Welcome to Barrywills Accountant Auto-Enrolment Service, a complete solution from planning to completion. We have helped hundreds of businesses meet the Auto-Enrolment compliance and provide advisory on how best to setup their structures.
PENSIONS AND AUTO ENROLLMENT
A COMPLETE
AUTO-ENROLLMENT SERVICE
WHAT IS AUTO ENROLLMENT & WHO DOES IT APPLY TO?
Auto-enrolment was put into place by the UK government through the Pensions Act 2008 in an attempt to put all workers in pension schemes. The government project requires all employers in the UK to put their staff into pension schemes in order to contribute to the employee’s pension scheme.
You must comply with the Act if you own a business that employs one worker or more, you’ll need to:
- Set up a workplace pension scheme that meets the new rules
- Automatically enroll all eligible workers
- Pay contributions into the retirement pots (pensions) of eligible workers
- Enroll other workers if they ask to join the scheme
OUR SERVICE
Welcome to Barrywills Accountants Auto-Enrolment Service, a complete solution from planning to completion. We have helped hundreds of businesses meet the Auto-Enrolment compliance and provide advisory on how best to setup their structures.
01.PLANNING
Unless you are already late in the process, businesses should ideally start planning as early as possible to ensure a smooth implementation.
At this stage your dedicated accountant will work closely with you to understand your staging date (date when you are obliged to comply with legal to auto-enrol all or some of your eligible staff). We can help postpone your staging date by up to 3 months if required.
You can find out more about your staging date through here. https://automation.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/reenrolmentdate
At this stage we will also identify your eligible employees or entitled employees to determine who needs to be enrolled.
HOW TO DETERMINE AUTO-ENROLLMENT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- Eligible jobholders must be members of a qualifying scheme or auto enrolled into an auto enrolment scheme.
- Non-eligible jobholders must have the option of opting into an auto enrolment scheme.
- Entitled workers must be given access to a pension scheme.
- At this stage we will also identify your eligible employees or entitled employees to determine who needs to be enrolled.
- Collect key information from employees
- Determine you Payroll and HR Process
- Review Employee contract for any legal issues
- Identify and select key points of contacts
We will also work with you to ensure you understand your responsibilities as an employer and your employee responsibilities.
| EMPLOYER DUTIES/IMPACT | EMPLOYEE DUTIES/IMPACT |
|---|---|
| Legal duty to write to all your staff individually to explain how auto enrolment applies to them (templates attached in appendix) | Has the right to Opt Out or In |
| Must pay a minimum percentage of your ‘qualifying earnings’ into your workplace pension scheme | Must pay a minimum percentage of your ‘qualifying earnings’ into your workplace pension scheme |
| Reduced Profit due to contributions | Joining a workplace pension scheme means that your take-home income will be reduced |
| Deductible expense & not subject to NIC payments. Employee benefit increased | Mean you’re entitled to tax credits or an increase in the amount of tax credits you get |
| Give information to the pensions regulator about how you have met your auto enrolment duties every three years | Mean you’re entitled to an income- related benefit or an increase in the amount of benefit you get |
| Submit employee data every pay period to pay their contributions to the Pension Regulator | Reduce the amount of student loan repayments you need to make |
| Monitor employee’s ages and earnings to see if any one needs to be auto-enrolled |
02.SELECT YOUR PENSION PROVIDER & ASSESS COSTS
It is important to understand all the costs associated with choosing your Pension provider and the type of Pension you invest in. At this stage, you will need to choose your Pension provider.
We will provide advice and calculations to help you make that crucial decision.
You dedicated accountant will be able to help you understand your minimum legal contribution levels & how its impact on your payroll costs.
MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION LEVELS
The goverment has outlined the minimun percentage of contributions that an employer and an employee will need to contribute and this will increase over time. The current minimum is 2% of qualifying earnings of which the employer must pay 1% and the employee must pay 1%. Below is a table outlining the phased is approach for when contributions will increase.
At this stage we will also start the necessary communications that need to be made to your employees. We will provide the appropriate templates, legal advice and plan on how to tackle with any issues that may arise. These communications must be made within 6 weeks of staging date or new employee joining.
Finally, we will start ensuring that your payroll software can be efficiently integrate with Pension provider, implement new process to ensure smooth and easy running and maintenance of Auto-Enrollment. This is crucial where employees are paid on a weekly basis rather than monthly with tight turnaround deadlines.
03.IMPLEMENTATION
We carry out final assessment of whom to enrol, and then enrol the relevant staff. There are likely to be number of questions coming at this stage from Employees and we will be on hand to help answer these for you.
We will have the pension setup by now, employees all registered and the relevant contributions calculation through payroll. After running your payroll, we will setup any integrations of your payroll with the Pension provider that are possible, and then submit the information through to your Pension provider.
You will also need to then make the necessary payment and we will walk you through different options available here.
Final step of initial implementation process to submit the Declaration of Compliance (needs to be done within 6 months of staging date). The declaration is to provide information to show that the business has met all Auto Enrollment duties. This step must be carried out to ensure full Auto Enrollment compliance.
LOOKING FOR A COMPLETE
AUTO ENROLLMENT SERVICE
FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
Speak to one of our Specialist!
EXEMPTIONS FROM AUTO-ENROLLMENT
Automatic enrolment duties don’t apply when a company or individual is not considered an employer.
You won’t have any duties if you meet one of the following criteria:
- You’re a sole director company, with no other staff
- Your company has many directors, none of whom has an employment contract, with no other staff
- Your company has many directors, only one of whom has an employment contract, with no other staff
- Your company has ceased trading
- Your company has been dissolved
- Your company has been dissolved
- You no longer employ people in your home (cleaners, nannies, personal care assistants, etc.)
QUALIFIED DEDICATED
ACCOUNTANT ADVICE
Getting your pension setup right is critical, that’s why you will get a Qualified Accountant to help with the setup process. Over the years we have helped hundreds of business setup their pension schemes and have realised the complication this process can bring, we feel having a dedicated one point of contact helped our clients manage much more effectively and efficiently.
