A NORTH-east accountancy firm recently held a seminar for business owners who are seeking advice on new legislation about auto enrolment and the impact it will have on them.
SBP Accountants and Business Advisers, which has offices in Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Banff, held its first event earlier this month at the Ban-Car Hotel at Lonmay, Fraserburgh.
By 2017 every company in the UK, regardless of size, will have to offer employees access to a workplace pension scheme.
A major component of this is the auto enrolment system whereby employees are automatically entered into a pension scheme and have to personally opt out if they do not wish to make contributions.
More than 50 local business people attended the SBP seminar, and the firm plans to hold another event early next year ahead of a new phase of staging dates.
Partner at SBP, Ronnie Birnie, said that employers risk serious penalties by burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the new rules.
Mr Birnie said: “The idea of these seminars is to explain to employers what auto enrolment is and how it is likely to affect them as well as theirresponsibilities and the timescales applicable to them”.
“Failing to comply by the staging date, which is determined by the number of employees a firm has, can have severe consequences with employersfacing hefty fines for not signing staff up in time”.
“The best advice I can give is to plan ahead and not leave it to the last minute”.
SBP, which has offices in Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Banff and Aberdeen, offers a range of financial services for large and small businesses as well as for individuals which includes: accountancy and audit, taxation, business advice and support services such as bookkeeping and payroll.
The firm has teamed up with pension provider ‘NOW:Pensions’, who are a major player in the auto enrolment marketplace offering businesses an alternative to the government backed NEST scheme. Mr Birnie said that, “SBP were delighted to be working with NOW:Pensions and in so doing were in a position to provide a full auto enrolment and payroll service solution for businesses at very competitive pricing”.
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