Frequently asked questions

Upon successful completion, your organisation will be issued with the Payroll Assurance Scheme accreditation for a period of two years. This includes use of the Payroll Assurance Scheme logo on internal and external communications such as emails and website. Successful organisations are emailed a certificate and then posted a plaque. Recognition of the achievement is posted on CIPP’s social media and in Professional magazine. Their logo is posted on CIPP’s website. Successful organisations are invited to the CIPP’s Annual Excellence Awards following their accreditation. They are offered a lower price to attend, and the organisation’s logo is shown on the slides.

The exact duration can vary from organisation to organisation based on requirements and hittings deadlines but below is some indicative timescales for those engaging on the scheme;  

• Organisation signs and returns engagement form along with a PO
• The CIPP issues an invoice - 30 day terms of payment
• Once the invoice is paid, clients are sent a pre-assessment document to complete. The aim of this document is to give the client a good idea of the topics that will be covered, and the evidence they may be asked to provide to support the answers provided in the pre-assessment form. This document could take anything from a day to a couple of weeks to complete, depending on a number of factors such as:
  •  Whether the form is being completed by one person, or whether different sections have different ownership.
  • How easy it is to locate the evidence to support any claims made in the assessment form (please note that your assessor may not necessarily ask to see supporting documentation for everything, but you need to be prepared just in case) Part of the preparation therefore is ensuring it is easily retrievable on the day.
  • How much time should be allocated to the preparation process
  • An estimate of the time required can probably only be made once the form has been seen by whoever would be responsible for its completion.
• At the same time the client receives the preassessment document they will be allocated an assessor by email, who arrange a mutually convenient date for your assessment. The assessment can take anything between three and six hours to complete (depending generally on how comprehensive the pre-assessment form is). The assessment has to take place within three months of payment of invoice.
• The completed form should be returned a minimum of 14 days before the assessment day. This ensures that your assessor can prepare well for the day, and get in touch beforehand if there are any gaps or concerns
• After the assessment day your assessor completes a report of their findings and recommendations
• The assessor’s report is then passed to another assessor for approval
• The CIPP aim to provide feedback, and the outcome, within three weeks of the assessment date

The Payroll Assurance Scheme assessment is only available to organisations that operate UK payroll. If the organisation is based overseas please contact [email protected] for more information.

If the organisation fails, they would have to pay to retake the assessment again after a suitable period of time. This would be agreed at the time. Sometimes, if the organisation is close to the standard required, a conditional pass may be given. This would give the organisation to provide evidence within six months in the areas that they have not achieved the required standard. If the organisation are unable to do this then a fail would be issued and accreditation withdrawn.

Taking the assessment shows your team and organisation that you are committed to high standards in processes and people development

A one year, free of charge associate membership is included in the cost.

Both types of assessment are conducted in the same way. A full assessment is conducted for each.

Organisations holding the accreditation are sent the PAS logo to use in marketing, emails and on their company website. Use of the logo is not permitted by anyone else. For bureau and service providers your clients cannot use the logo.

The internal processes for the staff payroll and the processes for the customer payrolls are both reviewed during the assessment. 

CIPP examine the presence of documented procedures and the existence of adequate processes to ensure the procedures are followed and maintained. Considering how this can be evidenced is key to the accreditation and often the evidence would be the same therefore would only need to be evidenced once.

As per the terms and conditions, it will depend on the timescale. Depending on how close it is to your agreed assessment date, you may incur costs. If the assessment does not take place within 12 months of payment of invoice, your engagement with the Payroll Assurance Scheme would be null and void. Therefore, you would have to reengage at the price at time of reengagement. 

Have you considered IPPE's Consult in advance of your PAS accreditation?

Consult provides payroll, reward, benefits and HR advice which is completely independent of all relevant software and service suppliers. All their recommendations are entirely independent, based on their indepth research and industry knowledge. 

Payroll compliance is essential, yet payroll departments are often so focussed on operations and the day-to-day, that teams rarely have the opportunity to take a step back and think strategically. Often teams lack the resource or knowledge and expertise to effectively review and identify any issues. At Consult, they specialise in reviewing payroll operations to recommend innovative improvements to processes to ensure your team are efficient and compliant.