What is the Smart integration?
The Smart Pension integration connects your PayFit account directly with Smart to keep pension information synchronised between both platforms. It simplifies scheme setup, improves accuracy, and handles employee updates like opt-outs and contribution changes more efficiently.
Key Features
Automatic synchronisation of scheme information
Validation of employee and employer contributions against Smart group rules
Nightly data synchronisation
Manual sync option available at any time
Supports opt-ins, opt-outs, contribution changes and pension refunds
Matches employees between PayFit and Smart using multiple identifiers
How to activate the Smart integration
Go to Integration Hub > Smart Pension in your PayFit account
Click activate and you will be redirected to the Smart employer account login page
Login to your Smart Pension account
You will be redirected back to PayFit with the Smart Pension activated
Once activated, the integration will begin syncing data nightly and will appear in your Integration Hub.
Manual Data Sync
If you need to sync data immediately (outside of the automatic nightly sync):
Go to the Pensions page in PayFit
Click Sync now
The sync will run and confirm once completed
Scheme Sync Details
When connecting to Smart, the integration will detect and configure the appropriate scheme type based on your setup in Smart:
Scheme Types Supported:
Net Pay Arrangement
Salary Sacrifice
Required Manual Inputs
While most scheme information is synced automatically, you’ll still need to fill in the following details in PayFit:
Scheme Details
Display name
Is this a qualifying scheme?
Should PayFit make submissions for this scheme? (Defaults to yes)
Contribution Settings
Basis for contributions
Earnings basis
If you’re using a salary sacrifice scheme, you’ll see an optional toggle to “Split contribution percentages on PAPDIS file” in your pension scheme settings.
Contributions remain combined, but switching this on will split the % between employee and employer, while £ amounts remain combined as ER. This means employees can see a breakdown on their Smart account, of what they contribute as % as well as what the employer contributes.
SMART Pension Settings
Group ('default' group is synced for new schemes)
Start of earning period (only retrieved if contributions have already been submitted via Smart)
Employee Matching & Contribution Handling
Employees are matched between PayFit and Smart using the following (in order of priority):
Payroll ID (External ID on Smart)
National Insurance number
Once matched, the connector will:
Opt out any employees who have opted out in Smart
Issue pension refunds for opted out employees that are eligible
Opt in employees who have chosen to join the scheme via Smart
Apply any pending contribution changes
Current Limitations
Please be aware of the following:
A maximum of 5 pension schemes is currently supported
Scheme deletion must be done manually
Not all scheme details can be pulled from Smart (see "Required Manual Inputs")
Salary sacrifice contribution updates are not supported automatically. You will receive a required action in PayFit and must manually confirm the salary sacrifice amounts
Fixed amounts are not supported. Smart does not allow fixed contributions to be set up on their portal, and these will not sync through the integration, instead these will be skipped.
If an employee wants to contribute more, Smart advise doing this by increasing the % contribution and adding the difference as an Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) instead.
Fixed Amount Contributions
Smart does not support fixed amount contributions on their platform.
When syncing data between PayFit and Smart, any employees with fixed contribution amounts will be skipped during the sync.
All other actions, such as opt-ins, opt-outs and refunds will still process as normal.
Employees with fixed amounts will remain unchanged in both PayFit and Smart, and their contributions can continue as they are in PayFit.
Questions?
If you need help activating or using the Smart integration, feel free to reach out to our support team through your PayFit account.