Has anyone been told of the extra Sage Payroll fees for auto enrolment?

Has anyone been told of the extra Sage Payroll...

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I have just recently had my Sage account manager call me re Auto enrolment for my 30 payroll clients.

I only have 1 company (200 people) whose staging date is April 2014 for auto enrolment  the rest of my other small companies do not start till after August 2016.

Sage has told me that that are going to charge me over £850pa for only 1 company to get the add on module for payroll I will need for auto enrolment.

Is there any software out there that is not going to make this huge charge? as I know my smaller companies would not be able to afford it when the time comes & I certainly can't.

Replies (15)

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By MissAccounting
10th Dec 2013 14:41

Moneysoft

Ditch s*ge and switch to Moneysoft (or similar) and your problem will be solved and you'll also end up with better software.

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Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
10th Dec 2013 15:12

Sage pricing
If a product can't deal with a legislative change that will eventually become compulsory for all payrolls, such as Auto Enrolment, without an "optional" add-on, is that base product even fit for purpose?

It would be like me marketing a final company accounts package that does the P&L and notes ... but if you want the accounts to include a balance sheet then you have to pay for the optional balance sheet module.

I moved from Sage Payroll to Moneysoft when RTI was introduced - largely on the recommendation of Aweb users. I can't fault it. A fraction of the cost, more functionality and quicker to run payrolls.

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By Wieslaw
10th Dec 2013 15:29

Moneysoft again...

See http://www.moneysoft.co.uk/payroll-software/payroll-manager-pensions-auto-enrolment.htm on what they are bringing out in April...

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By MJ Green Accountancy
10th Dec 2013 16:28

I could be wrong but from my conversation with my Sage account manager, I was under the impression that the module you are referring to allows you to administer the pension scheme on behalf of your client along with a pension provider. I got the impression it basically allowed you to avoid having to go through an IFA firm and would therefore produce an additional revenue stream.

 

In addition to that conversation, I have had to download an update to my Sage payroll system in the last few days which includes a pension centre. This update didn't cost anything, I assume it just gives you the basic tools to deal with pension deductions in a more straight forward manner.

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Replying to NDH:
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By Kazmc
12th Dec 2013 15:23

...

MJ Green Accountancy wrote:

In addition to that conversation, I have had to download an update to my Sage payroll system in the last few days which includes a pension centre. This update didn't cost anything, I assume it just gives you the basic tools to deal with pension deductions in a more straight forward manner.

Hi there

I did my upgrade today but when you click on any of the new options ie, "send pension correspondence" you just get a screen saying you can upgrade to the new pensions module "from" 14.99 per month. We use SAGE 50 so not sure if any different?

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By maggied8867
10th Dec 2013 16:57

I have checked back with Sage and although there is an auto enrolement package, you need the "add on" to automate it otherwise you will need to spend between 5 -7 per person per month assessing them, okay if you've got a couple of people but no good for a payroll with 200 people.

There advice was to charge the client, but they will not pay the extra money & my other payrolls staging dates are over 2 years away, so they have suggested charging all of them extra now.

Is moneysoft only partly automated?

 

 

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By tom123
10th Dec 2013 21:54

Does the payroll really 'speak' to the pension software

I was working for a company with a staging date next year. I naively assumed my software (which was actually ADP) would run the calculations and in effect 'upload' my employees into the pension at Scottish Widows.

 

The reality is that I would still need my IFA to do all the usual pension paperwork - and there was no link between the payroll software and pension firm.

The last I knew was that we would need to prepare files (probably in CSV) and upload them onto Scottish Widows website.

 

What the software would do is 'assess' the workforce to tell me who needed to be enrolled. It didn't do the enrolling.

 

Not very 'auto' in my view. ADP told me that they didn't think any software did this.

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By Emma882
12th Dec 2013 15:07

I have spoken to SAGE about a number of our clients who are on SAGE 50 v19. 

They confirmed that v19 dowes not contain enough information for auto-enrolment, but v20 will. 

