Author : John Hale, Head of B2B Technical & Strategic Partnerships at Nest
Hassle free pensions admin
Something we all want, but perhaps more difficult to deliver. However with the development of electronic links between us and payroll software it is possible to simplify the administration of your Nest pension.
Why is this such a good idea?
It enables data – new member and contribution data – to be passed from your payroll software straight through to the employer’s Nest account. It means there is no need to upload files or input data manually, meaning the process is completed a little faster and certainly with more accuracy. That should help save time for the person processing payroll and save money for the employer.
Payroll bureaux and employers are also reassured that by using this service you would know that whatever was deducted from pay has automatically updated the Nest member accounts with those same contributions.
How does it work?
This will depend on your payroll software. Nest makes available Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) – nine of them to be precise! Each payroll software firm decides whether they want to interface electronically with Nest and if so how many of the APIs they will access. Obviously, the more they use the better the overall service as far as you are concerned.
Most payroll firms that have an electronic link with Nest, via these APIs, are happy for us to list them on our website, here Payroll Integration for Nest Pensions | Nest Pensions
Some firms are not currently listed, so if you are not sure whether your payroll software supports Nest’s APIs please ask your payroll provider.
If they don’t support it now, maybe they are planning to do so in the future. And no doubt their future plans will be very much influenced by the demand for this type of software link. That’s a good reason to let them know this is something you would like to see in their software.
The nine APIs Nest supports include both APIs that submit and retrieve data:
APIs that submit data to Nest
- Submit new member records
- Submit contribution
- Trigger the employer’s Direct Debit to pay a contribution schedule
- Set up a new Nest employer account
APIs that retrieve data from Nest
- List of opt-outs
- List of members who have asked to stop contributions
- Employer account details
- Refunds
- List of outstanding contribution schedules
Benefits of using APIs
Where a payroll software firm has decided to use Nest APIs they will often start by linking to the first two; submitting new member records and submitting contributions.
Whilst this is very useful, there are benefits in adding more APIs to the link. For instance, being able to retrieve lists of members who have opted out, or asked Nest to stop their contributions could mean that once this data has been extracted from Nest by your payroll software, your payroll records are automatically updated.
Being able to regularly check the list of outstanding contribution schedules means you / the employer will be able to ensure there is no risk of late payment.
If the full suite of APIs is built into your payroll software, most of the administration will be done automatically from within your payroll software, so you won’t need to login to the Nest system very often.
Tried and tested
Nest initially made this service available to a small number of payroll software providers in 2018 – we were one of the first pension providers to launch APIs for pensions. This is a well tried and tested service that we know works well.
Today over 200,000 Nest employer accounts are updated every month using APIs. Many of these are via payroll bureaux who are administering their client’s payroll and running their Nest account for them.
Employers of all sizes use Nest APIs, from the very smallest, one-person business through to much larger employers.
Next steps
If you are using the service today, but aren’t able to take advantage of the nine different APIs that Nest offers it may be time to discuss with your payroll software provider if they have links to these services, and if not, are there plans to expand their service.
And if you are not using these APIs today please do ask your payroll software provider if they have these links available and, if not, do they plan to do so in the future.