Why I love payroll

17 January 2022

The CIPP wanted to know why you love payroll, and your responses were incredible. Choosing payroll as a career creates a world of opportunities to pursue. Find out below what made these payroll professionals fall in love with payroll...

Sarah Smith, payroll and reward partner at Finning UK and Ireland

“I love working in payroll because every day brings something new. It’s not just ‘pressing the magic button’ once a month – it’s giving support to employees, providing business insights with data analysis, it’s finding new ways to work and making it the best service possible. Ever-changing legislation brings new challenges and furlough showed us all how payroll can pull up their sleeves and battle through anything. You will never find a closer-knit team than a payroll team.”

Rob Evans MCIPP, head of payroll UK and Ireland at TMF Group

“I love payroll because I never chose payroll – no one does, payroll chooses us – the people who can make it happen because we have a passion. After 40 years, I am still as passionate about delivering a first-class payroll service as I was when I started.”

Jon Lee, head of payroll bureau services at Payroll Business Solutions

After being involved in payroll for 20 years, I have seen how much the payroll function has grown and evolved to become an integral part of the employee experience. It is commonly said that people only contact their payroll team when something goes wrong, but I would like to think that attitude is changing. Employees appreciate how important the payroll function is. Payrollers are responsible for processing pensions, benefits, and, most importantly, paying employees accurately and on time, while ensuring all submissions are made to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). I have been particularly fortunate to head up a payroll bureau, which has achieved enormous growth and success as part of the CIPHR group. The best part of my job is seeing new customers come on board, watching the bureau team grow, and training the next generation of payrollers.”

Lesley Daniel BA (Hons) ChFCIPP, head of payroll at Go-centric

“For me, payroll is people. What you do as a payroller can directly affect an employee’s life if you get it wrong, so it comes with responsibility and accountability. I have been in payroll for 34 years now and I still love it.

There is so much going on and so much to learn, which keeps it interesting and I feel lucky to have found something that I still have passion for after so long.”

Lisa Sheldon MCIPPdip, payroll and expenses supervisor at Eurofins NSC UK & Ireland Limited

“Payroll is about marketing your service, implementing changes with your team, supporting them with mentoring and updating their skills. It is also about being supported by management when decisions need to be made in a constantly evolving environment. The main crux is supporting employees with understanding their tax codes, payslips, offering competitive benefits and ensuring expenses and salaries are paid on time, every time. It means pulling out all stops to ensure you and your team make this happen.”

Samuel Jones MCIPPDIP, payroll tutor at MBKB Training

“I love the versatility of the profession. I have seen many aspects of payroll, but there is always more to learn. Payroll is a niche for everyone.”

Jackie Milward MCIPPdip, payroll officer at the Allison Homes group of companies

“I love the fact you are continuously learning new skills, whether that be an organisation’s policies or the government’s furlough scheme. There is always the opportunity to assist colleagues, and this is why I love payroll.”

Yevan Bellot-Subar ACIPP, HR and payroll manager at Diverse Dining Ltd. (Shake Shack UK and PF Changs)

“I love that my team and I are the ‘face’ of payroll – we are not an unseen department. We actively visit all our restaurants to meet and support our general managers and the retail operations team. We give them tools to manage their own payroll. Regular training, education and face-to-face contact with our customers (either on-site, support centre or via MS Teams) ensures we can bring payroll to life.”

Sharon Anderson BA (Hons) FCIPPdip, global payroll manager at Argus Media

“I have been in payroll for over 35 years and to this day, always learning. Our employees are my customers, always treated with respect and an empathetic ear. It is critical that, as a payroller, you keep ahead of the game, making sure you are up-to-date with legislative changes and helping the employees understand their payments and deductions.

In payroll, it is key that you make sure employees are paid accurately and on time. Payroll is a challenging career and I personally love this and wouldn’t want it any other way. No two days are the same, but to have a professional body such as the CIPP at hand is a fantastic asset.”

Anna Ellwood MCIPPdip, payroll manager at Humberside Police

“I don’t care what anyone says, everyone goes to work to get paid and I love being part of that process. I’m even more honoured now that I am payroll manager for our local police force.”

Samantha Johnson LLB (Hons) ChMCIPPdip, CIPP policy lead

“A payroll career can take you on an incredible journey. You develop skills in problem solving, technology and customer service, alongside maintaining your compliance knowledge on topics ranging from national minimum wage to holiday pay.

Payrollers keep the UK economy going, collecting billions on behalf of HMRC.There is an abundance of passionate professionals who, through attention to detail and a genuine love for their role, continuously deliver timely and accurate payroll across the UK.”

Lorna Nicholls ACIPP, CIPP Advisory Service team leader

“I love it because it covers so many subjects – you can never ever be bored. It gives you enormous self-satisfaction knowing you have either paid employees correctly or given advice to ensure an employee is paid correctly.

It is a subject that ranges from being easy to extremely difficult, so calls for individual strengths. These range from being flexible, articulate, technical, good at problem solving, mathematical, IT literate, and all with the ability to adapt to changes quickly and efficiently. How can you not love it when it gives you such varying day to day demands? It gives huge job satisfaction and the possibility of endless learning.”

Diana Bruce, MCIPPdip, CIPP subject matter expert

“You think you know everything about an area of payroll and then someone questions you and makes you look at a process or regulation in a different way. Or legislation is introduced that changes the rules (we should be used to that by now) and this often has hidden or unrealised consequences. Payroll is a constant education – I love to ‘keep on learning’ with payroll, never a dull moment.”