Small firms need more time to make pension changes
MAJOR pension reforms could cost smaller firms millions in costs and administration, according to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
ACCA is recommending that the Government not only considers ways of reducing to burdens to employers in general but that it gives SMEs the time to take any changes on board.
The rules on automatic re-enrolment and employer registration are among the areas where ACCA believes there is scope for a further reduction of burdens.
John Davies, head of business law at ACCA, said: “This was a long consultation document, containing a great many policy proposals and detailed drafting material.
“While efforts have been made to reduce bureaucracy, ACCA is concerned that small businesses in particular will still face substantial burdens. However, staggering the pensions reforms for SMEs between 2012 and 2016 is a sensible idea and will enable SMEs to learn lessons from the experience of larger firms.”
He said self-certification proposals by employers were also unclear and that the rules needed to provide a reasonable balance between safeguarding the rights of pension scheme members and minimising the bureaucratic burden on the employer.
“While the aim should be to avoid individual shortfalls, and to ensure that wherever shortfalls are identified they are made up, employers should be entitled to adopt proportionate measures to carry out checks on whether the correct amount of contributions has been paid over to the scheme,” Mr Davies continued.
