Payroll Account Manager

Our client within the Charity Sector is looking to recruit an Account Manager to work within their payroll department assisting in processing their payrolls.
We are looking for someone who has an appetite for learning and a natural customer services ability. This means you could be a recent AAT studier looking for their first role or someone who has studied payroll. It needs to be someone who isn't looking to be an accountant however, as the role will not support that career development. Rather, someone who is looking to put their AAT knowledge into a blended role of customer services and accounts, learn payroll, and be prepared for high volumes.
Main Purpose
To provide an efficient, effective and proactive account service to a set of identified customers, ensuring high quality and consistent customer service, the building of proactive stakeholder relationships with customers, PA's, agencies and social workers.
Responsibilities of Job
* To undertake proactive and efficient account management of all allocated customer accounts, ensuring:
* Contractual obligations are being met
* All payments are checked against the support plan, or according to correct process
* Proactively escalating issues to the local authority, including seeking authorisation to make payments, informing them of an overspend in good time, and escalating where a payroll/payment has been stopped or reduced
* Proactively communicating with the customer to inform them of any issues on the account, including risk of going into deficit, overspending and unauthorised payment requests
* General proactive contact via email, telephone and face to face where appropriate to ensure timely and clear communication
* Investigating queries and issues, including non-payment of invoices, and liasing with self-employed PA and agencies where necessary
* Setting-up of new accounts (adding any notes to Sage) and new PAs, including HMRC registrations
* Liaison with the relevant Payroll Processor to ensure payroll check lists are kept up to date
* To proportionally monitor all accounts to enable early identification of unusual patterns and addressing (or escalating) in a timely manner
* Make amendments to ceased and deceased client records, proactively liaising with the local authority to correctly close the account in an efficient manner and updating Client Funds team.
* To undertake the batching process for allocated payrolls, including submissions of RTI to HMRC
* To undertake the reconciliation of payrolls including completing associated Account Manager journals
* Raising manual payments in line with company policy including all necessary documentation, updating the payments spreadsheet, and ensuring any related HMRC submission is completed
* To provide account data to inform payment services reporting requirements
* Where safeguarding concerns are identified to escalate accordingly in line with company policy
* To liaise with internal colleagues as required to ensure seamless support to clients where they have more than one service.
* This list is not exhaustive and from time to time you may be required to undertake additional duties
Person Specification:
Essential
Recent AAT or Payroll qualified person looking for their first job or a job to develop their learning
Technical understanding of payroll preferred, including end to end processing and manual calculations an advantage
Experience of delivering excellent customer service through a range of mediums including face to face, telephone and email
Commitment to taking a payroll-related qualification and to continuous professional development
Experience of building and maintaining strong working relationships with a range of stakeholders
Excellent administrative skills with an ability to organise a wide range of information
Willingness to proactively seek resolutions to issues, communicating with customers, suppliers and commissioners where necessary
An ability to use initiative to problem solve issues and to escalate in a timely manner where required
An eye for detail and a 'get it right first time' attitude
Empathy and understanding of customer situation and needs
An ability to self-organise workload to meet fixed deadlines
An ability to work as part of a team
Good written and oral communication skills
IT literate with experience of Microsoft applications, familiarity with payroll packages
Desirable:
AAT or payroll technician qualification
Knowledge of Sageline 50
Knowledge of the health and social care sector, and specifically personal budgets and personal health budgets
Benefits include:
25 days holiday plus the 8 bank holidays as standard.
Employer pension contribution is 3%. On satisfactory passing of a six month probationary period,
They offer staff the opportunity to choose from a My Rewards Menu from which they can choose to increase their annual leave entitlement by 2.5 days or increase their employer pension contribution by 1%,
Other options including a private health cash plan etc.
They also offer 4 weeks sickness absence at full pay, five days' time off for dependents at full pay and enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption pay