Guide to completing the scheme financial template

This guide sets out the information you will need to accurately complete each section in the scheme financial template (SFT).

It is aimed at the trustees of master trusts, their advisers, scheme funders, and scheme strategists.

Updated: 1 September 2026

Published: March 2022

What the SFT is and what it is for

The SFT is an Excel template to help master trusts demonstrate they meet (or continue to meet) the financial sustainability requirements set out in our Authorisation of master trusts, Code of practice 15 .

Master trust scheme financial details template Excel 105KB: Published : September 2026

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If you require a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email web@tpr.gov.uk.

The SFT contains 15 sections on financial and general information about the master trust. The financial information predominantly relates to the master trust’s income, running costs and financial reserves (consisting of run-on costs and the costs of compliance) and should be drawn from or be consistent with the master trust’s business plan and/or costs, assets and liquidity plan (CALP).

The CALP forms part of a master trust’s business plan (although may be presented as a separate document) and summarises the running costs and financial resources available to the scheme.

Completing the SFT will help you ensure your CALP contains sufficient information to demonstrate the financial sustainability requirement is met.

The SFT should be submitted as part of the application for authorisation. We may also request it is completed when a scheme is required to provide a revised business plan and/or CALP to us and at other points during the scheme’s supervision. We expect the SFT to be completed in addition to and not instead of completing a CALP.

We expect the information you provide in the SFT to be consistent with the master trust’s business plan and the CALP.

Updates to the SFT

The SFT and this guide have been updated following the publication of the Master trust capital reserving requirements on 20 March 2026.

In response to errors in some SFTs we have received, we have updated the template to provide more clarity on the requirements.

This guide provides additional information to assist with sections and elements of the template where common errors have occurred.

You should refer closely to this guide when completing the SFT. If you are completing the template for the first time, it will be useful for you to read this guide before starting.

Completing the SFT – important reminders

Complete all sections

If you do not complete all the sections in the SFT, we may be unable to satisfy ourselves whether your master trust meets (or continues to meet) the financial sustainability requirement.

Providing clear and comprehensive information at the outset will help us assess your submission more efficiently.

What to include

We expect you to include all relevant costs and income that relate to the master trust, regardless of how these are allocated between group entities or who is meeting the costs. For example, you should include costs even if they are being met by the scheme funder.

How to provide and submit information

You should download the SFT.

You should submit the completed SFT to us in Excel format only via email to your normal TPR contact.

Formats

All financial information should be provided in a standardised format on a like-for-like basis across all master trusts. Where possible, we expect master trusts to group similar costs in order to provide the financial information within the fixed categories provided, rather than providing costs in unnecessarily granular detail.

While we recognise that master trusts may not currently report their financial information in the format required by the SFT, or there may be elements that we have not captured for a particular master trust, we expect you to complete the SFT as fully as you can.

Costs

References to costs in the SFT and this guide are to cash costs.

Input cells

We have provided text boxes next to each income stream and costs category for any explanations and assumptions used to calculate these income streams or costs.

You can only enter information into the input cells.

No additional columns, rows or worksheets should be added to the SFT.

 All cells apart from the white and red cells (input cells) have been locked and cannot be accessed or changed. The red cells should be completed by all master trusts. You should fill in the white cells in the income and cost sections where applicable. These cells are not highlighted in red because the income and cost categories used will vary between master trusts and therefore not every category will be relevant in every case.

The format of many of the input cells has been restricted, and inputs should be in the correct format within the prescribed parameters (for example, positive whole numbers only, percentage, decimals, date, text and free text).

An error message with the correct input cell format and parameters will pop up if an input is in the wrong format or outside the prescribed parameters. Please note, for example, that £ signs should not be included.

Input cells which do not require information should also be left blank rather than entering unnecessary zeros.

Previous year and forecast financial information

Financial information is required for the most recent previous financial year available and forecast financial information covering at least the next three years and up to the next five years to align with the term of the master trust’s business plan and/or CALP. For initial authorisation, the most recent previous financial year information does not need to be completed.

We expect master trusts to have considered a range of forecast scenarios (for example, best-case and worst-case scenarios), each of which should incorporate an appropriate degree of prudence. However, master trusts should only provide the financial information relating to their base case scenario when completing the SFT.

Do not round up

There should be no rounding in thousands or millions.

Further clarifications for each section of the SFT

Here we provide clarifications and reminders relating to specific sections, rows and cells in the SFT. It will be helpful to read this alongside the template.

