If you employ even one person, you’ve probably had a letter, an email or a nudge from your payroll software about auto-enrolment, and maybe a worry that you’ve missed a step. The My Future Fund employer portal is where you register, set up payment and track what you owe. The good news: registration takes about five minutes with your ROS certificate, and after that most of the work happens inside your normal payroll run. This guide walks through each step, what changes on pay day and what happens if you get it wrong.
Key takeaways
- The employer portal at myfuturefund.ie/employer opened on 1 December 2025, and contributions started on 1 January 2026.
- You log in with your ROS certificate, and your accountant can register for you using their own ROS access.
- In 2026 you match your employees’ 1.5% contribution, calculated on gross pay up to €80,000 a year.
- NAERSA tells you who to enrol through an Auto-Enrolment Payment Notification (AEPN), based on a 13-week look-back at payroll data.
- By March 2026, gov.ie reported that about 85,000 employers with eligible staff had registered.
What is the My Future Fund employer portal?
The My Future Fund employer portal is the online system run by NAERSA, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, where Irish employers register for auto-enrolment, set up how they’ll pay contributions, view what they’ve paid and owe, and receive notices about which employees are enrolled. It’s at myfuturefund.ie/employer.
Once you’re in, the portal lets you:
- view contributions paid and owed, and check your contribution record
- update company details and nominate a contact person for notifications
- use a secure mailbox, including resources to help you tell staff about enrolment
- contact NAERSA’s support team
NAERSA doesn’t charge employers anything for running the scheme. It’s funded through a fee charged to members’ pots instead.
How do I register on the My Future Fund employer portal?
You register on the My Future Fund employer portal by logging in at myfuturefund.ie/employer with your ROS certificate, accepting the terms, completing your company profile and setting up a payment method. NAERSA then issues a confirmation letter with your scheme reference number to the portal’s secure mailbox or by post.
Here are the steps for My Future Fund employer registration in order:
- Make sure you have a working ROS certificate with access to your PAYE employer registration.
- Go to myfuturefund.ie/employer and log in with that ROS certificate.
- Accept the terms and conditions.
- Complete your company profile and name a contact person for notifications.
- Set up a payment method. Direct debit is NAERSA’s preferred option. Card payments are possible, but you may need to log in and pay manually each time.
- Watch for your confirmation letter and scheme reference number.
- Check your payroll software is updated for auto-enrolment, then run payroll as usual.
If you already have an accountant with agent access on ROS, they can do all of this for you. At Fuchsia Bell this is part of how we look after payroll for Dublin and Cork employers, so you don’t have to touch the portal unless you want to.
How does My Future Fund work with my payroll each pay day?
Each pay day, your payroll software checks the latest AEPN from NAERSA, deducts 1.5% of gross pay from each enrolled employee’s net pay, adds your matching 1.5% employer contribution, and sends both to NAERSA in a contribution file. Payroll software guidance, such as BrightPay’s, says that file is due by 6:30pm on pay day.
A few rules catch employers out:
- Gross pay means the pay you report to Revenue on your payroll submission. That includes salary, overtime, bonuses, holiday pay, sick pay and the notional value of taxable benefits in kind.
- Contributions stop at €80,000 of gross pay a year per employee.
- Only income under PRSI Classes A, B, C, D, H and J counts towards the €20,000 eligibility test.
- You must tell each employee they’ve been enrolled and the enrolment date NAERSA gives you.
- You can’t pay more or less than the set rate, and you can’t encourage anyone to opt out.
In short: your payroll software reads NAERSA’s notice, deducts and matches 1.5%, and sends the file on pay day.
Worked example: a small Dublin employer
Say you run a small business in Dublin with three staff on steady monthly pay. Here’s what My Future Fund costs you in 2026:
| Employee | Gross salary | Pay counted for AE | Your 1.5% per month | Your 1.5% per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee A | €30,000 | €30,000 | €37.50 | €450 |
| Employee B | €45,000 | €45,000 | €56.25 | €675 |
| Employee C | €90,000 | €80,000 (cap) | €100.00 | €1,200 |
| Total | €193.75 | €2,325 |
Each employee pays the same amount again from their own net pay, and the State adds 0.5% of their counted pay on top. Remember this sits alongside employer PRSI, which rose from 11.25% to 11.40% on 1 October 2026, so it’s worth building both into your 2027 budget. If you need the full picture on cost and obligations, our My Future Fund guide for Irish employers covers it.
