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How can I contact Smart Pension?
Got questions about your Smart Pension account? Here are the different ways you can contact us.
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How can I close a Smart Pension account?
To ensure a smooth process when closing a Smart Pension account, here’s what you need to do as an employer.
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Uncover how refunds work when you opt out of the scheme.
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How and when do you take employer contributions?
Find out how and when we take payment once you’ve uploaded your first contributions.
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Help your employees by boosting their pension savings
Things to consider if you wish to make one-off contributions for your employees.
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Learn how to create a new group of employees in your scheme
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Finding your account name
How to find your account name if you've forgotten it
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Employee next pay period date report
Review upcoming dates for employee contributions and identify any missed dates
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Editing users
How to make changes to existing users
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Deleting users
How to delete users from your adviser account
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Completing identity and verification
How to complete identity and verification through your Smart Pension account
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Combining your pensions before retirement
Make preparing for retirement easier by combining your pensions into one
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Change who receives emails from Smart Pension
Choose who receives emails and other notifications about your Smart Pension account
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Can I pay pension contributions using a bank transfer?
How to apply to pay by bank transfer if you're unable to set up a Direct Debit mandate
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Bereavement process
Learn what happens to a Smart Pension pension pot when a member dies before accessing their retirement savings.
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Automatic postponements
Learn how to set up an automatic postponement period for all new members of your scheme.
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Adding new users
How to add new users to your adviser account
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Adding multiple clients
Outlines required fields and types for multiple client imports
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Adding and viewing admins and signatories
View and add admins to your pension scheme.
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Adding an individual client
A guide to adding a client you administer to your adviser account
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Adding a new employee
Learn how to add a new employee to your company
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Add money at any time by making a one-off pension contribution
Boost your pension savings without committing to regular payments.
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Accessing your savings at retirement
Learn how to access your Smart Pension savings at retirement. Understand your options, how to start the process, and where to access help and guidance.
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Accepting an adviser invitation
A quick guide on accepting an invitation to advise a client
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About PAPDIS files
Learn more about PAPDIS files and the answers to some commonly asked questions.
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About API integration with Smart
A guide to the how payroll providers use APIs to integrate with Smart and how to check if your provider provides integration
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Why has my PAPDIS file failed and how can I fix upload errors?
Discover what a PAPDIS error or a failed upload status means, and how to fix the problem with your PAPDIS file.

Fixing errors with your PAPDIS upload

When you upload your PAPDIS file and see an ‘Errors detected’ status, it means that while some data has been successfully uploaded, we have detected errors that require correction. 
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Each specific error will be displayed on the screen. You’ll need to correct the errors and re-upload the file.
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We have a tool to assist you with your error management. You can download a file containing the errors only in CSV file format. Using the error file provided, you can correct the errors within the file and then re-upload this same file.
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To download the error file, select Download errors in CSV at the top right of the errors list.
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It's important to make sure that your payroll software is amended to reflect any error correction. Failure to do this may cause the error to reoccur in the next file upload.

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What your error message means

In the below table, you'll find the most common error messages when your file upload has an ‘Errors detected’ status and how to fix them.

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Error Details How to fix it
The pay period start date must be one day after the end of the previous pay period. e.g. 01 July 2023. The pay period specified in the file doesn’t follow the last pay period uploaded for this employee, this could mean there is a pay period missing.

OR

We already have contribution information for this pay period. 		No action required if we already have a contribution for the pay period.

Where there are missing periods, you will need to create those contributions first before uploading the current one again.
Contribution rates are below the legal minimum. The contribution rates are below the legal minimum for auto enrolment.

The company percentage must be at least 3% and the total percentage must be at least 8%.*

*for certified schemes, this amount may be different, please check your pensionable earnings basis for details. 		Correct the percentages.

Make sure the correct contribution amount has been calculated and upload the file again.
This National Insurance number is already linked to an employee. The National Insurance number is already in use on another employee record. Check the employee ID is correct.

If the employee is a rehire, you will need to remove the NI number (and email address) from the previous record. Once you have done this, upload the record again.
National Insurance number format is wrong. There is an invalid NI number in column R on the PAPDIS file. Correct the NI number to a valid one and reload the file again.