There are 3 ways to get the report information from v20

1. By running a number of the standard reports contained within version 20 and then manually amending them to crease one report in the specified format if all the relevant information is available (no cost to employer other than excessive manual time each payrun – 7-8 mins per employee)

2. By asking SAGE to build a bespoke report in the format specified by the pension provider (apparently this has a set cost of £200 + VAT)

3. By purchasing the ‘Pension Module’ (cost varies for each employer).  This module will contain the atatutory communications and reports for each of the major pension providers in their specified formats (although currently most pension providers reports are not available)

 

Option 2 is obvioulsy the easiest and most cost effective solution where an employer has an existing pension provider, but I understand that SAGE are not making this option common knowledge as they want to push for employers to purchase the Pension Module

 

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By MJ Green Accountancy
12th Dec 2013 17:13

@Kazmc

I didn't explore the options to be honest, I only clicked on the Pensions Module icon and saw it took you to an area with a number of instructional videos. As I haven't got any clients with staging dates until 2015 and most are 2016, I didn't pursue it any further.

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By Moonbeam
12th Dec 2013 18:49

I've spoken to Sage a few weeks ago

Yes, it is true that we are going to have to purchase this wretched module, which apparently will automatically download data to each pension provider's website. (I wonder how easy that will be).

I already charge one client £10 a month extra just to update 4 staff on his pension provider website and it's a fiddly job. If this module can do away with that work that would be fantastic. I note that some of the pension providers' websites are not very reliable so I can see fireworks ahead.

I am definitely going to be charging extra to cover the cost of the module. I still can't quite understand the charging structure but have been led to believe it's one monthly payment for each band of employees, so if you've only got a few employees on each payroll, you'll just pay once for the lower band. It's obviously unfair to up the charges for all companies as most of them have staging dates in 2015 onwards, but I have at least one big client whose staging date is Feb 2014, where I think I can cover my costs here.

As I haven't yet seen anything in writing from Sage I am extremely cautious at taking anything at face value from them.

As for instructional videos, all I have seen from Sage is basic promotional stuff made out to look as if it's helpful. Which of course it isn't.

I spent years building my own reports in Sage Payroll. They have gradually been degraded by the annual "upgrades" and are worse than useless now. I wouldn't pay Sage anything to write me a report that I can't rely on.

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By [email protected]
08th Apr 2014 12:25

I work at BrightPay so I am biased!

You might be interested in knowing that assessment, communications, deductions, opt outs/ins etc. are all included for no extra charge. Have a look at https://vimeo.com/thesaurussoftware/review/90877012/1986592409

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By chrisgms
18th Jun 2014 17:27

Sage Pension Module

We run a Payroll Bureau and have today been told by Sage that they will charge us £480 per year for a 50+ employee payroll.

This is daylight robbery.  And they know it.  Their sales agent says it will save me time and that is how they have priced it.

The advertised £14.99 per month is a marketing scam. That's for the very basic module for less than 10 employees.

I have been told by several Pensions providers that SAGE will not actually do all that they need it to do.

AE will hit us all hard. But I am looking for another software provider.

I feel very let down by Sage.  They feel they can charge what hey like.  Monopoly?

 

 

  

 

 

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By Camilla Winlo
15th Jul 2014 12:35

How do you solve this problem though?

Lots of good comments but sounds like a hard decision to make - find a way to cope with the cost, change all your payroll to something cheaper like Brightpay or Moneysoft, or look for some middleware or something that stops you needing to use the payroll auto enrolment module at all. What's the best way to jump?

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Replying to Wilson Philips:
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By Matthew Parkinson
07th Oct 2014 16:32

Which way did you jump?

Hi Camilla,

Just a quick comment to enquire if you managed to solve your problem, and which way you eventually jumped?  It would be great to learn form your experience?  We provide middleware, and our concern is that a majority of payroll bureaus seem to be relying upon similar expensive bolt-ons such as that which sage offers and charging the excess to the client. Did you ever consider a managed ae solution?

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By ashfieldacc
04th Aug 2014 16:05

NetPayroll (www.netpayroll.co.uk) will be providing a cost effective complete fully compliant one stop solution for payroll and auto enrolment processing. It is expected to be available by the end of the 2014/2015 tax year. It will be aimed primarily at employers who are looking for a solution that avoids having to transfer data out of existing payroll software into a 3rd party package. It will also have the feature of providing just the auto enrolment functionality to those who want to stay with their existing payroll software such as Moneysoft andwill give them the ability to upload payroll data to NetPayroll for their auto enrolment processing and compliance.    

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