• Replies 27 replies
  • Subscribers 14 subscribers
  • Views 10004 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related

Payroll beginner - training and advice?

Gemma

Hi all,

I recently took on a new role as HR Manager (UK) for a tech sector employer with 100+ employees in the UK and a HQ in NL. Although there was no mention of payroll in the job description, and even at offer stage, it became clear when I took on the role that I was expected to take on payroll responsibilities for the UK.

We have two payrolls, one for 2 staff and one for everyone else.  Prior to this role, I've never operated Payroll before and was clear at interview that I had no Payroll experience.  I have taken over from an HR Director who had Payroll experience and ran the Payroll through an outsourced bureau for a few months.  

The main duties are putting together a big salary spreadsheet with all the starters, leavers, overtime, commission, and any changes and then checking the reports which are returned from the bureau.  We don't have an HR database so I have to use a range of different documents and data to ensure the data I am inputting is correct. I also have to check my own work when the reports are returned from the bureau and forward on reports to various other people such as our Finance team and pension provider.  On a personal level, I find this to be a very time-consuming task (it takes me about a day a month to do the processing and about another day or so a month to check the files and deal with any queries out of 20 available days) with the attention to detail it needs a really poor fit for my skills.  Additionally, I have a major concern about the risks inherent in allowing an essentially untrained person to carry out an important task with no checks and balances in place.

I have a couple of questions I'd appreciate an objective view on from you, my lovely Community colleagues:

1.  Is this normal or am I making a fuss over nothing?

2. Is there some training I could do which would help me in this task?

3.  How typical is it for a small employer with an HR team of 0.8 and a Finance team of 6 to delegate this task to HR?

4. Is there any other advice you can offer me to help me feel less stressed about this task?  Every month I have an absolute horror that I will make a mistake.  The first month I did it, I had a horrendous night's sleep as I was so worried about it.  I have made a few minor errors and I am constantly discovering new aspects to Payroll that I knew nothing about.

Thanks for your time in reading this post and please be gentle, this is probably the first time in my HR career I have taken on a new task which has made me feel so vulnerable and inexperienced!

Kind regards,

Gemma

Parents
  • Hi Gemma

    It does sound like a challenge but is also a very good learning opportunity.

    I understand why you are losing some sleep over it. But your employer knew you had no experience and mistakes happen, even to the most experienced payroll professional, the human ones anyway ;-).

    Check the website of the Chartered Institute for Payroll Professionals (https://www.cipp.org.uk/); they will have relevant courses you can attend, and if you sign up, you’ll have access to their resources and support network.

    I think you should also look at implementing an integrated Payroll/HR database from a company that will provide technical support. It will make your life easier.

    We use Carval in my company – we have 1,000 employees UK-wide and an experienced Payroll team.
    What we like about them is that they are good with small/medium firms and/or payrolls that require specific features (like ours). They will tailor the settings to your needs and can provide contingency plans. They are a bit more payroll oriented than HR but it still works from a HR point of view. Happy to introduce you if you want.
  • in reply to Pauline
    Thanks Pauline. I am usually up for new challenges but there is so much to do here in terms of basic HR stuff, the addition of an unexpected Payroll duty feels a little overwhelming and with no safety net.
    I have suggested the course that Ray recommended to my manager for myself and my HR Administrator to do and she is mulling it over.
    I agree an integrated HR/Payroll database would be easier but it isn't an option for now. In the UK we have no HR database (one for another day!) so we run everything from spreadsheets and the Netherlands have a database from which they produce their reports for Payroll. As my manager thinks HR should operate Payroll like the NL, I keep pointing out we don't have the same tools but it seems to be falling on deaf ears. We are looking at implementing Microsoft AX (which links to our accounting system) but it has been very slow and I think the intention is still to outsource Payroll. I thought it would be cheaper to employ an in-house Accounts/Payroll Administrator to run it but there seems no appetite to bring it in-house at present.
    Gemma
Reply
  • in reply to Pauline
    Thanks Pauline. I am usually up for new challenges but there is so much to do here in terms of basic HR stuff, the addition of an unexpected Payroll duty feels a little overwhelming and with no safety net.
    I have suggested the course that Ray recommended to my manager for myself and my HR Administrator to do and she is mulling it over.
    I agree an integrated HR/Payroll database would be easier but it isn't an option for now. In the UK we have no HR database (one for another day!) so we run everything from spreadsheets and the Netherlands have a database from which they produce their reports for Payroll. As my manager thinks HR should operate Payroll like the NL, I keep pointing out we don't have the same tools but it seems to be falling on deaf ears. We are looking at implementing Microsoft AX (which links to our accounting system) but it has been very slow and I think the intention is still to outsource Payroll. I thought it would be cheaper to employ an in-house Accounts/Payroll Administrator to run it but there seems no appetite to bring it in-house at present.
    Gemma
Children
No Data