Basic information (rows 3 to 8)

Please provide the scheme name, pension scheme registration (PSR) number, and the name of the person responsible for preparing and reviewing the SFT in the cells in rows 3 to 8.

Effective date (row 5)

Usually, the effective date is the same date as the previous financial year end.

Section 1: Specific historical income for the previous reporting period, usually the end of the financial year, and forecast (mid-range/base case scenario) annual income over the term of the master trust’s business plan / CALP (row 10)

When completing this section, please populate the previous financial year end date in cell D12. This date should be for the most recent financial year end. The SFT will auto-populate forecast year end dates in cells E12 to I12. The number of forecast financial years provided should be consistent with those in the master trust’s business plan and/or CALP. These dates only need to be entered once as they will be automatically entered elsewhere in the SFT where relevant.

Please note that, where the financial year end does not coincide with the effective date of the business plan, sufficient forecast years should be inputted to cover the entire period of the business plan. For example, if the previous financial year end is 31/12/2025 and the effective date of the business plan is 31/03/2026, forecast financial year ends of 31/12/2026, 31/12/2027, 31/12/2028 and 31/12/2029 should be input.

Income streams (rows 13 to 17)

To complete rows 13 to 17, please provide details of all the master trust’s income in accordance with the fixed income stream categories where possible. Any income streams that are not captured in the fixed categories provided may be entered in the ‘All other income’ category (row 17), with further explanation included in the corresponding row of column J.

Section 2: Is the master trust currently, or proposed to be, used for automatic enrolment? (row 19)

This section relates to the entire forecast period of the business plan/CALP (three to five years). Please select either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ from the drop-down list available.

Section 3: Specific historical costs for the previous financial reporting period and forecast (mid-range/base case scenario) annual costs of setting up and operating the master trust (row 22)

Running costs are the costs of setting up and running the master trust on an ongoing basis, whether in-house or outsourced. We expect the forecast running costs of the master trust to be consistent with those in the master trust’s business plan (and CALP).

Some master trusts may hold insurance policies or indemnities that provide cover for certain costs, including both running costs and financial reserves. Full details of all running costs and financial reserves, whether or not covered by insurance policies or indemnities, should be provided.

If any of the master trust’s specific running costs or financial reserves provided in the SFT have elements covered under insurance policies or indemnities, please advise what, if any, portion of these costs are covered by such policies and indemnities in the explanation/assumptions text box next to that specific cost.

Prudence - Sections 3 (row 22), Section 8 (row 85), and Section 9 (row 129)

These sections ask for you to provide a value for prudence.  We expect you to provide the additional prudence factored into the forecasts under each cost category identified in pounds actual terms. The input cell allows for this to be applied using a formula which includes a flat percentage across all cost categories or at varying rates applied to specific cost categories. The final cell output should be in pounds actual terms.

The SFT allows master trusts to apply any level of prudence to any specific cost category. We expect some level of prudence to be built into forecasts provided. The total costs (including prudence) should be consistent with figures in the master trust’s business plan (and CALP).

Cost categories for Section 3 (row 22) and Section 8 (row 85)

In respect of the cost categories, please provide details of all the master trust’s costs in the fixed categories provided, where possible. Any master trust running costs not captured in the fixed cost categories may be entered in the ‘all other costs’ category, with corresponding detail in the explanation/assumption column. Please see below the notes on some specific costs:

Administration costs (row 27 and row 29)

Please provide a breakdown of third-party and internal administration costs into their individual components as much as possible. For example, if specific costs included in administration costs can be quantified, please state these under the other fixed cost categories already provided and deduct them from any administration costs. We recognise that you may not be able to identify or quantify specific categories of administration costs, in which case the total administration costs should be included with an explanation of what specific costs are included.

Member and employer communication costs (row 31)

Please include all costs associated with communications to members and employers in the ordinary course of administering the scheme, including those prescribed by law and the master trust’s trust deed and rules.

Regulatory compliance and communication (row 33)

You should include all costs relating to compliance and communication with regulatory bodies such as TPR, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). You should also include internal costs relating to the preparation of financial reports and statements (the professional fees relating to financial reporting are not included here as there is a separate cost category for this).

Employee costs (row 43)

You should include all employee costs, including employer national insurance and pension costs. We would typically expect to see these costs increase as a result of pay rises and any linked pension contributions.

Trustee costs (row 45)

These costs should only include costs relating to remuneration and overheads associated with paying trustees.

Scheme funder costs (row 47)

You should include all costs incurred by a scheme funder directly related to the master trust, such as business development and planning, research, marketing and any other dedicated support provided by a funder to the master trust. Where all costs in relation to the master trust are met by a scheme funder, this row can be ignored as total costs in relation to the master trust will already be covered under all other relevant cost categories.

