Payroll Manager – Job Profile and Education Prerequisites
If you’re good in numbers, have a keen interest in the field of accountancy and can handle pressure well when working to meet deadlines, a career in payroll management may suit you. As a payroll manager, you would be expected to manage the payroll department of the organization you work with, supervise and train the payroll team, advise on pay taxes, pensions and benefits and pay laws, and audit payroll to make sure standards and regulations are met.
In addition, it would be your job to look in to the company’s benefit scheme, ensuring that employee benefits are managed properly. You would also need to conduct pay reviews in conjunction with the HR department. The job responsibilities may also include calculation overtime, pay increases, shift payments, tax deductions, insurance payments and processing maternity pay and expenses.
Seeking Employment in Payroll Management
Payroll management is a specific professional discipline. Therefore, to get into this job you would need to have undergone a course in payroll. And with this, you would also need relevant experience in payroll. Employers would be equally interested in your business communication, strategic compensation, critical thinking and human resources management skills while hiring you. They may also like to assess your understanding of pay laws.
A postgraduate certification program in payroll management can prepare you for employment in payroll. You will gain extensive knowledge base, develop and enhance crucial skills in a number of areas, and gain hands-on training to begin working as a payroll generalist.
Education and Training
Choosing the right program that helps you build strong theoretical grounding and gives practical hands-on training is really important to enhance your employability. Although a number of colleges in Canada offer postgraduate certification courses in payroll but not all are accredited and incorporate hands-on training.
Centennial College’s certification program in payroll is delivered in partnership with the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA). This ensures program quality. Additionally, qualified students are eligible to earn the Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP), a professional designation granted by the association.
The one-year program covers a wide range of subjects, including Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, Payroll Compliance, Strategic Compensation, Management Accounting for Human Resources, Payroll Systems, Pensions and Benefits, Business Communications, Fundamentals of Project Management, Human Resources Management and Contemporary Organizational Behaviour.
The program uses classroom lectures, simulations, case-studies and project-based learning, placing an emphasis on:
- Emerging trends
- Issues in payroll
- Changing legislative requirements
- Use of promising technologies
- SAP application
The program offers you the knowledge, skills (accounting, IT, communication, logical thinking, and problem solving and leadership skills) and training that you would require for the job in a relatively short period of time. You also develop and enhance project management, business report writing, teamwork and presentation skills.
Career Outlook
There is a huge demand for professionals who have specialized knowledge in all aspects of payroll. The program graduates can find employment in all industry sectors as payroll accountants, general accounting coordinators, payroll clerks/officers, small business bookkeepers, accountants and payroll and benefits administrators.
