Administrators: Setting up pension schemes

Administrators must ensure that the Cintra iQ system is set up correctly. Doing this will help payroll staff manage their regular payroll tasks correctly and efficiently.

This article lists the areas of Cintra that should be set up before pensions can be managed in Cintra iQ.

Your organisation may use multiple pension schemes, so you may have to repeat these tasks several times.

If you are unfamiliar with any of the terminology found in this article, see Pensions: Key concepts, glossary, and terminology.

Education based pension schemes

If you operate an Education pension scheme such as Teachers Pensions or Local Government Pension Scheme, you will also need to configure:

Pension contribution tiers based on earnings.
Pension contribution tier updates.
The relationship between an employees job(s) and the pension schemes they contribute to.
Additional data you will need to hold in the payroll to be able to produce compliant pension returns.

Set up pension scheme provider(s)

Task	What information will I need?	Link to How To guide
Set up the pension scheme provider	What type of provider are they?	How do I set up pension scheme providers?

Set up pension schemes

Task	What information will I need?	Link to How To guide
Create the pension scheme	Pension scheme provider PSTR from HMRC	How do I set up a new pension scheme?
Configure the pension scheme's contributions:	How much will employees and employers each contribute?	How do I set up pension scheme contributions?
--> Configure employee contributions	Will employee contributions vary, based on their salary band?	How do I create pension bands for employee pension contributions?
	Or will employees contribute a fixed % or amount of their salary?	How do I create fixed amount or percentage employee pension contributions?
--> Configure employer contributions	Will employers contribute a fixed % or amount of the employee's salary?	How do I update employer pension contributions?
Set up auto-enrolment	Which scheme parts qualify for auto enrolment?	How do I define pension scheme parts as supporting auto enrolment?
Set up salary sacrifice contributions	Can employees choose to contribute part of their pre-tax salary to their pension?	How do I set up salary sacrifice contribution pension schemes?
Set up pensionable pay elements	Which elements of the employee's pay can contribute to the pension? Is there a cap on contributions?	How do I set up relevant (pensionable) pay?
Set up scheme membership rules	Is the scheme available to part-time and/or full time members? Is it closed to new members?	How do I set up a new pension scheme?

Set up employers

Task	What information will I need?	Link to How To guide
Set up employer auto-enrolments	How long is the employer postponing auto-enrolment?(maximum three months)	How do I set auto enrolment postponements?

Set up letters

Letters keep your employees informed about their enrolment in and changes to pensions.

Task	What information will I need?	Link to How To guide
Set up pension letters	Content of letter, including which fields	How do I set up pension scheme providers?
Set up pension letters	Select which types of letter(s) you wish to use	How do I create auto enrolment letters?

Once you have up set up the pension schemes and letters, you are ready to manage pensions as part of a regular payroll. See Payroll Staff: Managing Pensions.
If you're an employee looking for help viewing or changing their pension, see Employees: Viewing your Pension Information.