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Original poster

Anyone work in Payroll? Would you recommend it?

10 replies

pinkfongg · 30/11/2023 19:53

I'm currently a Finance assistant and I'm not really interested in becoming an accountant by doing further study (I have AAT).

I think I'd like to get into Payroll and become a payroll specialist.

Does anyone do this as a job? Would you recommend it? Is the pay good? And is it something I could potentially do part-time?

Thank you!

OP posts:
Original poster
pinkfongg · 30/11/2023 20:15

Hopeful bump

OP posts:
Original poster
pinkfongg · 01/12/2023 09:13

Really hopeful bump!

OP posts:
Camembertcufflinks · 01/12/2023 09:18

I wouldn't recommend it personally- it's a thankless stressful job (at least when I did it for a short time). You get blamed for other peoples mistakes and for things which are out of your control (employees submitting paperwork late, wrong tax codes etc). Managers blame you for their mistakes rather than fess up to their employees regarding wrong or late pay again due to poor paperwork management. Because it affects people's bank accounts, more often than not complaints are highly emotionally charged. I was absolutely diligent about my work and used to check it several times to ensure it was correct but still got blamed when things went wrong even if it wasn't my fault. The pay was awful too. It's one of those jobs people think will be great but is actually terrible. Just my experience anyway (I'm doing something totally different now!).

Teatimebrioche · 03/12/2023 13:20

I’m looking to move into payroll too and would love to hear of more experiences of working in this area.

@Camembertcufflinks were there any any positives you can think of working in payroll? Out of interest what area did you move into afterwards?

Camembertcufflinks · 03/12/2023 13:37

To be honest there were no positives- it was utterly thankless, badly paid and stressful. I moved into an entirely different more technical field. I really wouldn't recommend doing it but others may have different views.

MrsYan · 03/12/2023 14:39

Hi,

I work in payroll as an Operational Payroll Manager. I manage a team of 12 and we pay 25,000 people.

hand on heart, I love my job. I get excited on a Sunday to start work on a Monday. I started as a trainee payroll admin 8 years ago and I have worked my lil bum off since then. It is hard, it is stressful but if you are the type of person who thrives on that you will love it. We have tight deadlines that cannot be missed otherwise I would have 25,000 turning up at my door demanding their money (joke)
a lot of companies don’t value payroll, they think anyone can do it and that’s not the case, you have to be analytical, empathetic and have strong math and excel skills. The calculations these days are so complex (holiday average for a start)

every work day is different, I juggle a lot but it’s so rewarding. Getting the payroll out and having minimal queries is 10/10

happy to answer anymore questions, if you have any x

MrsYan · 03/12/2023 14:42

Oh and… I am not badly paid either.

When I was a payroll specialist building my career I was paid between 28k- 45k and I am on significantly more than that now.

find a company that values payroll as it should be valued and you will always be paid well x

alwaystroubleonmn · 03/12/2023 14:47

I have to agree with the others - it is a thankless task. It's only part of my job but I'd never take it on as a full-time role. Ours is so overly complicated - our new director was certain they could simplify it but they failed. I'd give it up in a heartbeat but there's no one else to do it. Mistakes are made and people get upset - understandably but no one ever gets thankful. I'm unsure what the pay is as my job involves many elements.

OldTinHat · 03/12/2023 15:23

I used to do payroll for several businesses when I worked in an accountants office. No, I didn't get paid well and you could always guarantee someone would complain about something such as tax codes.

A few weeks after I had resigned, I was walking past one of the businesses and the owner flew out when he saw me and gave me such a bollocking. Why hadn't his employees had their pay slips, he was having to try and work out their wages. I just smiled sweetly and said 'ah, you've not been told that I left a while back, then?', smiled and walked away...

alwaystroubleonmn · 03/12/2023 17:52

OldTinHat · 03/12/2023 15:23

I used to do payroll for several businesses when I worked in an accountants office. No, I didn't get paid well and you could always guarantee someone would complain about something such as tax codes.

A few weeks after I had resigned, I was walking past one of the businesses and the owner flew out when he saw me and gave me such a bollocking. Why hadn't his employees had their pay slips, he was having to try and work out their wages. I just smiled sweetly and said 'ah, you've not been told that I left a while back, then?', smiled and walked away...

Ah yes getting crap from people because they don't like how much tax they are paying and somehow they think the payroll person is the problem - IR35 has made things very complicated with very part-time contractors. Harpur Trust v Brazel made a bad situation worse.

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