Course description
The Payroll Specialist Certificate online qualification is the only qualification of its kind on the market and takes individuals beyond the basic knowledge and skills of payroll administration, into the complexities surrounding payroll legislation and contractual obligations.
Whilst studying, students will investigate the intricacies of the payroll function, mastering the confidence to tackle non-routine circumstances relevant to the workplace, empowering you to meet the demands of this rapidly evolving industry.
The qualification is designed to encourage independent learning that is relevant to the workplace, empowering individuals to meet the demands of this rapidly evolving industry.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
If you are an employer, having fully trained payroll staff is vital for your organisations stability, to ensure you remain compliant with the increasing amount of regulation and legislation which impacts on the day to day running of the payroll department.
If you are an individual, this qualification will not only increase your knowledge but build your confidence. In turn this will boost your employability within the payroll industry, enhance future career options, and provide you with the skills to stand out amongst your peers.
On completion, you will have the knowledge and skills required to address non-routine complex circumstances by evaluating different approaches and defining the best practice methods to ensure compliance. It will also enable you to review the effectiveness and appropriateness of these methods, actions and results.
Training Course Content
The following is a summary of the content this qualification contains by unit. There are seven mandatory units to be completed.
Unit 1 - Payroll in Context
- Internal and external stakeholder obligations and expectations
- Impact of ineffective communication between the payroll department and internal/external stakeholders
- Communication best practice
- Relevant elements of UK law and how it affects payroll
- Devolution and how it affects payroll processes
- Main pieces of legislation affecting payroll and its processes
Unit 2 - Advanced National Minimum Wage
- Employer’s obligations under National Minimum Wage Regulations
- Allocating minimum wage pay to a pay reference period
- Salary sacrifice arrangement and the impact on minimum wage pay
- Impact of minimum wage rates changes regarding resource, processes and ensuring compliance
- Differing types of work for minimum wage purposes and the pay rate
- Impact of excess hours worked by salaried hours worker
- Employer-provided living accommodation, benefits in kind or optional goods or services provided by an employer for minimum wage purposes
- Common minimum wage errors, HMRC’s enforcement strategy and the penalties associated with a minimum wage breach
- Calculating minimum wage arrears, correcting underpayments and the communication best practice
Unit 3 - Advanced National Insurance Contributions
- Dealing with less common earning periods and NI categories
- Adapting NI limits and thresholds for less common earning periods
- NI reliefs, conditions, and rules
- Aggregated earnings when calculating NIC’s
- Handling mistimed payments and the implications
- Making category corrections
- Reporting changes
Unit 4 - Advanced Income Tax and Other Deductions
- Calculating income tax for less common pay frequencies
- Situations that result in an income tax refund
- Influences on tax codes
- Impact of payments made in week 53, 54 or 56
- Grossing up
- Student and postgraduate loan deductions for less frequent pay periods and irregularly paid employees
- Calculating attachment orders for less common pay frequencies or multiples of a week or month
- Categorising attachment orders and dealing with more than one attachment order
Unit 5 - Introduction to Expenses and Benefits
- Why and how employers provide benefits in kind
- The benefits code
- Tax & NICs implications
- Calculating values for non-payrolled commonly provided benefits
- Expenses policy best practice
- Exemptions for qualifying business expenses
- Scale rate payments
- Optional remuneration arrangements
- Reporting payrolled and non-payrolled benefits
- PAYE Settlement Agreements
- Deadlines and compliance
Unit 6 - Child-related statutory payments and other family leave
- Eligibility criteria for all parties
- Notices and declarations
- Communication
- Employee eligibility
- Statutory parental bereavement leave and pay
- Record-keeping requirements for statutory parental bereavement leave and pay
- Child related payments in relation to redundancy, leavers, multiple employers etc.
- Early births
- Alabaster rules
Unit 7 - Further Aspects of Payroll Administration
- Overpayments and the cause
- Reducing the risk
- Authorised deductions from pay and the implications for NMW, tax/NICs, Real Time Information (RTI) reporting
- Termination packages
- Statutory redundancy pay
- Year-end and start of year tasks (tax code changes, cumulative refresh, payroll records clear down)
Expenses
Price
Member and non-member rate: £2,645 + VAT*
Price includes:
• Online provision through IPP Education’s online learning platform
• Allocation of a tutor to support you through your studies
*Prices valid until 30 June and reviewed annually.
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The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP)
The UK’s leading provider of education for payroll. Leading the profession through education, membership and recognition. Established in 1980 as an official industry body, the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) is the only Chartered institute for payroll, pensions and reward...
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