A description of How Pension PlayPen is working with Sage to help Sage customers manage auto-enrolment and choose a workplace pension

1. HOW PENSION
PLAYPEN
HELPS

2. PAY ATTENTION TO THE PENSION

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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!

8. 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.

9. 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!

10. 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

11. 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.

12. HOW PENSION PLAYPEN WORKS

13. 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.

14. UPLOADING DATA FOR PRE-ASSESSMENT
If 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.

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

17. DETAILED GUIDANCE ON EACH PROVIDER

18. REPORTS AND DUE DILIGENCE
Once 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.

19. SHARING AN ENQUIRY
You 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

20. SHARING AN ENQUIRY
The 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.