Celebrating National Payroll Week
National Payroll Week 2024 aims to highlight the work our payroll professionals undertake every day. It was established in the UK by The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) in 1998 to celebrate the work of the payroll profession and to recognise the value they deliver to the nation.
We have a fantastic payroll team who are accredited to the prestigious Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) Payroll Assurance Scheme (PAS). We work hard as a team to uphold and maintain high standards within a constantly changing legislative environment.
This year we have decided to focus on payroll as a career. The accountancy profession is one that offers people a real choice in terms of career pathway. Some choose to start straight from school, many go on to higher education first and others join later in life. Cahan is a great example of identifying aspects of his degree that he found enjoyable, and then pursuing a completely different path than his original area of study.
Cahan Campbell – Trainee Payroll Administrator
Qualifications – Bachelor’s Neuroscience with Psychology degree from University of Aberdeen.
Training status – Starting CIPP training in October
How long have you worked at Thomson Cooper – 2 months
What were you doing before joining Thomson Cooper? I started university straight after high school and graduated with my degree in June 2024. I worked in a finance department for a fire and security system company during my studies.
Why have you chosen a career in payroll? – I never really found a career in neuroscience that appealing but I enjoyed the data management and detail-focused tasks I did during our research/lab projects. This, in my opinion, made finance the obvious choice for a career. I was specifically interested in payroll because the idea of learning and implementing legislation that ensures people are paid correctly was appealing.
What are your areas of expertise and interest? – I enjoy the more technical areas of payroll such as tax laws, but I am interested in learning as much as I can across all of the various areas of expertise.
What are the main challenges you face? – It can be hard to consistently get everything right when learning new systems.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in payroll? – It can be very rewarding, and personally gratifying to know that you have ensured people have been paid properly. A person’s income is obviously a very big factor in their life. As someone who tries to be socially aware, ensuring employment rights are followed and pay is accurate is very rewarding.
Future goals including qualifications – While I don’t have any specific goals beyond completing my CIPP training, I am always eager to learn and I hope to engage with as many training programs and qualifications as possible.
What might surprise people about payroll? – I think people are very conservative when thinking about the responsibilities of processing a payroll. Some may view it as just calculating a number but a lot more goes into it such as checking tax codes, ensuring pension payments are made & making sure employees are paid at least the minimum wage.
For those looking to move into payroll, what are the key skills that will help someone kick-start their career? – Good time management is a very important skill for staying on top of your work even during the busier periods of the month. Attention to detail and an eagerness for learning may not be traditionally classed as skills but I believe both can be learned and are vital to being successful in payroll.
What advice do you have for others contemplating a career in payroll? – I would encourage people not to be put off if they don’t have conventional qualifications. I hesitated about pursing a career in payroll because I thought I would be competing against people with payroll qualifications, which were more applicable than my neuroscience degree. I thought I might struggle to understand what the job required of me but I’ve found that with curiosity for payroll, and the ability to learn from mistakes, that I can overcome any challenges I encounter.