If you do not know the correct NI number or only have a temporary one, please delete from the file and upload the file again.
The ‘Ends on’ date cannot be before active membership starts on, opt in on or employment starts on date. The file contains an ‘ends on’ date which is before the opt in on, or employment start date. Correct the date to be on or after the opt-in date or employment start date, and then upload the record again.
The employment start date format is wrong.

OR

Exit date format is wrong. 		The dates highlighted in the error are in the incorrect format. Enter the date in the format of DD-MM-YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD and upload the file again.
Group is missing. Column D on the PAPDIS file is blank. Add a group name for each record to the column.

If you don't use groups, you can add ‘default’ in column D, (all lower case) and upload the file again.
The employment start date doesn’t match our existing record for this employee. The employment start date in column Z of the PAPDIS file doesn't match the employment start date on the employees record. You can't change an employee's employment start date through file upload. If you need to update these details, please update the employee record manually by going to Menu> Scheme set up> Employees > Update.
You cannot change an assessment code. Please delete the contribution record before reloading the file The PAPDIS file has been uploaded for the same period but the assessment code has changed. Delete the contribution record from the Contributions page. Amend the assessment code to match what was uploaded before and upload the file again.
You cannot change an event code. Please delete the contribution record before reloading the file The PAPDIS file is uploaded for the same period but the event code has changed. Delete the contribution record from the Contributions page. Amend the event code to match what was uploaded before and upload the file again.
You can only amend contributions in a created/payment failed/payment cancelled state. Please contact us if the contributions are incorrect The PAPDIS file is uploaded for the same period but the contribution is not in a created/payment failed/payment cancelled state eg. payment pending. Contact us if the contributions are incorrect.
The email address does not match our existing record for this employee You can't change an employee's email address via file upload. If you need to update these details, please update the employee record manually. Please check with your employee first as they may have changed their email address. Check with your employee whether the member’s email address is correct.

If you need to change the member’s email address then change it in the employer platform on the Employee list page. Access via Scheme setup then Employees and Employee list page.

Please note that, unless you received another error message, the contribution upload was successful.

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Failed PAPDIS file upload 

Here you'll find the most common error messages when your file upload has a ‘Fail’ status and how to fix them.
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Please note you will also need to make sure that your payroll software is amended to reflect any error correction. Failure to do this may cause the error to reoccur in the next file upload.

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Error Details How to fix
The employer ID on the submission is not the correct one for this company. The company ID in column C of the PAPDIS file is invalid or is the incorrect ID for this company. Please first check you are uploading into the correct account.

If you’re uploading to the correct account, amend the employer ID in column C of the PAPDIS file and upload the file again. Your company ID can be found on your dashboard.
Group is missing Column D on the PAPDIS file is blank. Add a group name for each record to the column.

If you don't use groups, you can add ‘default’ in column D, all lowercase, and upload the file again.
National Insurance number format is wrong. There is an invalid NI number in column R on the PAPDIS file. Correct the NI number to a valid one and reload the file again.

If you don’t know the correct NI number or only have a temporary one, please delete it from the file and upload the file again.
We do not recognise the name of the header(s). Check the ‘header name’ is correct and upload the file again. There is an invalid column header on the PAPDIS file (this could relate to any of the headings). Check the invalid header specified in the error message and update it to the correct header. Then upload the file again.

The header specifications can be found here.
A header is missing. The ‘header name’ is missing. There is a missing heading on the PAPDIS file (this could relate to any of the headings). Check the missing header specified in the error message and add the header (and any related data under the header) to the file. Then upload the file again.

The header specifications can be found here.
The allowed file types are text/plain and text/CSV. The file is saved in the incorrect file format. Resave the file in the correct format CSV (Comma Delimited) (*.csv) and upload the file again.

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A guide to fixing upload errors

To understand these errors and how to fix them in more detail, watch our dedicated video with visual step-by-step tutorials to help you.

If you still need support or help, please contact us.

Last updated:
September 4, 2026

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