Payroll Leadership Professional (PLP / Formerly CPM)

We are seeking a highly experienced, technically skilled Payroll Professional to oversee complex payroll processing, compliance, reconciliation, historical payroll correction, and payroll-related financial reporting for our clients.

This is not an entry-level payroll processing position. We are looking for a payroll professional with an exceptional understanding of Canadian payroll legislation, provincial employment standards, statutory deductions, taxable benefits, payroll accounting, and complex payroll calculations.

The successful candidate will be meticulous, analytical, highly organized, and exceptionally strong at investigating discrepancies. They must be comfortable taking over payroll files that may contain historical errors, identifying what went wrong, reconstructing calculations, correcting payroll records, and bringing the payroll accounts back into balance.

CANADIAN PAYROLL EXPERTISE

The Payroll Manager must have advanced working knowledge of Canadian payroll requirements and be able to confidently interpret and apply payroll legislation rather than relying solely on payroll software calculations.

The successful candidate will be knowledgeable in:

  • Federal payroll legislation and CRA requirements

  • Employment standards legislation across Canadian provinces and territories

  • Province-of-employment rules

  • CPP and CPP2 calculations

  • QPP requirements

  • EI premiums and insurable earnings

  • Quebec-specific payroll considerations, including QPIP

  • Federal and provincial income tax deductions

  • TD1 requirements

  • Taxable benefits and allowances

  • Vacation pay and vacation entitlement

  • Statutory holiday calculations

  • Overtime calculations

  • Bonuses and commissions

  • Retroactive pay

  • Salary adjustments

  • Termination pay

  • Pay in lieu of notice

  • Severance-related payroll calculations

  • Leaves of absence

  • ROE requirements

  • Garnishments and other statutory deductions

  • Employer-paid benefits

  • Pension and RRSP-related payroll deductions

  • Workers' compensation payroll considerations

  • T4 and T4A reporting

  • Payroll remittance requirements

  • Year-end payroll reconciliation

The candidate must understand that payroll requirements can vary considerably by jurisdiction and be capable of researching and applying the appropriate provincial or territorial legislation when processing payroll.

COMPLEX PAYROLL CALCULATIONS

A critical component of this position is the ability to independently perform and verify complex payroll calculations.

The Payroll Manager must be comfortable calculating and reviewing:

  • Regular and irregular earnings

  • Hourly and salaried payroll

  • Overtime

  • Multiple rates of pay

  • Vacation pay

  • Statutory holiday pay

  • Bonuses

  • Commissions

  • Retroactive wage increases

  • Termination payments

  • Pay in lieu of notice

  • Taxable benefits

  • Expense allowances

  • Employer contributions

  • Pensionable and insurable earnings

  • CPP/CPP2, QPP, EI and QPIP

  • Federal and provincial tax deductions

  • Payroll adjustments spanning multiple pay periods

  • Manual payroll calculations when software results require verification

The successful candidate must understand why a payroll calculation is correct, not simply accept the amount produced by payroll software.

HISTORICAL PAYROLL CORRECTION + RESTORATION

This role requires advanced payroll troubleshooting and the ability to correct payroll that has been processed incorrectly in prior periods.

Responsibilities may include:

  • Conducting comprehensive payroll audits

  • Reconstructing historical payroll

  • Identifying incorrect employee earnings or deductions

  • Recalculating prior payroll periods

  • Correcting CPP, EI and income tax discrepancies

  • Reviewing pensionable and insurable earnings

  • Correcting vacation accruals and vacation pay

  • Investigating payroll liability discrepancies

  • Reconciling payroll registers to accounting records

  • Identifying incorrect payroll journal entries

  • Correcting payroll clearing accounts

  • Investigating CRA payroll account discrepancies

  • Reconciling source deductions to CRA remittances

  • Identifying under- or over-remittances

  • Correcting historical employee balances

  • Reviewing and correcting taxable benefits

  • Correcting T4/T4A information where required

  • Supporting amended payroll reporting

  • Documenting historical corrections and maintaining a clear audit trail

The Payroll Manager must be comfortable receiving an unfamiliar payroll file, determining what happened, why it happened, what the correct treatment should have been, and how to correct it appropriately.

PAYROLL PROCESSING + OVERSIGHT

The Payroll Manager will oversee payroll from beginning to end, including:

  • Employee payroll setup and maintenance

  • Reviewing employee compensation changes

  • Reviewing time and attendance information

  • Payroll preparation and processing

  • Payroll register review

  • Pre-processing and post-processing audits

  • Reviewing payroll deductions

  • Reviewing taxable benefits

  • Reviewing vacation balances and accruals

  • Reviewing payroll liabilities

  • Preparing or reviewing payroll journal entries

  • Reconciling payroll to the general ledger

  • Reconciling payroll clearing accounts

  • Reviewing source deduction remittances

  • Maintaining payroll schedules and documentation

  • Identifying unusual payroll activity

  • Resolving discrepancies before payroll is finalized

Accuracy is paramount. The successful candidate must have the discipline to verify, reconcile and investigate, rather than assuming that information entered into a payroll platform is correct.

