In amongst todays deluge of emails I recieved one about a training course in Payroll management.
Now, I'm all for people getting properly trained but I do not like to see people led to believe something that is about as likely to happen as finding a unicorn reading a copy of the Sun in my toilet (Not going to happen. I don't allow the Sun newspaper in my house).
A training company, (I won't say which one, it's not one the site contributor providers and people should avoid mentioning names) is implying that a Payroll training course leading to an IAB Payroll qualification will result in the following :
Now, please correct me if I am wrong but anyone hiring for Payroll jobs is looking for (a) experience, (b) experience and (c) a qualification with the CIPP.
I do believe that an IAB (or ICB) payroll qualification will help one get an entry level data input job and from there you could build a career regardless of the bit of paper that you carry but to my mind the advertising implies that someone gaining a level 2 (or maybe 3) Sage Payroll Management qualification could possibly be sought after for a job paying £42,500 a year.
Not going to happen (and in many area's of the country I think that £13k may be pushing it).
But of course, I may be out of touch as I tend to avoid payroll like the plague after having spent over seven years controlling the weekly payment of 450,000 employee's so what are other peoples views on the above, what do you think that people need today for a career in Payroll and what do you feel that the real market rates are? i.e. if you were hiring someone to do the Payroll processing in your business how much would you be expecting to pay them?
Fingers crossed peoples advice in this thread will help people to make the right decisions rather than possibly costly mistakes.
Shaun.
* I think that was a mistake in the advert and they meant to put level 3.
p.s. not having a pop at anyone, if people say that I'm wrong and someone with an IAB (or ICB) payroll qualification could command the above mentioned salaries then their testimony would annul the questionmark that hangs over the claim in my mind and possibly see people making a B line to sign up for the courses.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I have CIPP status but I doubt I would be considered for the £42.5k job unless I showed a ton of experience working in big corporates. I think the £13k is fine as it is just minimum wage after all. The low to mid £20ks I think could be attainable but again with your caveats of plenty of experience and the right location.
Tut tut Shaun, the Sun is excellent toilet paper and far softer than the Izal Medicated I remember from halls of residence days...I'm sure students are far more indulged nowadays though!
This is just my opinion/experience.Might be different for others.
Having home studied with one of the big training providers, and gaining ICB PM.Dip (Diploma in Payroll Management), I think we have a pretty good knowledge of payroll. Again, we had to understand everything manually, every tax and NI table even though its likely nobody will ever use them again - as well as all the Thresholds, Age Rules, Holiday Entitlement, BIKs, Students, Statutory Pay rules, voluntary deductions, some Employment Law, some Pensions and some CIS etc, etc. Then we had to be able to run and manage payroll on software of our own choosing (mine was Sage Payroll, provided by training provider).
So overall, I would say that the ICB PM.Dip is an excellent qualification and is sufficient to enable you to process most scenarios.
However, I would think that unless you have the two years experience required in most job ads offering around £20k, then you just wouldnt be fast/efficient enough to meet the demands of a large payroll centre.
For a chance at the £42.5k, I think you would need to be able to supervise another fifty PM.Dips, or equivalent (each with at least two years experience behind them) and youd better know the answer to every possible query on Pensions, CIS, Expenses/BIKs etc, as well as knowing how to run them through each and every/any single payroll software in the dark with your eyes shut!
No idea how much you could earn with the qualification without experience, as I have never seen such advertised.
In 2007/8 I worked for a Chamber of Commerce doing the payroll for approx 240 staff. I had no qualifications but had done payroll in my previous job. Salary was around £14.5k a year.
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Payroll is all about experience. The people that I know who work in payroll got their qualifications (where they decided to get one) after they had their experience rather than the qualification itself being the reason that they got the job in the first place.
As with all things in this business no matter what permanent job one wants I think that having AAT on your CV is the one that opens the right doors before going down the route of a specialisation such as ATT, CICM, CIPP, etc. (which could be acquired as CPD).
I find claims such as the one that I got in my inbox yesterday quite purturbing that people are spending their money on something that just won't work the way that it is being sold.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
"as likely to happen as finding a unicorn reading a copy of the Sun in my toilet (Not going to happen. I don't allow the Sun newspaper in my house)."
But what if the unicorn was to sneak it in under his hat?
Good point, lol.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
A local accountants firm, around here is advertising for an experienced Payroller, with Sage 50 certification and will be expected to process 200 payrolls a month - some small some medium (the ad says) ..... £18k per year !!!
