Payroll Tutoring as a Career | Advice from the Best

03 February 2025

By Sandra Lingwood

I was asked to write an article as the longest-serving tutor. Well, that made me feel old for starters but I'm still young at heart so here goes...

Where did my payroll journey actually start?

Like many other payroll professionals I have worked with over the years, entry into the payroll arena was completely by chance.

I started my financial career when I was appointed as an accounts payable clerk at an engineering company based in Huddersfield. After only being there for a relatively short period of time, the dreaded redundancies were announced due to a business downturn. This was in the early 1980s and all departments were affected.

The wages and salaries department was eight strong and had to lose two staff, but got four volunteers. Wages and salaries came under the broader finance department, so all other finance staff were asked if they would like to be redeployed, rather than being made redundant. I volunteered to go to payroll. And that’s where this magical story begins.

How did I first get involved with the CIPP?

My payroll manager back then was Alan Marshall, and little did I know but he was one of the founding members of the British Payroll Managers Association (BPMA). This was in the days before the Institute of Payroll and Pensions Management (IPPM), the Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP) and the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP), and he worked alongside former chairperson, Chris Williams.

It was Alan who taught me how to use tax tables, along with many other aspects of payroll. At the time, the payroll was processed on a mainframe computer with punch cards and although this seems very old-fashioned now, we developed this ourselves and managed budget changes and the rest. I was asked if I would be a ‘guinea pig’ for a newly developed payroll proficiency exam – this meant answering 16 questions in an hour and half. I passed and was hooked on payroll.

The BPMA introduced the Diploma, which had been developed by Alan Marshall and a host of other leading visionary professionals.

This was the first professional qualification for payroll people in the UK and put them alongside their peers in finance and human resources. I was one of the first students to undertake the Diploma in 1991. It was a two-year course back then.

I successfully completed the course in 1993 and felt a great sense of achievement, as I was also working full-time and running a home. It was difficult to get the work-life balance right sometimes. ‘Study time’ hadn’t evolved for this unknown qualification so I had to fit it in with everything else in my life.

Alan took me along to Birmingham to the ‘tutor day’ one Saturday morning. Students were allocated to tutors and Alan presented me with a folder, in which I found my students for the coming academic year – year two. I was overwhelmed with the thought of teaching year two students immediately after I had qualified, but I was fully supported by Alan who was also a tutor, and he shadowed me through that first year.

In the meantime, I was growing as a payroll professional and within the engineering company, I became a supervisor. I eventually moved away from the engineering company, to gain more experience as a payroll professional, working in companies of varying sizes; some with 20,000 employees and 20 payroll staff, down to around 2,000 employees and five payroll staff. During this time, I carried on working for the CIPP as a tutor, assessor and end point assessor. This involved invigilating and marking examination papers and attending weekend schools. We now know them as ‘module workshops’.

Then things changed

I was in a senior position managing payroll and decided it was time to change and break free from being managed by other people. I decided to set up my own business – Willow Payroll Consultants Limited.

I offer a range of services, such as providing training services nationally in public settings (such as hotels) across the UK, as well as offering bespoke in-house courses at many organisations. I do this for the CIPP and another payroll company, and I also run some small payrolls for clients. In addition to this, I provide consulting services in all aspects of payroll. I am still operating in this way and am currently working on a contract to merge systems following a takeover. This one is international, so I’m learning even more about payroll across various countries in the world.

So, why am I still a tutor, as well as all this?

When I started tutoring, I found that the rewards were far more than just monetary. I have summarised some of the things I love about this job below:

it’s all about helping people learn a subject at a professional level
there’s no better feeling than watching your students grow during the learning period
your confidence and self-worth grow tremendously
this is more than just a job and helps elevate the payroll profession in the UK
I want to share my passion and interest in the payroll world with others
I love working with people and I want to make a positive influence on the students throughout their studies
seeing students walk onto the stage at the Graduation Ceremony and receive their degree scroll is such a proud day, not only for me, but also for students and their families who have all made sacrifices throughout the duration of the qualification
the tutor-student relationship is boosted by shared goals, which enhances students’ understanding and their knowledge of the subject – you must work collaboratively and I love that.

In summary, I began working in payroll by complete chance and it absolutely changed my life. I have grown alongside the CIPP and worked with amazing payroll professionals for many years, supporting students and payroll staff all over the country. My own self-confidence has grown tremendously, and I’ve witnessed the achievements of countless people through study with the CIPP. I don’t think I would be a self-employed payroll consultant without everything the CIPP has given to me so I’m hugely thankful, and want to give something back, which is another reason I continue tutoring.

As I previously mentioned, this is much more than just a job to me, and I love it!

IPPE have many dedicated tutors that continously support the wave of students completing their qualifications. If you're interested in becoming qualified, head over to our IPPE qualifications page for more information or contact our dedicated team.