MCR

Notes:
Only submit one MCR per month. If you get MCR error notices or missing
member submissions, then you add these to the following month.
The MCR can crash – keep clicking save as you go.
Don’t assume that once you’ve fixed the stop notices and warning errors that
everything is correct. Check everything properly before submitting.

G:\Shared drives\APAT Payroll\Payroll processing inputs\202122\_MCR

Find ‘MCR Template Version’
Copy the document.
Create folder for current month.
Rename document in current month for each school.

For each school:

Open template
Click on ‘reset input sheet’. Click yes to reset workbook
Monthly contributions reconciliation window – Import.
Go to (e.g.): G:\Shared drives\APAT Payroll\Payroll processing inputs\202122\
_MCR
Choose file for school
Open
OK
‘Check date and continue to section B’
You will be told how many errors there are
Red – errors
Orange - warnings

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Process
1). Open up MCR flood for each schools – check for errors
2). Payroll Processing Inputs – 202223 – Teachers Pensions – Month – School
Check that each employee listed on the scheme contribution is also listed on
the MCR. If anyone is missing, then they need to be added (even if they’ve
opted out)
3). Open up TP Member prints
4). Amend those on TLR
Check sickness
Check percentage rates
5). Check figures on scheme contributions match
6). If there is a mismatch, then note it on the mismatch spreadsheet

Check:
Row 6: Check the month and dates are correct
Number of employees: Add up how many employees there are for this
month. Check if it is the same as the previous month.

Rows repeated: If person is listed twice, one will be for Back Pay (BK)

Column B: If record being submitted for first time, then leave as A.

Change to a U when you do an update.
Change to a D if person was put on there mistakenly (e.g
should be on the LGPS). Or change to a D if e.g person left in
May, but didn’t find out until June.

Column D: Teacher’s who have worked elsewhere should have a

Teacher’s Pensions reference number on the Teachers’
Pensions website. Do a member search on website.
Completely new starters should have the number 0000000
(seven zero’s)

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Column S: There should always be a figure in this column.
If the spreadsheet is for the month when a person has already started a new
contract: the ‘role identifier’ (their contract number) will need to be updated.
PSP - HR Record - Search person - Employment history - Double click on
primary active - Pension tab - Copy number in box called MCR role. Insert
number into MCR spreadsheet – column S. Add /1 after number.
(If the spreadsheet is for the month BEFORE they start a new contract, then
column S doesn’t need to be changed).

Column U and V: Would normally be the first and last day of that particular
month.
If person started or finished mid-month, then you put those dates.

Column W: Complete if person is a leaver, or has transferred from one school

to another within the trust. Select W from drop down box.

Column X: If person was off sick, had family leave, unpaid leave or on
strike.
Figure between 1 and 31.
Check the ‘Days Excluded’ (the days a person had unpaid
absence). Go to PSP – HR Record – search name – balances
– historical working file.

Days Excluded would only be provided in the following

circumstances:
• Full-time members with non-pensionable employment
during the service period, such as strike days and unpaid
leave. You need to provide the actual number of excluded
days.
• Part-time members who do not receive any pay during the
service period. This must be recorded as all days excluded
(i.e. the number of days between the start date [data item
21] and end date [data item 22] inclusive).
• Any member on less than half their normal monthly pay
due to occupational sick leave. This must be recorded as all
days excluded.
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 • Any member on less than half their normal monthly pay
due to family leave AND is not in receipt of statutory family
leave pay. This must be recorded as all days excluded. For
all other member types, then this field must be left blank.

Column Y: insert if full time (FT), part time (PT) or zero hour
contract/claims based member (PTIC).

Column Z: Always complete. To find figure go to PSP - HR Record –

Employment – Employment History - Primary Active - Scroll
to right to find Scale Value.
If you are checking for the month before person started a
new contract, go to Historical instead of Primary Active)
Check if salary includes any TLR: Go to PSP – HR Record –
search name – balances – historical working file. To include
TLR: Scale Value + (TLR * 12 months)
If the error is for last month and the person had back pay:
Add scale value + back pay.

