FEATURE TOPIC
the Institute to talk with leaders across the finance and human resources (HR) sectors, sharing what payroll can do and presenting opportunities to collaborate across projects. Petition for payroll-related subjects to be included on the school curriculum, such as Income Tax, National Insurance (NI), financial wellbeing, pensions and employment law relating to pay and benefits. EH: The CIPP already gives a great deal to its members, but there’s still an opportunity to reach more payroll professionals who aren’t yet members, and in some cases, haven’t even heard of the CIPP. One area for development is raising its voice more in the public domain. When legislation change impacts pay – for example, NI – the media often turns to finance commentators. These experts don’t always have payroll as their specialism and may lack the depth of knowledge our profession can offer. Imagine instead seeing a CIPP professional on that TV screen, confident and credible, showing there’s an organisation with a direct link to HMRC and the expertise to explain the real-world impact. The CIPP already does this to some extent through its regular Think Tank sessions for its members, often with HMRC and other key organisations. Building on these initiatives and amplifying the CIPP’s public profile would further strengthen the profession’s influence and ensure payroll expertise is represented at the highest level. LW: I think the CIPP already provides a lot of benefits for its members, including the Advisory Service, Professional magazine (which is always full of useful articles and recent updates on legislation and case law) and the BeKnowledgeable webinars. Members are also sent the Payroll Reference Book and Factcard annually, which provide excellent value for the cost of the membership fee. However, from a personal perspective, as an owner of a company which provides payroll services, I would like to see the CIPP be able to offer anti-money laundering supervision for its members in this industry (even if just for smaller bureaus). At the moment, I have to get this service from another organisation which is more geared towards the accountancy and bookkeeping sector, so I believe it would be a better fit to
have the supervision with the CIPP, so that we could have this tailored solely for payroll services providers. JW: I would really like to see some more regional groupings for the CIPP. I know this has been tried in several different ways in the past, and it’s always hard to find a venue. I don’t know what the answer is, but I’d love there to be more of a social aspect to the payroll meetups. Quite often it’s very knowledge-focussed, which is important, but one of the great things about events like ACE is meeting up with people you haven’t seen all year and catching up on how they are. With the CIPP’s celebratory events season in full swing, we’re leaning into the spirit of appreciation. In that light, what do you think payroll professionals should feel most proud of in their roles? DB: I’m constantly amazed by the resilience of payroll professionals. Dealing with constant legislative changes, tight deadlines and the absolute need for accurate and precise work shows payroll is a force to be reckoned with. I love the CIPP’s Annual Excellence Awards and the IPPE’s Graduation Ceremony, as they’re both amazing opportunities to showcase the dedication and commitment of the profession. OD: We should be proud of our ability to cope with constant change within a high-pressure environment. We should also recognise the plethora of skills and knowledge required to accomplish our tasks. We’re one of the only teams in the business which must have knowledge on HR, benefits / compensation, finance and systems, along with an understanding of the broader business, just to complete our business-as-usual tasks. EH: If you work in payroll, you should feel proud every single time your people are paid. Because you made that happen. You’re the safeguard which ensures wages are accurate, on time and compliant, no matter how complex the rules or how tight the deadline. This pride was magnified during the pandemic, when payroll had to navigate some of the most rapid and complex legislative changes we’ve ever seen. Administering furlough schemes, adjusting to constantly shifting rules and keeping things moving while
working remotely was one of the most challenging times in my living payroll history. Yet, the profession delivered. For me, the events in the CIPP calendar, such as National Payroll Week, the Graduation Ceremony and ACE and the Awards, are important because they shine a light on that commitment. They’re a chance to celebrate the dedication, resilience and professionalism payroll teams demonstrate every day – qualities which deserve recognition far beyond our own industry. “By using the Advisory Service, I feel I have accessed the best knowledge available to ensure I can provide compliant
payroll services for my clients”
LW: The payroll department is a pivotal part of any company because most people go to work to get paid – it’s their number one basic requirement. Their salary is needed for vital transactions, such as mortgage or rent payments, or for childcare. Without the dedication of payroll professionals providing timely salary payments, employees would be left dissatisfied as they’d be unable to pay their bills on time and could receive late transaction charges. This would lead to a domino effect within the workplace of unhappy employees, resulting in a higher turnover of staff. Us payroll professionals should feel proud every payday that we’ve been part of an ‘invisible, back-office, seamless service’ to our employees, getting them paid on time and accurately, without causing them any stress, while still maintaining business satisfaction. JW: With taxation and Government expenditure in the news so much lately, I think payroll professionals should feel very proud of being a key part of this big, complex society we operate. And of being a part of the transmission engine which moves tax money to Government, ensuring we all contribute our fair share, keep our organisations compliant and get the money to where it’s meant to be, on time, and to the penny. n
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 114 | October 2025
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