HOW PENSION PLAYPEN HELPS

PAY ATTENTION TO THE PENSION

DON’T PRESUME PAYROLL SOFTWARE CAN COPE WITH ALL PROVIDERS

Payroll provider compatibility

  Offshore payroll

There is not a single payroll provider out there that works seamlessly with every provider. However, Sage have done a great job in working with the key ones.

Declare this to any provider you talk to, Many (including NEST) will only take money from UK bank accounts

THE AGE OF YOUR STAFF REALLY MATTERS

Mature staff with a long CV    Young tech savvy staff

Mature staff may have a number of “deferred pensions”, they would benefit from a scheme where they can bring their pots together and use the scheme to get pension freedoms. 

If your staff are mainly young and tech-savvy, look at tech-friendly schemes which offer phone friendly web-services

GET THE TAX-TREATMENT RIGHT FOR YOUR STAFF

Low earners with variable earnings and high earners with tax issues  If you have high earners with complicated tax affairs

If you have low earners who pay no tax beware schemes that operate a net pay arrangement (you may deprive staff of tax-relief  

Talk with your high-earners about tax-relief , they may need advice and could benefit from a net pay scheme

WHAT TO DO WITH PENSIONS YOU ALREADY HAVE

Existing workplace pension(s)

Take great care. Ask your existing provider if your scheme can be used for auto-enrolment and don’t assume it can. Even if it can, it may not be your best bet, shop around before committing. If you choose a new provider, check you can move the old scheme into the new one and whether this can be done without getting every member’s consent.

WATCH OUT FOR THE WISE GUYS!

Pension gurus on the payroll!

Bring them into the decision making process and make sure you have a way to compare all the schemes they’ll ask you to look at!

HELP YOUR STAFF TO HELP THEMSELVES

Staff wanting guidance and education at work

Some providers will allow members to pay for financial advice from their pension fund (adviser charging).  Other providers offer pension training either face to face or thorough distance learning within the standard price. Members cannot be forced to pay for financial advice as this would be considered “commission” and is banned.

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TRADE

Trade memberships

Your or your adviser’s trade association may have special terms with some providers. Examples include the FSB, the ICB and trade bodies for seafarers, charities and social housing organisations.  Even hairdressers have their own “special deal”. Beware , not all these deals are as special as they make out!

DEALING WITH ‘OFF-PAYROLL’ WORKERS

People eligible for a pension contribution you don’t even pay!

Just because you’ve assessed those on your payroll, doesn’t mean you’ve assessed your workforce. You need to check your contractors to make sure they don’t merit membership.  Be sure to tell your provider if you find personal service workers, they may not want to include them which could invalidate your scheme as a qualifying workplace pension

PLEASING THE INVESTMENT GURUS

Day traders on your staff

Talk with your staff, you may have an investment guru (or someone who fancies himself one!) There are some schemes that have sections for self-investment.

HOW PENSION PLAYPEN WORKS

PURCHASING TOKENS

To use Pension PlayPen alongside your Sage software, you must pre purchase tokens from a Sage representative.

Once purchased you will receive an email that will allow you to register and activate your tokens. Once you have used all your tokens you can purchase more from Sage and these will be credited to your account.

UPLOADING DATA FOR PRE-ASSESSMENTIf you are using Sage 50 payroll you can export data form your Sage

software to Pension PlayPen

We’ll tell you who is eligible, your contribution options and cash flow forecast.

QUOTES FROM PROVIDERSAs well as viewing these quotes online you can download them along with factsheets on each provider as a PDF.

DETAILED GUIDANCE ON EACH PROVIDER

REPORTS AND DUE DILIGENCEOnce you have completed your work and chosen a pension you will get an actuarial certificate from First Actuarial. This certificate warrants that you have followed due process and chosen your pension with due diligence. Along with this you can download your pension offers and workforce assessment.

SHARING AN ENQUIRYYou don’t have to compete the enquiry yourself. At any point you can share the enquiry with the final decision maker or colleague. Simply click the share button and add the recipients

SHARING AN ENQUIRYThe user is required to add some basic details of the recipient. This includes their Company PAYE Reference Number.

This is for security reasons and the recipient is required to enter this to gain access to the enquiry.