Column AA: Only complete if part time. To find monthly part time figure
go to PSP – HR Record – search name - balances – historical
working file – check for correct month – rate.
If part time + have TLR: add TLR to part time earnings
If part time on maternity: leave blank

Columns AB: Figures in Column AB are just for reference – they are not
used to make calculations.
For full time and part time (but not PTIC): overtime goes
here.
Check Overtime is correct: Overtime will be listed in
historical working file as the pay period is closed. Go to HR
Record - balance - historical working file.
Check TLR: Delete TLR from the overtime column as it has
been added to the figure in column Z.

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 If person is on the final salary scheme: you can put their
overtime in AB as this box is just for reference.

Column AC: Is very rarely used. Can use for out of school learning
activities and bonuses.

Column AD: Only complete if sickness (OS) or family leave (FL) such as
maternity pay.

AE: BK – back pay

If U (update) line: Use WE (when earned pay method).

AF: Only use for things like incorrect backdated pay awards.

Column AG: Actual Pensionable Pay – what employee was actually paid
that month (excluding overtime).
If part time: Should be same as column AA.
Maternity Pay: figure should go here.
If opted out: should be £0. Check if someone has opted out
of the pension scheme. Go to PSP – HR – payroll details –
pensions.

Column AH: Complete if employee is full time.

Leave blank if the employee is part time.
If person is on the final salary scheme: even if they did
overtime, leave the box blank, as overtime is not
pensionable on this scheme.

Column AI: Notional Pensionable Pay – what the employee would have
earned if working normally (e.g not on maternity leave or
off sick).
Only complete if column AD (status indicator) has OS or FL
written.
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 Figure will be the occupational sick pay figure on PSP –
balances – historical working file
Maternity Pay: figure should go here.
If person opted out: enter £0.

Column AJ and AK: Should be AG and AH / 100 * 23.68 (employer)

Should be AG and AH / 100 * percentage rate (employee)
If person on maternity: should be AG x the percentage in
AL.
If person started or finished mid-month, then then you
calculate the figure on what they actually earnt that month
(not what they would have earned).
If person has opted out: Should be £0.
If errors keep coming up for AJ and AK: try rounding the
figure up by £0.01.

Column AL: Use AG *12 months to work out percentage rate.

If on maternity: Use AI * 12 months
If opted out: box should be blank.

Annual Salary Rate for the Member Contribution

Eligible Employment from 1 April Rate
2021

Up to £28,309.99 7.4%

£28,310 to £38,108.99 8.6%

£38,109 to £45,185.99 9.6%

£45,186 to £59,885.99 10.2%

£59,886 to £81,661.99 11.3%

£81,662 and above 11.7%

AR and AS: Complete if person on an U (update) line

If person is due a refund then these should be completed.

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To finish:
Click on ‘Check data and continue to section B’
Payment method – BACS
Tick submission declaration box
‘click here to generate the total contributions amount’
Yes
Save folder to desktop\MCR downloads

Upload to teacher’s pension website:

Upload a file
Choose correct school from dropdown box
Copy name of file to file description box (F2, CTRL+C to copy, CTRL+V to paste).
The first 16 digits of the file name must not change. But you can delete the last
numbers in the file description so that there are no underscores. Add school
code and todays date (no dots) at end of file description (e.g
MCR3032007012022HGR).
Upload file from desktop.
Tick to confirm
Ok

Save to: G:\Shared drives\APAT Payroll\Payroll processing inputs\202122\

_MCR\month

If the file gets rejected on Teachers’ Pensions Website:

Phone them up straight away and they can tell you what the error is.

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 Scenarios

Person is on Zero-hours Contract/Claims based contract:

Person needs 2 lines each month.
Line 1 Current month:
Column X: would be all days excluded
Column Y: PTIC
Column Z: Complete
Column AG: £0
Column AJ and AK: £0
Column AL: leave blank
Line 2 for Previous month: use figures from previous month to calculate
pension
Column B: Change to U if updating
Column Y: PTIC
Column Z: Scale Value
Column AA: Monthly salary
Column AB: Complete overtime
Column AE: Put WE
Column AG: Same as AA
Column AJ and AK: Get from PSP
Column AL: AG x 12 months
Column AR: Copy from AJ
Column AS: Copy from AK

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Person is on Maternity Leave:
Column Z: Enter figures as normal
Column AA: leave blank
Column AD: Mark as FL (family leave)
Column AG: Put in the person’s actual maternity pay
Column AI: What the person would have normally been paid if
they had been working
Column AL: AI * 12 months

Person is on Final Salary Scheme and paid pension on overtime. Person needs
a refund:
Column B: Mark as U for Update
Columns U and V: Use the months that it happened in
Column AE: Calculation method will be WE
Column AG: Put what the earnings were without overtime
Columns AJ and AK: Should be only based on salary and not overtime
Column AR and AS: Should be what was actually paid
Column AX and AY: Should be a negative figure as is a refund.
Person is paid in lieu of notice: this is NOT pensionable

Person has moved from one school to another:

On the school they’re leaving spreadsheet: Column W – Withdrawal
Confirmation - Drop down box - Select ‘W’
On the school they’re starting spreadsheet: transfer their details onto the new
school’s spreadsheet.

