

By Paul Byrne

By Griselda Williams

By Paul Byrne

Essential Questions to ask

your Payroll Software Provider

By Griselda Williams

How to choose a quality scheme

and not get lost trying to navigate

the auto enrolment jungle

Q&A Session

Questions Tab or #BPWebinars

Competition

Two BrightPay 2015/16 bureau licences

On Demand

This session is being recordedREC

Q&A

WIN

Essential Questions to ask your

Payroll Software Provider

• Accountancy Practice for 20 Years

• Payroll software development

• Expanded into the UK – BrightPay & Bright

Contracts

• 80,000 employers across the UK & Ireland

use our products

Paul Byrne

• Assessing employees

• Option of postponement

• Handling opt-outs and refunds

• Supporting employee communications

• Recording and reporting

• Integration with pension providers

• Hidden charges

Agenda

Assessing Employees

Assessing Employees

Eligible Jobholders

• Aged between 22 and State Pension age

• Earn more that £10,000 per year

• Work, or ordinarily work, in the UK

Assessing Employees

Entitled Workers

Non Eligible Jobholders

Eligible Jobholders

Assessing Employees

Assessing Employees

• Manual employee assessment – time consuming & monotonous

• A key feature in payroll software is the ability to assess employees

automatically

• Ongoing basis – assess employees without user intervention

• Enrolling employees should be quick and seamless

• Batch processing – allow you to enrol multiple employees at the

same time

Option of Postponement

Option of Postponement

• Option to postpone for up to 3 months

– Temporary rise in earnings

– Align assessment dates

– Contractual workers

• Six weeks to issue communications

• Deferral date – reassess and enrol if

necessary

Option of Postponement

• Payroll software must be able to

handle postponement

• Choose a deferral date within 3

months of the staging date

• Notifications when deferral date is

reached

• Postponement communications

Handling Opt-Outs & Refunds

Opt-out’s & Refunds

• The decision must be made by the employee

• Must opt out within opt-out period, which is one month from:

– when active membership is created

– from when they receive your letter with the enrolment

information

• Otherwise they are ‘ceasing active membership’

Opt-out’s & Refunds

• If an opt-out request is received, you must stop deductions and

arrange a full refund

• Usually the refund will be processed in the next payroll after you

get the opt-out notice

• The refund of contributions will depend on the individual pension

scheme

• Payroll software must be able to process opt-out requests for an

employee and refund any contributions

Employee Communications

Employee Communications

• Write to all employees – how auto enrolment applies to them

• This must be done in writing and within six weeks of the staging

date

• Different information needs to be communicated with each of

the employee categories

• Right person, right information, right time

Employee Communications

• Eligible jobholders:

– Explain that they have been enrolled

– Provide details of the pension scheme you’ve chosen for them

– Contribution amounts

– Have the right to opt out if they wish to do so

Employee Communications

• Non-eligible jobholders:

– Have a right to opt-in to the pension scheme

– Explain how automatic enrolment applies to them

• Entitled workers:

– Have a right to join a pension scheme

– Explain how automatic enrolment applies to them

Employee Communications

• Postponement communications

• Inform staff that they have been postponed and that they will be

re-assessed on the deferral date

• Explain that they will be enrolled on this date if they meet the

relevant criteria

• Must be sent to all staff within 6 weeks of staging date

• If this communication is not sent, postponement is void

Employee Communications

• It’s useful to send communications around the same time as you

submit the pension file

• If the pension provider does not have record of the employee it

will make opting out difficult

• Your payroll software should be able to produce the required

employee communications for you.

• If the pension scheme is handling the communications, payroll

software should allow you to turn off communications reminders

Record Keeping and Reporting

Record Keeping & Reporting

• You must keep record of the following:

– records about jobholders and workers

– gross qualifying earnings in each pay period

– employer contributions payable in each pay period

– the total amount payable in each pay period

– any opt-in, joining or opt-out notices

– copies of any postponement notices

– records about the pension scheme

Record Keeping & Reporting

• You must keep these records for six years and opt-out notices for

four years

• Existing business documentation for collecting and storing

records

• Notices must be retained in the original format

• They may authorise the third party to keep, preserve or provide

the records on their behalf

Record Keeping & Reporting

• Ask your payroll software provider

about reporting features

• Useful way to access historic data

• Flexible reporting - customise your

own reports

Integration with Pension Providers

Integration with Pension Providers

• Key consideration when choosing a payroll software package

• Ensure your chosen pension provider is catered for in the payroll

software

• This allows you to prepare enrolment and contribution files in the

correct format for the chosen pension provider

Integration with Pension Providers

• Ensure payroll software has NEST integration – submit files directly

from the software, reducing time and workload

• In BrightPay, this will work very similarly to RTI where submissions

are made directly from the software

Hidden Costs

Hidden Costs

• Beware of hidden costs

• Some payroll software providers charge for:

– AE Functionality

– Additional Employees

– Support

• Be aware of all charges that may be incurred

Automate & Streamline AE Tasks

Automate & Streamline AE Tasks

• Payroll software will play a key role in ensuring the success of AE

• Without appropriate tools, bureaus will need additional time and

resources to cope with auto enrolment

• Check with your payroll software provider to establish how it

handles automatic enrolment

• Test the software well ahead of your staging date

Automate & Streamline AE Tasks

• BrightPay – an integrated payroll and auto enrolment software

solution

• Allows you to streamline AE tasks, saving you both time and

money

• Designed to take all of the grunt work out of AE

• Makes the AE process effortless and uncomplicated for small

business owners and bureaus alike

How BrightPay Handles Auto Enrolment

* Offer applies to new customers who switch to BrightPay from another payroll software provider for the first year subscription

only. This offer applies to BrightPay 2015/16 bureau licence only and does not work in conjunction with any other offer.

Essential Questions

Does Your Payroll Software...

Assess your workforce

Allow the use of postponement

Automate employee communications

Calculate pension contributions

Handle opt-ins and joining’s

Handle opt-outs and refunds

Notify you when actions need to be

taken

Keep records and provide reports

Integrate with various pension

providers

By Griselda Williams

How to choose a quality scheme

and not get lost trying to navigate

the auto enrolment jungle.

http://bit.ly/1H30vPA http://bit.ly/1KAZfa4 http://bit.ly/1xJEJsG

Tuesday 16th February @ 11.00 am

https://www.brightpay.co.uk/events/1039/

CPD Accredited:

Auto Enrolment Training for Payroll Bureaus

By Paul Byrne & Victoria Clarke

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Questions & Answers