Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux

Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux

Contents Registration 3 Signing up clients online 4 Five steps to client sign up 5 Contributions models 6 Keeping track of client applications 7 Gaining access to your NOW: Pensions Gateway 8 Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 2

Registration To sign up your clients online you ll need to register for free with NOW: Pensions. This is a simple one off online registration that takes just a few minutes to set up. Registration Register at: www.nowpensions.com/payroll/pre-registration Tasks After you ve registered you ll receive an email outlining the tasks we expect you to be responsible for on behalf of your client. Once you ve agreed to these responsibilities, you re ready to start the online sign up process for your clients. Details found on page 6. Clients can choose to sign up themselves and nominate you as their primary scheme administrator or they can ask you to complete the details for them. 1 Your online account 2 Your bureau microsite It s important to know that you will be using two separate systems with us your registration gives you immediate access to your own online account and online Help Centre where you will be able to sign up your clients into the NOW: Pensions Trust. Just go to www.nowpensions.com and login with the details you used when you registered. 1 Your online account 2 Your Gateway Only once your first client has gone through their sign up process will you be notified of the Gateway web address and your temporary password for this second system. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 3

Signing up clients online If you have all your client s information to hand, it is quick and easy to sign up or verify a client. The following sign up checklist shows all the information you need. Sign up checklist Choice of contribution model Employer name Your client s auto enrolment duties start date Legal and organisational setup e.g. holding or subsidiary company/charity registration number (if applicable) Registered address How many workers are on the employers payroll Primary employer contact details PAYE number Payroll provider or bureau contact details who will be sent relevant correspondence from NOW: Pensions Centrally controlled business email address for employees without email addresses to send auto enrolment communications to in a PDF file (only if NOW: Pensions is handling the communication) Payroll details (name and frequency) Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 4

Five steps to client sign up We ve designed our auto enrolment proposition to be as easy to set up and manage as possible, but to make the system run smoothly, there are five key responsibilities which you ll need to agree to during the registration process. 1. Payroll bureau selects the contribution model that the client has chosen Details about each model are shown on screen, so you can double check this is the correct selection. If an employer requires more than one tier type, you can add an additional tier by choosing from one of the five pre-defined plans in this section. See overleaf for more details. 2. Payroll bureau completes employer details In this section we need to know the employer s name, address, duties start date, the nature of their business, information about the number of employees and their primary contact name and contact details. If as part of the initial registration, we have been asked to take care of all auto enrolment communications duplication of auto enrolment for your clients, we will produce all these communications. Ideally we will send these communications direct to each employee via email, but in order to do this you will need to ensure the data file you will generate from your payroll software, contains a unique email address for each employee. If you don t have some employees email addresses, then as long as a PDF email address has been completed on the application, the statutory communications will be delivered to a generic business email as a PDF file for your client to send on to the employees. Email communications are sent free of charge. 3. Client approves participation agreement When you have input all the relevant data, the system generates an electronic participation agreement and asks you to share the agreement with your client s primary contact for their approval. The primary contact will receive an email from our system asking them to electronically authorise the agreement. If you need to send it to someone other than the primary contact you can do this here as well. 4. Client completes Direct Debit details As part of the process for approving the participation agreement, the client will also be asked to complete their bank details for two Direct Debit Mandates. There is one Direct Debit required for pension contributions and another for our monthly employer service charge. Direct Debits for each payroll can be set up with different bank accounts if required. Clients can authorise Direct Debits through the system so there s no need to issue mandates to the client after sign up. 5. NOW: Pensions confirms application accepted When the client has approved the participation agreement, they receive an email from NOW: Pensions to say that the application has been completed successfully. You will also get an email telling you that the application has been accepted. Please note: If a client does not accept their participation agreement within 30 days their link will expire. You will need to log back into nowpensions.com, select Manage My Applications and re-issue the agreement. See keeping track of applications later in this guide. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 5

