Auto Enrolment - Best Option

Auto Enrolment - Best Option

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Most of us in practice will have set up and dealt with a few AE schemes by now.

Personally, I've used Peoples, NOW! and NEST.   Of the three, I have to say that I have found NEST has been the easiest to use, partly because of those bloody csv files that the others use.

I'd rank Peoples in second place but, to be fair, I've only been operating NOW! for a couple of months and probably haven't sucked up all the information I need.

Anyone else got any thoughts ?

Replies (14)

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By jbaccsol
21st Aug 2016 21:52

Use moneysoft for payroll and have only experienced people's pension and nest but for my client base (small owner managed businesses) think nest is the one I would suggest to clients yet to stage. Monthly submissions from payroll work in the same way as rti so no csv upload and no set up fee with nest unlike people's pension.

Thanks (1)
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By Matrix
21st Aug 2016 23:17

I have not used those ones but I use True Potential and once you have done the first one it gets easier and takes minutes each month. You just generate a csv file in Moneysoft and then upload.

I will need to learn Nest so I can give clients more options - most are staging in 2017.

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By Matrix
21st Aug 2016 23:17

I have not used those ones but I use True Potential and once you have done the first one it gets easier and takes minutes each month. You just generate a csv file in Moneysoft and then upload.

I will need to learn Nest so I can give clients more options - most are staging in 2017.

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
22nd Aug 2016 11:02

NEST is certainly cheap and easy for us to set up and to upload contributions just like RTI, although I find it infuriating to then have to authorise payment as a separate exercise. For clients looking to do no more than comply with the minimum legal requirements and who may have several employees opting out, it is my preferred choice.

However, have a look at the fee comparison provided by Smart Pensions (about whom I make no comment one way or the other). NEST's annual charges against the employees' pension pots is 518% of Smart's, NOW! charges a staggering 1,158% of Smart's fees, but TPP's annual charges are only 66% of Smart's fees. TPP clearly offers a much better deal for the employees than either NEST or NOW!, albeit at a set up cost for the employer of £300 (via an adviser).

Thanks (4)
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By Alex_T
22nd Aug 2016 11:00

The majority of my clients have decided to go with Nest with one exception that chose Smart Pensions. I use BrightPay which allows me to upload the file directly from the payroll to both Nest and Smart Pensions similar to RTI. I have found both work well with my payroll software and no need for .csv upload which is a relief. Nest support is ok but I'm lucky that I've only called them a handful of times. My vote would be Nest followed closely by Smart Pensions.

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counting
By Counting numbers
22nd Aug 2016 11:50

I use IRIS and I too like the link straight to NEST. I think it’s also important to see if the AE scheme works with your payroll. NEST is straightforward enough. You do need to make sure the information that you set up in NEST is exactly the same as in your payroll. I learnt the hard way!!!

Thinking of trying Brightpay though due to IRIS’s increasing prices and the better auto enrolment with BP. I’m trialling moneysoft and BP at the moment and using the two parallel with one client. It’s a tad more expensive for BP but it does seem to be very easy to use especially for AE. Any thoughts on either? Both seem to have good reviews.

Also I just heard of primo payroll software. Anyone use that?? I’ve never heard of them. They claim on their website to be - The UK's first ever fully automatic Auto-Enrolment payroll system. Can’t see on their website if they link in with NEST. They seem to link in with smart pensions but I haven’t had any clients asking about this scheme. The top three in order of client preference are NEST, Peoples and NOW.

Useful link Euan - thanks.

Thanks (1)
counting
By Counting numbers
22nd Aug 2016 11:52

I use IRIS and I too like the link straight to NEST. I think it’s also important to see if the AE scheme works with your payroll. NEST is straightforward enough. You do need to make sure the information that you set up in NEST is exactly the same as in your payroll. I learnt the hard way!!!

Thinking of trying Brightpay though due to IRIS’s increasing prices and the better auto enrolment with BP. I’m trialling moneysoft and BP at the moment and using the two parallel with one client. It’s a tad more expensive for BP but it does seem to be very easy to use especially for AE. Any thoughts on either? Both seem to have good reviews.

Also I just heard of primo payroll software. Anyone use that?? I’ve never heard of them. They claim on their website to be - The UK's first ever fully automatic Auto-Enrolment payroll system. Can’t see on their website if they link in with NEST. They seem to link in with smart pensions but I haven’t had any clients asking about this scheme. The top three in order of client preference are NEST, Peoples and NOW.

Useful link Euan - thanks.

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counting
By Counting numbers
22nd Aug 2016 11:54

This double posting bug / issue is really starting to annoy me!! What's going on?

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Replying to Counting numbers:
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By zebaa
22nd Aug 2016 13:00

@counting numbers.

The bug is being 'looked at'. That is all the information I know. No word of when, but then there is a long list of things to be 'looked at' on the site.

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Replying to zebaa:
counting
By Counting numbers
22nd Aug 2016 14:23

zebaa wrote:

@counting numbers.

The bug is being 'looked at'. That is all the information I know. No word of when, but then there is a long list of things to be 'looked at' on the site.

Thanks. The old coming soon option ..... Just makes you look a bit stupid posting the same thing twice. Hope they fix it soon. Or just bring back the option to delete a post?

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FT
By FirstTab
22nd Aug 2016 13:29

100% of our clients opted for Nest. It is straightforward to manager through Bright Pay.

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By Alex_T
22nd Aug 2016 16:37

We looked at Iris, Moneysoft and BrightPay and eventually decided to go with BrightPay mainly because we found their auto enrolment offering better than Moneysoft at the time. We ruled out Iris very quickly after receiving their quote. The BP support team are always very professional, knowledgeable and most importantly happy to help. The software is straightforward and very user friendly. Couldn't fault it.
Best of luck!

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By ScribbleD
22nd Aug 2016 17:02

I now use BrightPay for payroll having moved from Moneysoft earlier this year. The vast majority of my clients have gone with the perceived 'cheap option' Nest but a couple have chosen Smart Pensions for the reasons @EuanMacLennan mentions. From an admin perspective there is little difference because a file can be submitted directly to both Nest and Smart Pensions from BrightPay which was mentioned earlier. However the fees comparison provided by Smart Pensions makes very interesting reading.. maybe it is the smart choice, if you excuse the pun.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
26th Aug 2016 07:54

Interesting comments.

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

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