Payroll Management: A Collaborative Program That Provides Solid Training

When choosing a post-secondary Payroll Management program, it is not only important to consider the type of training that is offered and the topics that are covered, but also who came up with the curriculum. Centennial College’s two-semester Payroll Management offering is delivered in partnership with the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA), with the association supplying 50 per cent of the courses. As such students can rest assured the latest topics and trends are covered, and qualified students are eligible to earn the Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) professional designation granted by the Association. Registration in this will incur costs in addition to tuition. 

This Payroll Management program is designed for mature students who wish to advance their career to Payroll Management. As such, admission requirements call for a college diploma or university degree in any discipline or a partial post-secondary education and relevant work experience. Applicants may also be asked to partake in a Payroll Management interview process, during which a transcript and resume review may be requested. English proficiency will also be considered. This means that students graduating from other programs and those in career transition are able to alter their focus and gain a solid foundation in payroll management in a relatively short period of time.

In addition to gaining an extensive knowledge base through fast-paced Payroll Management courses, students also develop and enhance crucial skills in a number of key areas and are ready, upon graduation, to begin working as payroll generalists with a solid foundation for subsequent career advancement. As such, Payroll Management students are not only guided through leading payroll curriculum but also graduate level instruction in managerial accounting, strategic compensation, pensions and benefit. An emphasis is also placed on emerging trends and issues in payroll management, such as the use of promising technologies and changing legislative requirements. Therefore, payroll system training is taught using an SAP application.

To ensure that Payroll Management students retain what they learn, courses apply a number of teaching methods, including: case studies, simulations and project-based learning. This ensures emphasis on developing project management, teamwork, report writing and presentation skills.

Payroll Management students who wish to enroll in the Introduction to Payroll Management (formerly Payroll Management Processes) and Applied Payroll Management (formerly Payroll Management Practices) Canadian Payroll Association CPM level payroll courses “must meet a payroll experience prerequisite to register”. To satisfy this prerequisite, students must have “at least two years of experience being responsible for an organization’s payroll function, which includes being accountable to management for the accuracy of employees’ pay and all government statutory remittances, or equivalent experience, obtained in the past five years.”

Upon graduation from Payroll Management, students obtain positions such as: payroll clerks/ officers, payroll and benefits clerks/ administrators/ payroll accountants, human resource and payroll generalists, general accounting coordinator, and small business bookkeepers/accountants.