Investment-related costs (row 49)

You should include costs relating to asset managers, or an in-house team to manage the master trust’s funds, investment advice and costs incurred executing the master trust’s investment strategy.

All other costs (row 59)

You should include any provisions that have been made to fund contingent liabilities, such as correcting administration errors, break clauses in contracts, additional requirements from service providers as per the fixed cost categories. Please also include any other costs that might only arise if things went wrong, such as potential compensation and the cost of remedial work, in the extra input cells where required.

Please specify the amount of all significant capital expenditure for the previous financial year and the relevant forecast financial years, along with any prudence, for each category.

Section 4: Scheme surplus, as indicated by deducting running costs from total income (row 66)

No input is required - this section is calculated automatically.

Section 5: What triggering event do you consider would be more expensive to resolve? (row 73)

In most circumstances, we consider that continuity option 1 will be more expensive than continuity option 2. However, please select the most expensive triggering event to resolve from the drop-down list. If you select option 2, please provide details in cell G75.

Sections 7,8,9,10 and 11 (row 81 to row 186)

Sections 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 should be completed on the basis of the most expensive continuity option (which will usually be continuity option 1). If continuity option 2 is more expensive, you should in addition provide us with your assessment of the costs of continuity option 1 in the business plan and/or CALP (page 36 and paragraph 152 of the code).

For Sections 8 and 9, the six-month period in which the costs would be incurred should also be identified by inputting the relevant amounts in the corresponding columns (all costs incurred during the first one to six months in column D, seven to 12 months in column E, 13 to 18 months in column F and 19 to 24 months in column G). The number of six-month periods for which costs are provided should be consistent with the estimated run-on wind-up period provided in response to Section 7. For example, where a master trust can show that a shorter run-on period than 24 months is appropriate, costs provided in the six-month periods should be consistent with that period but note that it is for TPR to determine the appropriate run-on period (paragraph 230 of the code).

The SFT will automatically shade any of the six-month cost columns where information is not required based on the estimated run-on period provided in Section 7.

Section 6: Hypothetical triggering event date used for sections 7, 8, and 9 (row 77)

For this section, the estimated costs incurred for the wind-up period (split into four six-month periods) should be calculated as if the triggering event occurred between one and three full forecast years in the future (from the effective date).

Section 7: Estimated run-on period after a triggering event (row 81)

For this section you should provide an estimate of the run-on period required for the master trust, taking fully into consideration the tasks and time scales in Schedule 5 to the Occupational Pension Schemes (Master Trusts) Regulations 2018. Master trusts must hold sufficient financial resources to meet the costs of continuing to run the master trust for this period, which we anticipate is likely to be the full 24 months for most master trusts.

Should the length of the run-on period provided be less than 24 months, master trusts should outline why a period of less than 24 months is appropriate and achievable, providing specific supporting evidence and assumptions within its business plan and/or CALP.

Section 8: Specific costs in Section 3 which are expected to either stay neutral, increase or decrease, and an explanation of why (row 85)

All cost categories in this section have been taken from those in Section 3. Run-on costs should be broadly in line with business-as-usual costs following a triggering event (paragraph 232 of the code).

Trustees are required to provide an estimate for each of these same cost categories in the event of a triggering event and explain whether or not they are forecast to remain neutral, increase or decrease from the amounts in Section 3.

All costs provided should reflect the total expected costs, with any prudence separately identified. Do not simply provide the amount by which each cost category in Section 3 has changed but state the anticipated cost.

Include any provisions forecast to fund contingent liabilities such as dilapidation, correcting administration errors, break clauses in contracts, additional requirements from service providers as per the fixed cost categories within the four six-month periods as appropriate (columns D to G) in which they are forecast to be incurred. Please include any other costs that might only arise if things went wrong, such as potential compensation and cost of remedial work, in the additional input cells.

Section 9: Specific costs of compliance associated with the triggering event (row 129)

This section includes a number of specific cost categories. For each category, any prudence applied should also be identified to ensure that all expected compliance costs are appropriately reflected. Some of these are dictated by activities required by legislation and some activities with discrete additional cost to those generally required to continue to run the master trust after a triggering event.

Master trusts should also include any other costs which do not fall within the fixed cost categories already provided in ‘All other costs’. All costs and specific prudence should be input into the appropriate six-month period. Please see below the notes on some specific costs:

Employee costs (row 131)

Provide all costs relating to employee termination and redundancy costs (based on the corresponding redundancy clauses contained within employee contracts) in the six-month period in which they are likely to be incurred.