What if I don’t use payroll software?
If you don’t use payroll software, you can still meet your auto enrolment payroll duties by paying contributions directly through the employer portal. You’ll still need to report pay to Revenue each pay day, work out the correct 1.5% amounts yourself and keep up with NAERSA’s notices about who’s enrolled.
That’s manageable with one or two staff on fixed pay. It gets harder fast with overtime, bonuses, leavers, or someone who crosses the €20,000 line partway through the year. Manual calculations are where we see most mistakes happen. If that sounds like you, our payroll solutions for employers across Ireland can take the whole job off your plate, from Revenue submissions to auto-enrolment files.
For the background on how the scheme was designed, our earlier post on auto-enrolment in Ireland explains the policy side.
What happens if an employer doesn’t comply with My Future Fund?
Employers who don’t comply with My Future Fund face interest on withheld or underpaid contributions, fines and possible prosecution. Preventing staff from joining, or pressuring them to opt out or suspend, is also an offence, and NAERSA has said it will publish a list of employers convicted of non-compliance.
The fine amounts depend on the offence, and we won’t guess at them here. The practical point is simple: if you’ve missed registration or skipped deductions, fix it now rather than waiting for NAERSA to contact you. Interest builds on what’s owed.
What about employees who opt out or suspend?
You don’t process opt-outs yourself. Employees opt out or suspend through their own My Future Fund account, and NAERSA updates the AEPN it sends you. Your payroll then stops or restarts deductions based on that notice. Any refund of an employee’s own contributions comes from NAERSA, not from you.
Employees can opt out in months 7 and 8 after enrolment, or suspend for one to two years after the first six months. If you have staff in Cork or anywhere else asking about this, point them to their own account at myfuturefund.ie.
Getting help in Dublin, Cork and across Ireland
Fuchsia Bell is a firm of chartered accountants based in Castlemaine, Co. Kerry, run by Gero O’Connor. We work online with employers in Dublin, Cork, Wexford and right across Ireland, and the auto-enrolment rules are the same nationwide. Dublin employers can lean on our payroll services in Dublin for registration, monthly runs and NAERSA files. For Cork employers, our chartered accountants serving Cork offer the same support.
If you’re a growing business juggling payroll alongside everything else, our small business accounting support brings payroll, VAT and year-end together. And if you’d like Gero’s own view on a tricky staffing question, you can contact Gero O’Connor directly. The Government’s official auto-enrolment guide for employers is also worth a read.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all employers need to register on the My Future Fund portal?
Yes, if you have at least one employee who meets the auto-enrolment rules: aged 23 to 60, earning €20,000 or more a year across all jobs, and not in a pension paid through your payroll. If none of your staff qualify yet, check again whenever you hire or give a pay rise.
Can my accountant register my business on the employer portal?
Yes. An accountant or payroll agent with access to your PAYE registration on ROS can register on the My Future Fund employer portal for you using their own ROS credentials. They can also set up payment, manage contribution files and deal with NAERSA notices on your behalf.
Is there a fee for employers to use My Future Fund?
No. NAERSA doesn’t charge employers for administering the scheme. It’s funded through a participant fee charged to members’ pots. Your only cost is the 1.5% employer contribution in 2026, plus whatever you pay for payroll software or an outside payroll service.
Can I pay more than 1.5% for my employees?
No. Contribution rates are fixed by law, so you can’t pay more or less than 1.5% through My Future Fund in 2026. If you want to offer a more generous pension, you can set up your own workplace scheme. An employment with pension contributions paid through payroll is exempt from auto-enrolment.
Do I have to tell employees they’ve been enrolled?
Yes. When NAERSA confirms an employee’s enrolment, you must tell that employee they’ve been enrolled and give them the enrolment date NAERSA provides. A short note with their next payslip works well. The portal’s secure mailbox includes resources to help you explain the scheme to staff.
Get your auto-enrolment sorted
Not sure you’re registered correctly, or worried a pay day has been missed? You don’t have to work it out alone. Get in touch with our team, tell us how many staff you have, and we’ll tell you exactly where you stand and what to do next.
