Over the last week or so I’ve been taking calls from a number of professionals, including accountants, fellow financial planners and payroll bureaus all with a similar sort of issue.

The reason I’ve been getting these calls?

Because, as you probably know if you’re reading this, I’m a bit of a geek.

I’m also a bit of a geek within a particularly niche, and this niche makes me quite unusual…

I’m a bit of a geek with an interest in automatic enrolment.

I’m so geeky about automatic enrolment I’ve even written a book about it (available in no good book shops but you can pick it up from Amazon here).

Having a deep geeky interest in one particular subject comes with it’s benefits. It means that when people have a specific query they tend to pick up the phone to me or send me an email.

Now many of the queries I’ve been getting recently have been variations on a particular pertinent question…

How long should employers take to prepare for automatic enrolment?

Now the reality is that an ideal period we believe is 9 months prior to their staging date. A smart employer will start thinking about their obligations and slowly but surely make the provisions they need to in order to have a decent period of time to make the right decisions.

This is why the tasks on AE in a Box, our project management platform specifically designed to support SME’s in complying with automatic enrolment, start 9 months prior to their staging date

However we also believe in being pragmatic and realistic. Many small business owners ‘leave it late’ with many not looking at their obligations until they believe it’s too late…

That’s why employers can sign up and use AE in a Box any time up to their staging date.

Now it’s important to be clear.

If an employer uses AE in a Box, let’s say a month prior to their staging date the employer will have a bunch of overdue tasks to complete and whilst we hold their hand every step of the way it’s important that the ultimate responsible for complying is the employers.

However it’s important employers, and the professionals they work with, act now and with an estimated 500,000 employers who need to comply in 2016.

We’re finding that loads of professionals and employers see AE in a Box as the route to take to ensure not only that they comply with the regulation up front but also on an ongoing basis as regulation changes.

For those employers who need a more bespoke service we provide that through Cervello.

We’re here to help so feel free to contact us on 01708 606 202

However if you’re an employer or are a professional who works with numerous employers…

The time to prepare is now.