National Provident Fund

To talk to someone about your scheme, phone 0800 628 776

I.P.A.R Technical Specifications

Following are the technical specifications for setting up IPAR.

  1. Media specifications

    File to be created in ASCII text format and be attached to Email

  2. Record types

    Each file sent will always comprise seven different record types but may contain four different record types if Salary Sacrifice contributions are payable:

    • One header record per scheme and per Employer identity number batch
    • One detail record per employee payment
    • One additional detail record per employee ONLY if the member has a salary sacrifice contribution
    • One trailer record per scheme and per Employer identity number batch

  3. Amount fields

    Please ensure that all amount fields are in the following format:

    Unsigned
    Right justified
    Zero filled
    No currency sign or punctuation
    Amounts in cents.

    Example: $1,000.00 shown as 00000100000

  4. Employer Identity and Member Contract Number fields

    Please ensure that these fields are in the following format:

    Right justified
    Zero filled

    Example: 141867 would be shown as 000141867

    The Employer Identity Number and the Member Contract Numbers will be supplied by Datacom.

  5. Field specifications

Description of fieldLengthField EndContents & comments
Header record
Record type2200 is used to indicate a header. That is, the start of a batch.
Employer identity number911The Employer identity number will be supplied by Datacom, right justified.
Employer name3041The employer's full name, left justified.
Filler67108Spaces.
Last pay date8116DDMMCCYY - The end date of the pay period last reported to Datacom.
Filler4120Spaces.
Pay date8128DDMMCCYY - The end date of the pay period(s) currently being reported to Datacom. This will be the "last pay date" on the next tape or diskette.
Filler14142Spaces.
SCWT indicator1143Must be N = nett payments.
Filler19162Spaces.
Detail record
Record type2201 is used to indicate information within a batch. Each 01 record should contain information about a particular employee's superannuation deduction.
Contract number911A Contract Number is supplied by Datacom for each employee, right justified.
Member name3041The employee's name, left justified, formatted as: Surname First name Middle names Please don't include titles, or insert commas between names.
Filler950Spaces.
Scheme number353Used to identify scheme types. Your Scheme uses code ‘999’
Employee contributions1164The total regular contributions paid by the employee (for the pay periods reported). That is, from Period last pay date to Pay date.
Employer contributions1175The total contributions paid by the employer (for the pay periods reported). That is, from Period last pay date to Pay date.
Employee arrears1186This field should be zero.
Employer arrears1197This field should be zero.
Superable annual salary11108Optional. To be supplied for Defined Benefit Products and for Defined Contribution Products where Salary is needed for Insurance premium calculation. Zero if field not required.
Salary change date8116Enter date if Superable annual salary is supplied. Else the field should be zero.
Filler27143Spaces.
Pay period salary11154The field should be zero.
Detail record 2Employee Voluntary and Salary Sacrifice
Record type2204 is used to indicate information within a batch. Each 04 record should contain information about a particular employee's voluntary and or salary sacrifice deduction. If no Voluntary or Salary Sacrifice deduction has been made then do NOT write a 04 record
Contract number911A Contract Number is supplied by Datacom for each employee, right justified.
Member name3041The employee's name, left justified, formatted as: Surname First name Middle names Please don't include titles, or insert commas between names.
Filler950Spaces.
Scheme number353Used to identify scheme types. Your Scheme uses code ‘999’
Voluntary contributions1164The total Voluntary contributions paid by the employee (for the pay periods reported). That is, from Period last pay date to Pay date.
Salary Sacrifice contributions1175The total Salary Sacrifice contributions paid by the employer on behalf of this particular employee (for the pay periods reported). That is, from Period last pay date to Pay date.
Employee arrears1186This field should be zero
Employer arrears1197This field should be zero
Superable annual salary11108This field should be zero.
Salary change date8116This field should be zero.
Filler27143Spaces.
Pay period salary11154This field should be zero.
Trailer
Record type2299 is used to indicate a trailer. That is, the final (summary) record in a batch.
Employer identity number911This will be the same as the Employer identity number in the header.
Employer name3041This will be the same as the Employer name in the header.
Filler5697Spaces.
Total11108Sum of all contributions for this batch. (Employee + Employer + Voluntary + Salary Sacrifice??)
Filler54162Spaces.