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Person is a leaver. Their pension has been paid, but MCR does not show it:
Add person back onto the relevant school spreadsheet
Complete columns A to Z (up to Annual Full Time Salary)
Column U and V - Make sure the dates are for the start and end of the last
month (the month pension not recorded) and not the current month.
Column W – Withdrawal Confirmation - Drop down box - Select ‘W’
Column AD – leave blank
Column AE – dropdown – click WE (when earned)
Column AF – Enter the last date of the previous month (e.g 31122021)
AG – insert person’s monthly salary
AJ – insert employer’s pension (Salary *£0.2368) (Employer contribution is a
flat rate of 23.68%)
AK – insert how much employee has paid (Salary * percentage below)
AL – insert member contribution rate (see below)
AR – Copy figure from column AJ
AS - Copy figure from column AK
AX – formula is: AJ-AR, so should be £0
AY – formula is: AK – AS, so should be £0.

Person is a leaver who had back pay. Their pension has been paid, but MCR
does not show it:
Add an extra line for the person on the relevant school spreadsheet
Complete columns A to Z (up to Annual Full Time Salary)
Column U and V - Make sure the dates are for the last month (the month
pension not recorded) and not the current month.
Column W – Withdrawal Confirmation - Drop down box - Select ‘W’
Column AD – status indicator – FL (this means Family Leave. This is factually
wrong, but the system needs FL to be inputted otherwise you will get errors)

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Column AE – dropdown – click WE (when earned)
Column AF – Enter the last date of the previous month (e.g 31122021)
Column AG –Insert back pay amount
Column AI – should be £0
AJ – leave blank
AK – leave blank
AL – leave blank

Person has started a new contract:

When a person starts a new contract, the role identifier (column S) changes.
PSP - HR Record - Search person - Employment history - Double click on
primary active - Pension tab - Copy number in box called MCR role.
Insert number into MCR spreadsheet – column S.
Add /1 after number

Person has been left off the spreadsheet entirely:

Input all information onto spreadsheet.

Person has opted out of paying pension contributions:

AG – should be £0
AJ – leave column blank
AK – leave column blank
AL – leave column blank

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Person has unpaid leave (e.g to look after child). A negative figure is showing
up in Column AB (overtime) and AC (additional pensionable payments):
Column AA (if part time): Deduct amount in AB/AC from the figure in AA.
Column AB: delete figures
Column AC: delete figures
Column AG: deduct amount in AB/AC from the figure in AG

If person has got a second line saying that they have back pay (with the
negative figures from the above line): delete the line

You’ve inputted Column S Role Identifier incorrectly, meaning that the

person looks like they have two contracts, therefore is listed as needing to
pay twice:
Import the records showing the WRONG role identifier.
Column Y: insert if full or part time.
Casual staff would be classed as part time.
Column Z: to find figure go to PSP - HR Record – Employment –
Employment History - Primary Active - Scroll to right to find Scale Value.
Check if salary includes any TLR: Go to PSP – HR Record – search name –
balances – historical working file. To include TLR: Scale Value + TLR * 12
months
If the error is for last month and the person had back pay: Add scale value +
back pay.
Column AA: Only complete if part time. To find monthly part time figure go to
PSP – HR Record – search name - balances – historical working file – check for
correct month – rate.
Part Time TLR: add TLR to part time earnings.
Column AE: add WE
Column AG: 0
Column AJ: input £0

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Column AK: £0
Column AL: leave blank
Column AR: Insert figure from payslip
Column AS: insert figure from payslip
Column AX: Copy figure from AR but make it in the negative.
Column AY: Copy figure from AS but make it in the negative.
When you continue to section B: The Total Contribution Payment figure should
be negative, and be a sum of employer + employee contribution.

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