Submit pension contributions

Summary

How to send your pension information directly to your pension provider in Sage Payroll.

Description

As an employer, you must submit pension information to your pension provider. Each submission includes a list of your employees and how much they're contributing.

Sage Payroll can calculate all the information your pension provider will need.

This article explains:

  • How to confirm pension contributions are correct
  • How to send pension contribution submissions
  • How to fix problems when submitting

Resolution

Before you start

Before you can submit pension contributions, you need to:

  • Register with your pension provider
  • Have access to your pension provider portal login
  • Set up pension schemes in Sage Payroll
  • Process any request to opt in/opt out and join/leave a pension scheme
  • Complete the pay run you're submitting pension contributions for

If you're a new business, find out how to set up Auto Enrolment by visiting the Pension regulator website at thepensionsregulator.gov.

Confirm pension contributions are correct

Pension contributions calculate using the settings from your pension scheme, and the payments used in your pay runs.

Ensure the pension deductions are correct before submitting the data. Check that you have set up the pension scheme and payments as required in Sage Payroll.

How to send pension contribution submissions

Sage Payroll can submit pension contribution files directly to NEST, Smart and Peoples pension.

The submission checks the payroll details match those on your pension provider portal. If they don’t match exactly, the submission will fail.

For other pension providers, you need to export a file from Sage Payroll. You can upload the file to the pension provider portal.

Alternatively, you can manually enter the contribution details into your pension provider's portal.

The steps to submit your data depend on your pension provider:

▼Peoples Pension

Online submission

Use this option to send the data from payroll to Peoples Pension. For detailed steps, read Submit pension data to People's Pension.

If you get an error when submitting, read Fix pension errors - People's Pension.

Upload a submission file manually

Use this option if you prefer to save and upload a file to the Smart portal website. For detailed steps, read Peoples Pension (TPP) pension manual submissions.

▼NOW: Pensions

Online submission

You can't submit NOW pension contributions directly from Sage Payroll.

Upload a submission file manually

  1. Open the completed Pay Run.
  2. In the Pensions submissions area, select Export CSV and: Pensions.
  3. The csv file downloads to your browsers download folder.
     NOTE: This is in a PAPDIS format. Check that your provider accepts this.  

Log in to your NOW account to upload the pension file.

▼Other pension providers

Payroll And Pension Data Interface Standard (PAPDIS) is an open standard report. Payroll systems use it to transfer information to pension providers. You can upload this to some pension provider's web portals.

If your provider doesn't support this, they can ask you to complete an online template. Alternatively you can manually type in the figure on their portal.

Your pension provider can confirm which method they support.

For more information, read Submit pension data for a custom pension.

How to fix problems when submitting

If there’s a problem with the submission, an error message displays. This is from the pension provider and explains why the submission has failed.

Select your provider below for more details.

Review contributions and record payments

Review your pension contributions to view employee contributions for each month. This confirms how much you need to send to your pension provider.

For more information, read View and record pension payments

Related Solutions

Who to contact about pension queries

What are my pension obligations

Pension reporting

Solution Properties

Solution ID
222001000101503
Last Modified Date
Wed Jan 21 09:33:34 UTC 2026
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