Fix pension errors - Smart Pensions

You may get an error when you submit your pension contributions to Smart Pension.

Use the steps below to help fix the issue.

We've explained each error message, to help you understand Smart Pension terminology.

A glossary of common terms is also in this article.

Resolution

Before you start
You may need to log into the Smart Pension portal to compare employee information. We would recommend having login details to hand.

NOTE: Any details between payroll and Smart Pension must be identical. Includes capital letters, lower case letters, special characters, and leading or trailing spaces.

To find the full error message:

1. In payroll, select the Summary tab.
2. From the AutoEnrolment / Pensions section, locate the failed submission.
3. Select View Submission Details.

Smart submit pension contribution errors

You have attempted to submit a contribution for an employee who has not been enrolled >

This means either:

• The employee is not enrolled in the pension with Smart yet
• There is a mismatch in the employee NI numbers

Use the steps below to compare the details of your employees in Sage Payroll and Smart Pension. Ensure they are identical.

How to find these details in Payroll:

1. Select the Employees tab.
2. Select the relevant employee to open their record. Make a note of the NI Number. You will need to do this for each employee that is part of the pension scheme.
3. Select the Workplace Pensions tab and make a note of the Pension provider ID.

Use the steps below to compare the employee NI numbers and Pension provider ID to the ones held on Smart.

1. Access the Smart Pension dashboard (opens in a new window).
2. Select Menu.
3. From the drop-down menu select Scheme Set up, then Employees.
4. Compare the NI number and Pension provider ID to the External Payroll ID.
5. If you need to change the details on Smart, select Update from the Actions column.
6. Select Employee Settings.
7. Edit the details that are incorrect, then select Update to save your changes.

Once you have made your changes, retry your submission.

The Pay period start date must be one day after the end of the previous pay period >

The submission is for a pay period that is not aligned with the HMRC tax week or month.

To check the pay period is aligned correctly log into your Smart dashboard (opens in a new window).

Pay periods in Smart need to match the submission from Sage Payroll. The submissions must also be in sequence. You'll need to check the correct dates are included in your pay periods.

Contact Smart and ask them to help align your pay periods on their system to match those in Sage Payroll.

Once you have updated the Smart Pension, to retry your submission, select Summary, then View Submission Details, and Submit Online.

Please set your company staging date. Without this you do not have the option to assess >

You have not set your company staging date. It's required to assess your employees for Automatic Enrolment.

Check you've entered your staging dates in Sage Payroll and Smart using the steps below:

1. Select Summary.
2. Look at the Auto Enrolment / Pensions section. Enter the staging date you’ve received from The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
3. Select Set Staging Date.
4. Log into your Smart dashboard (opens in a new window).
5. Select Menu, then Scheme set up.
6. Select Update scheme start date to change the date.

If you don't know your staging date contact The Pension Regulator (opens in new window).

National Insurance number in use, please use a different one >

This message means that a National Insurance number is already linked to an employee.

Check that your employee is not already opted into another pension scheme. Check you’ve not accidentally input the employees NI number into a different employee's record.

To check this in Sage Payroll:

1. Select the Employees tab.
2. Select the relevant employee name to open their record. You will need to do this for each employee that is part of the pension scheme.
3. Make a note of the National Insurance number.

To compare and amend these details in Smart, read their guide Manage your employees (opens in new tab).

An error occurred while updating your pension provider account data. If the problem persists, please contact customer support so we can update these details on our systems >

This means we could not find any schemes from your pension provider, when you tried to submit your data to them.

Check that the login details are correct. To do this you can access the Smart pension dashboard (opens in new tab).

Check that you are logging in as either an individual or an agent (and the option selected is correct).

If you're still getting the error check your Company ID is the same in both Payroll and Smart pension.

To check your Company ID on the Smart Pension dashboard:

1. Go to the Smart pension dashboard login page (opens in a new window).
2. Select Account.
3. Select Profile details.
4. Select Profile settings.
5. From the API details section, check your Company ID.

To check and amend your company ID in Sage Payroll:

1. Select the Pensions tab.
2. Select Edit pension.
3. Changethe Company ID field if needed.

If you changed your Company ID, retry your submission:

1. Select the Summary tab.
2. Select View submission details.
3. Select Submit Online.

If the error still appears, contact us so we can update the details on our systems.

Submit pension contributions glossary

A list of common terms used by pension providers, with an explanation of what each term means.

Terminology

Your ERN (Employer Reference Number, sometimes called an Employer Reference). It's a unique set of numbers and letters used by HMRC to identify employers in the UK.

When you register as an employer with HMRC, you receive the ERN in your welcome pack.

Employees who are part of a Smart pension scheme have a unique ID, which Smart calls an External ID.

Getting an error that refers to a missing external ID or a duplicate NI Number? Check the employee details on the Smart Pension portal. The external ID needs to be identical to pension provider ID in Sage Payroll.

Pay reference periods align to HMRC tax periods. Tax months run from the 6th of a month and ends on the 5th of the following month. When you sign up with your provider, tell them that your pay reference periods align to tax periods.

If you have failed submissions from an earlier period

Smart only allows you to submit pension files in sequence.

If you have Smart pension submissions that have failed in previous pay periods, these need to show in payroll as "completed".

This process takes a few minutes, but you can't do this within payroll yourself.

Please contact Sage Payroll support via our chat or phone lines.

Use the link to our Sage Help Centre (opens in new tab) and select the Get in touch tab for contact options.

Employees already listed

You are already a Smart pension customer but this is a new payroll program.

Sage payroll is trying to register your employees with Smart, but they already exist in the Smart portal.

For this pay period, enter your employee pension contributions directly into the Smart portal.

From the next pay period, submit the pension file from payroll.

payroll won't try to register the employees, it will only submit the contribution information.

The failed submission will need to be marked as "Completed" in order for you to submit subsequent files.

Sage needs to do this for you, which takes a few minutes. Contact us and ask for your Smart pension file to be marked as completed.

Use the link to our Sage Help Centre (opens in new tab) and select the Get in touch tab for contact options.

Сопутствующие решения

• For help adding a Smart Pension scheme, read Add a Smart Pension scheme.