Contribution models One of the most important decisions your clients need to make when they introduce auto enrolment is how much to contribute to their employees pensions. We recognise that different employers will want to contribute different amounts, so we offer five contributions models. Until March 2019 Contribution levels From April 2019 onwards 101 Standard Meets the minimum contributions required for auto enrolment based on banded earnings 2% Employer 3% Worker 3% Employer 5% Worker 102 Standard Meets the minimum contributions required for auto enrolment based on basic earnings 3% Employer 3% Worker 4% Employer 5% Worker 103 Stepped saving A phased introduction to a more generous employer pension based on basic earnings 4% Employer 2% Worker 6% Employer 3% Worker 104 Saving plus Compliant contribution model with total contributions of 10% or more based on basic earnings 5+% Employer 5+% Worker 5+% Employer 5+% Worker 105 Matched saving Employee contributions, based on basic earnings, are matched by employer contributions within minimum and maximum amounts Minimum must be at least 3% Minimum must be at least 4.5% Banded earnings For the 2018/19 tax year the qualifying earnings band is between 6,032 and 46,350 a year. This means the first 6,032 of an employee s earnings does not count for the purposes of auto enrolment. So using our Standard plan for auto enrolment for a worker earning 20,000 a year, the amount we would calculate their pension contributions on would be only 13,968. Basic earnings These are the basic earnings of the employee excluding any fluctuating income such as bonuses, commission, overtime etc. The whole of the employee s basic earnings are taken in to account when calculating their contributions. So using our 102 for auto enrolment for a worker earning 20,000 before overtime or bonuses, the amount we would calculate their pension contributions on would be the full 20,000. Please note: you can choose to calculate contributions in a way that meets the requirements of three sets described in the legislation. See The Pension Regulator s guidance on certification of basic pay. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 6

Keeping track of client applications It s easy to keep track of your clients applications by logging in to the NOW: Pensions website. At any point in the application process you can login using your user name and password and click on Manage my applications. In here you ll see the status of each application. A description of each status is shown below. Status Description Advanced form Main application page. Agreement preview draft First preview agreement page. Agreement preview draft - shared Preview agreement page that has been shared. Direct Debit setup Agreement authoriser has clicked Continue and clicked Yes to Are you authorised to apply..., and is now at the Direct Debit page. Direct Debit setup shared Agreement authoriser has clicked No to Are you authorised to sign a Direct Debit Instruction on this account? and shared the form with someone who is authorised. Agreement preview final Agreement authoriser/direct Debit authoriser has confirmed bank details and has moved to the final preview of the agreement. Waiting for applicant to accept agreement Agreement authoriser (for whatever reason) has clicked No to Are you authorised to apply... and shared the form with someone else to authorise. Application submitted online Application has been submitted using the electronic method. Approved Application is approved. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 7

Gaining access to your Gateway After the application has been approved by NOW: Pensions, you and your client will receive an email containing your client s participation agreement. Gateway access Your URL When your first client is signed up you ll receive another email with the URL to your Gateway. Access at www.nowgateway.com Payroll helper Guide Your password You ll also receive a separate payroll helper email that contains a temporary password to enable you to access Gateway. It also gives you a link to the implementation guide to start the initial set up. Click on the URL in the email and use your login details and temporary password to access Gateway. NOW: Pensions Gateway Once in Gateway you can manage your password and set up other users. Gateway will be used for all of your clients who join the NOW: Pensions Trust and have asked you to administer the auto enrolment process. You will receive future email notifications informing you of any new employers that have been added to your Gateway. Seth For more information take a look at our online Help Centre: www.nowpensions.com/help-centre/payroll/top-faqs You can also contact your contact your regional partnership manager Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 8

Information correct as at May 2018 PM00127.1117/7 NOW: Pensions is a UK occupational pension plan. This is written as a general guide only. It should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice. Registered office: 2nd Floor, 25 Christopher Street, London, EC2A 2BS Registration number: 07766398. Registered in England and Wales NOW: Pensions 2nd Floor 25 Christopher Street London EC2A 2BS Tel: +44 (0)330 100 3336 nowpensions.com