Project management, consultancy/contracting staff (row 133)

Provide the forecast costs for any additional staffing which would be required, taking into account any loss of full-time employees throughout the run-on period. We also expect that on a like-for-like basis a premium for contracting staff would be appropriate since the cost of a contractor to fill the role of a full-time employee at a similar level will generally be higher.

Asset reconciliation (row 147)

Include all costs associated with reconciling assets with member level and the recovery of outstanding employer and member contributions after a triggering event.

Section 10: Total run-on costs and costs of compliance (row 168)

Financial reserves are the financial assets available to a master trust to keep it running following a triggering event. This is the sum of the run-on period costs and costs of compliance.

No input required. This section is calculated automatically and will provide us with a total baseline reserving figure.

Section 11: Provide details of the assets to meet the financial reserving requirement set out in Sections 8, 9 and 10 (row 175)

Please provide details of the assets held by the trustees and any scheme funder to meet the financial sustainability requirement. This includes the expected revenue offset, cash, guarantees, and any other assets that would be utilised to meet the costs of implementing the continuity option selected in Section 5.

Figures entered in column D, ‘Assets to meet reserving requirements in S10’ should be discounted asset values i.e. asset values reduced by the haircut discount. The figure will in most cases match the reserving requirement in Section 10.

For clarity, we also ask that you provide the value of the haircut (discount) applied in Column E, ‘Haircut’. The haircut is the discount calculated using the haircut table in Code 15 across the relevant assets and timeframes. As per our Master trust capital reserving requirements, the haircut figures within the Code were designed on the basis that most schemes would generally use revenue offsetting below 20%. Where a master trust seeks to offset a higher amount of revenue, we would expect them to apply appropriate scheme specific stresses or as a minimum haircut (discounts) as per the haircut table in Code 15. All relevant details justifying the level of revenue offset used should be provided in the business plan and/or CALP.

Column F, ‘Assets to meet reserving requirement after adding back the haircut’ is calculated automatically by adding together columns D and E and therefore will be a larger number than column D and the reserving amount calculated in Section 10. This column details the value of assets that are held in practice to meet the reserving requirement in Section 10.

Illustrative example:

Total reserving amount calculated in Section 10, cell H172 is £44,500,000.

An example Section 11 table could look like this:

	Column D	Column E	Column F
	Assets to meet reserving requirements in S10	Haircut (as a minimum, this is the discount calculated in accordance with the Code which reduces the market or book value of the assets or holdings)	Assets to meet reserving requirement after adding back the haircut
Revenue offset	£20,025,000	£6,135,174	£26,160,714
Cash	£6,675,000	£273,810	£6,948,810
PRA regulated scheme funder guarantee	£17,800,000	£884,211	£18,627,907
Any other guarantees (please provide details)
Any other assets
Total assets	£44,500,000	£7,293,735	£51,793,735

For clarity, we only want to see the value of assets held for master trust reserving purposes in the SFT. If a scheme decides to hold a buffer beyond the reserving requirements, the value of assets held including the buffer should be shown in the SFT. However, if your master trust is a hybrid scheme with unallocated DB assets forming part of your reserving calculation, we do not want to see the whole value of the unallocated DB assets input into the table above, only the value attributed to meeting the reserving requirement. Similarly, we only want to see the value of any PRA regulated scheme funder guarantee or other guarantees that are provided to meet the reserving requirements of the master trust and not the whole value of reserves held under other regulatory regimes.

Section 12: Number of historical, current and forecast master trust members during the term of the master trust’s business plan and/or CALP (row 188)

You should provide the number of active, deferred and pensioner members as at the end of the previous financial year and forecast financial years during the term of the master trust’s business plan in the input cells provided.

Section 13: Number of historical, current and forecast employers contributing to the master trust during the term of the master trust’s business plan and/or CALP (row 195)

You should state the number of employers as at the end of the previous financial year and forecast financial years during the term of the master trust’s business plan in the input cells provided.

Section 14: Total historical, current and forecast employer and member contributions received during the term of the master trust’s business plan and/or CALP (row 199)

You should state the total employer and member contributions as at the end of the previous financial year and forecast financial years during the term of the master trust’s business plan in the input cells provided.

Section 15: Total historical, current and forecast assets under management or administration during the term of the master trust’s business plan and/or CALP (row 203)

You should state the master trust’s total assets under management or administration as at the end of the previous financial year and forecast financial years during the term of the master trust’s business plan in the input cells provided.