Auto Enrolment - Help each other by sharing known problems

Auto Enrolment - Help each other by sharing...

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I thought it could be really useful to everyone involved in AE if we could all share our experiences and known glitches, so I will start the ball rolling. Would be really great if others could share too.

We use IRIS Payroll Professional

Now:Pensions

The csv file inserts the ER CODE in front of the 'PAYROLLNO'. This causes problems as the member is instructed to input their payroll number when setting up their online account which should match the information held by Now:Pensions but obviously the member would be unaware that the ER CODE had been put in front. We have been instructed to remove the ER CODE before uploading files.

Any employee 'on hold' will be picked up on all upload files. We have a client with a monthly and weekly payrun and someone who is normally weekly but is currently 'on hold' is being picked up on the monthly upload file. This causes the upload to reject. They have to be manually removed from the file before uploading.

The PAYCODE field is actually downloading the ER CODE causing the file to reject. Have to manually override the incorrect PAYCODE with the correct reference.

Royal London

The Joiner report is picking up the incorrect 'Annual Salary' field. Royal London have confirmed this should be the gross annual salary but the file is picking up that months qualifying earnings ie including bonus payments, overtime etc.

The Peoples Pension

The Peoples Pension are allocating 6 digit reference numbers which are included on the upload files, however, the payroll system can only hold 5 digits. Have to manually amend the reference on the upload file. IRIS can make amendments behind the scene but will need to have remote access to do so.

That's all I can think of for the moment but hopefully will save someone the hours I have spent trying to resolve rejected file problems.

Replies (15)

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By Alex_T
08th Feb 2016 14:29

Great idea!

Well done Kazmc, great idea. 

Thanks (1)
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By Cheesy-peas
08th Feb 2016 14:43

Moneysoft / Nest

If you have a pay reference period of Tax Month rather that calendar month then NEST requires the header of the input CSV to read 'Tax Monthly', not 'Monthly'

The Moneysoft output contributions CSV file says 'Monthly' regardless of the Pay Reference period

Thanks (3)
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By HuntFord
08th Feb 2016 15:45

NEST & IRIS Payroll Pro


We likewise use IRIS Payroll Pro. When we create NEST output files they always have the dates in the format DD/MM/YYYY. For some reason NEST asks for YYYY/MM/DD.

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By Kazmc
09th Feb 2016 10:29

Nest
I think we will be having our first client staging with nest soon so very helpful, thankyou

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Johny Fartpants Picture
By johnny fartpants
09th Feb 2016 11:47

Moneysoft / Royal London

Hi Kazmc. Great idea.

Moneysoft "Enrolment" Report (used for initial set up of opted in employees) shows "Annual Salary" as £0 (Moneysoft said this field is not a requirement but Royal London seem to insist it is included in the file) therefore csv file has to be manually adjusted for this. Otherwise process has gone pretty well. I love Moneysoft!

Thanks (1)
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By Kazmc
11th Feb 2016 09:57

Any more......

Thanks every one who has posted.

Any one have any more known glitches that you are willing to share?

Thanks (0)
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By DMGbus
11th Feb 2016 11:40

AE - what we need is...

In my opinion we need an unbiased[#] article AWeb that includes a table of features of particular payroll softwares :

Communications capabilitiesEase of communicating data to individual pension providors(*)

[#] NOT written by a pension providor or payroll software providor

(*) As individual pension providors have different information format rerquirements choosing an incompatible software could be an annoying and costly mistake.

We really do need to know for individual payroll products:

Which are seemlessly compatible with individual pension providorsWhich lack communication abilities (have only have limited capabilities)Can file pension data directly to pension providors averting the idiocy of payroll agents having to manipulate the layout / content of .csv data filesEase of use of the software productHow quickly support calls / issues are handled / dealt with

We also need to know which pension providors:

Are problematical to deal with (they need to become extinct in the AE context if they will not play ball)Insist on receiving data only by .csv file format as opposed to the latest deveopment of direct filing from payroll software (another case of certain pension providors needing to  be kicked out of the AE market to teach them a lesson which would hopefully be well learnt)Poor support regarding problems

Finally tables showing (for employers information) AE pension providor fees and (for payroll agents information) payroll software fees.

Thanks (1)
By Emma Braunton
11th Feb 2016 11:36

Aviva

The IRIS reports for Aviva had some errors in the headings (so that their systems wouldn't accept the data), IRIS have updated our system and tell us that these updates should be rolled out within the new update.

Thanks (1)
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By Jo Nokes
11th Feb 2016 13:09

NEST

I managed to file directly from Moneysoft, by one click, just like the RTI filing. Just one thing, though.  As you are about to file, the due date pops up in a box, and the default appears to be the date of the payroll. However, my client fixed the 22nd of the following month for his direct debit, so don't forget to insert the correct date.  I didn't, at first, and although Moneysoft showed accepted as a response, I ticked to see the NEST response, and this had an error message. An opaque message to be sure, but after digging out the NEST error codes, I realized it was the due date that was wrong

Thanks (1)
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By chocolate-eater
11th Feb 2016 23:12

@Jo - I am just searching on Moneysoft where you can automatically upload files but can only see the usual export as a CSV file.   Is there any additional steps to get this function and does it work for any other pension providers?

 

 

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Replying to paul.benny:
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By Jo Nokes
11th Feb 2016 23:26

Nothing special

I clicked on Pensions (top line after Employers), then Generate upload files, contributions, and then the due date box appeared. After entering the right date, and checking the OK box, the lightening symbol and click here to file narrative appeared , just as it does for RTI

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By Jo Nokes
11th Feb 2016 23:26

Sorry, I don't know about other providers. So far, NEST is all I have dealt with

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By chocolate-eater
11th Feb 2016 23:38

Thanks Jo - still can not see it on mine but maybe coming later.

 

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By PCBACFV
12th Feb 2016 01:34

PAPDIS Reports

The Payroll and Pension Data Standard "PAPDIS" was produced by a working party of payroll software and pension scheme providers and specifies a common data file format for submitting payroll data to the pension provider.

My payroll software (QuickBooks) has a button to hit to produce a PAPDIS report for a defined payroll period (separately or consolidating weekly payrolls into a monthly report) which produces a .csv file to be sent electronically to the payroll provider.

We intend to use it with the People's Pension (who are listed as accepting data in the PAPDIS format).

Does anyone have any experience of PAPDIS file submissions to The People's Pension (in particular do you have to submit any additional information e.g. on new employees, opt outs and leavers) and does anyone know if NEST accepts data in the PAPDIS format.

Also with regard to the problems identified above do you know if is the payroll software that cannot provide information to the PAPDIS standard - or whether it is the pension provider who requires a non standard input.  Looking at QuickBooks, it seems to cope with all the issues identified above (field lengths, dates etc.) but has anyone identified any other issues I should be aware of.

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Replying to PCBACFV:
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By Marianne
30th Nov 2016 11:14

Hi

Ive found this thread and would like to ask if you can offer some guidance with the uploading process.

I'm now supporting a client who uses Quickbooks who have signed with Peoples Pension and to date I have not yet experienced this combination.

As a Moneysoft user myself I wondered how you have got on with the uploads from QB and if there are any technical issues I need to be aware of to help my client?

I have already picked up a possible issue with TPP's 6 digit reference number. Does QB allow 6 digits in the software?

I obviously hope that most technical issues have now been 'fixed' but I would appreciate your response if there are any ongoing issues still.

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