PAYROLL COMPLIANCE

The Payroll Manager will help ensure payroll records remain compliant with applicable federal and provincial requirements.

Responsibilities include:

  • Monitoring payroll remittance obligations and deadlines

  • Reviewing CRA payroll accounts

  • Reconciling payroll liabilities to remittances

  • Preparing payroll remittance calculations

  • Reviewing employer and employee statutory deductions

  • Monitoring legislative changes affecting payroll

  • Maintaining appropriate payroll documentation

  • Supporting payroll audits and reviews

  • Preparing Records of Employment

  • Reviewing year-end payroll balances

  • Preparing and reviewing T4s and T4As

  • Investigating Pensionable and Insurable Earnings Review discrepancies

  • Correcting payroll reporting errors when identified

PAYROLL ACCOUNTING + QUICKBOOKS ONLINE

Because payroll ultimately flows into the client's accounting records, the successful candidate must understand the relationship between payroll processing and the general ledger.

Strong knowledge of payroll accounting is required, including:

  • Gross wages

  • Employer payroll expenses

  • Employee deductions

  • Employer CPP/QPP and EI contributions

  • Vacation payable

  • Payroll liabilities

  • Benefits

  • Payroll clearing accounts

  • Source deductions payable

  • Payroll remittances

  • Accrued payroll

  • Payroll journal entries

Experience working with QuickBooks Online is strongly preferred.

The Payroll Manager must be capable of tracing discrepancies between the payroll platform, bank transactions, CRA records and the general ledger and determining the appropriate correction.

SYSTEMS + TECHNOLOGY

The ideal candidate will be highly comfortable working in cloud-based environments and learning multiple payroll platforms.

Experience with Canadian payroll systems such as QuickBooks Online Payroll, Wagepoint, ADP, Ceridian Dayforce, Payworks, Rise or similar platforms is considered an asset.

The candidate should also be comfortable working with:

  • QuickBooks Online

  • Excel

  • Cloud document management

  • Payroll reports and exports

  • CRA My Business Account / Represent a Client

  • ROE Web

  • Workflow and practice-management systems

Advanced Excel skills are strongly preferred, particularly for payroll reconciliations, historical calculations, variance analysis and large payroll data sets.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will have:

  • Payroll Leadership Professional (PLP) designation, formerly Certified Payroll Manager (CPM), or equivalent advanced Canadian payroll experience

  • Significant hands-on Canadian payroll experience

  • Advanced knowledge of Canadian payroll legislation

  • Strong understanding of provincial and territorial employment standards

  • Demonstrated experience with complex payroll calculations

  • Demonstrated experience correcting historical payroll

  • Strong payroll reconciliation experience

  • Experience with multi-provincial payroll

  • Strong understanding of payroll accounting

  • Experience preparing and reviewing T4s and ROEs

  • Strong understanding of CRA payroll remittances

  • Experience investigating payroll discrepancies

  • Strong QuickBooks Online knowledge

  • Strong Excel skills

Experience working with multiple businesses or clients in an accounting, bookkeeping, payroll bureau or professional services environment would be highly valued.

THE PERSON WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Technical ability is essential, but the right personality is equally important.

We are looking for someone who is:

Meticulous — Payroll requires an exceptional level of accuracy and attention to detail.

Analytical — You naturally investigate discrepancies and want to understand why numbers do not reconcile.

Methodical — You follow structured processes and maintain organized supporting documentation.

Accountable — You take ownership of payroll from beginning to end and follow issues through until they are resolved.

Resourceful — When faced with an unfamiliar payroll situation, you know how to research legislation, interpret guidance and determine the appropriate treatment.

Skeptical in the right way — You do not assume that payroll software, previous calculations or historical records are correct simply because they already exist.

Calm under pressure — Payroll deadlines are firm. You can manage time-sensitive situations without sacrificing accuracy.

Discreet — You understand the highly confidential nature of employee compensation, personal information and payroll records.

Organized — You can manage multiple payroll calendars, deadlines, clients and outstanding items without losing visibility.

Proactive — You identify potential problems before they become payroll errors.

Clear communicator — You can explain complex payroll issues in straightforward language to clients, bookkeepers and other professionals.

Collaborative — You work effectively with bookkeepers, accountants, administrators, business owners and external payroll providers.

Curious — You continuously maintain your knowledge of Canadian payroll legislation and regulatory changes.

Most importantly, you have a genuine commitment to getting payroll right.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

The successful Payroll Manager will become the firm's internal authority on Canadian payroll.

When a payroll file is complicated, does not reconcile, contains historical errors, involves employees in multiple provinces, or requires a difficult calculation, you will be the person capable of investigating the issue and bringing it to resolution.

You will help ensure that every payroll file under your oversight is accurate, reconciled, documented, compliant and supported by reliable accounting records.

We are looking for someone who combines technical payroll expertise with exceptional attention to detail, professional judgment and a high standard of financial accuracy.