In the build up to the much-anticipated National Payroll Week, we asked Katy Monk, Head of Payroll, to talk through our partnership with PensionSync.
Auto-enrolment – where it all began
It feels like such a long time ago that Automatic Enrolment was introduced. It was in fact 2012 that the largest employers had to start their duties.
Back then it seemed like a big task for us payrollers to take on. We had to quickly learn a brand-new piece of legislation (it’s ok, that’s kind of our super-power…) and be ready to support our clients with their setup, implementation and the inevitable queries that would be raised.
The main struggle was having to get to grips with the variety of pension providers that clients used. Each provider required the pension contributions to be uploaded in a particular file format, with different column headings and data validation rules.
Once the files had been prepared, there was then the task of having to log into the pension provider website and navigate their file upload system; this was often not straightforward and varied across each provider.
Payrollers attended training calls with pension providers and put together comprehensive instructions for their colleagues (usually referred to as ‘Bibles’).
Connecting payroll-to-pensions
Portt & Co were one of the first companies to test the integration between our payroll software and PensionSync and we are now proud to be one of PensionSync’s Gold partners and recommended provider for payroll and automatic enrolment workplace pension services.
PensionSync is a third party piece of software that sits between our payroll system and pension providers. It creates the contribution file from payroll in the required format for the provider, carries out data validation checks, submits the file, generates the direct debit payment and reports back to us.
Seamless payroll and pension service
By using PensionSync, our clients receive a seamless and efficient payroll and automatic enrolment service, meaning our time spent dealing with pensions is kept to a minimum.
If you know anything about Portt & Co, you will know that we are all about digital innovation, integrating systems and automation – PensionSync has thus become an integral part of our payroll service.
So there you have it, Portt & Co and PensionSync – partners in crime!