The Canadian Payroll Association is hoping to serve up an ace with its new certification programs
As the tennis balls ricocheted around the court at the Rogers Cup in Toronto in August, the smile on Patricia Kelly’s face grew a little wider.
With the top women tennis players in the world battling below, Kelly, the chair of the certification task force, was unveiling the Canadian Payroll Association’s (CPA) new certification programs in an executive suite overlooking centre court at the Rexall Centre.
It was the perfect venue for the unveiling of programs designed to push the payroll industry — which is dominated by women — to new heights, she said. After all, a recent study by the CPA of 3,500 practitioners and employers showed that 88 per cent of payroll staff are women.
The first pilot project for the new certification wrapped up last month as students wrote the final exam for the Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) certification. The PCP certification is designed for practitioners in non-management positions and replaces the old Payroll Administrator (PA) and Payroll Supervisor (PS) certifications.
“The PCP is designed for somebody who can see (payroll) through the whole yearly cycle,” said Kelly. “They will be able to meet all the compliance needs so that any organization can feel comfortable with somebody in that role that they’re not going to miss anything.”
The other new certification is Certified Payroll Manager (CPM). It’s designed for payroll professionals in management positions and replaces the old Payroll Manager (PM) certification.
Some colleges are rolling out courses for the new designations this fall, but the bulk of the new certification training will be launched next year, said Kelly. Classroom training is set to begin in January 2006 and the online training will launch a month later.
As part of the changes, the CPA is doing away completely with correspondence. Training will now be delivered in one of two ways — either in a classroom setting or online. The association is also developing a professional code of conduct that certified professionals have to adhere to. It is also looking at developing a payroll textbook for post-secondary instruction and getting post-secondary credit recognition for CPA payroll courses.
What happens to practitioners with the old designations?
Practitioners who currently hold the PA or PS certification will be grandfathered into the PCP certification. Those with the PM designation will be grandfathered into the CPM certification.
Kelly said a letter will be sent to payroll professionals who currently hold a designation through the CPA informing them of the change and what they need to do to keep the certification current.
One thing that’s part of the new certification is continuing professional development. Kelly was quick to point out that this is not a scheme designed to fill up the CPA’s training seminars.
Payroll practitioners with the PCP certification are required to do 15 hours of professional development every three years while those with the CPM have to do 37.5 hours to stay current.
“But it’s really not something we’re doing to drive our seminars,” said Kelly. “It can be done through any professional development. It could be taking business courses, it could be writing articles or it could be speaking at a conference.”
Making the business case
From Kelly’s point of view, there’s a pretty easy business case for practitioners to make to their employers to support them in their certification training. There’s also a strong argument to make for not hiring new practitioners without the certification, she said.
“It can be extremely costly if you don’t have someone who understands the compliance legislation and there could be some pretty heavy penalties and fines by not remitting correctly and on time,” she said.
The CPA’s research found employers are willing and able to spend money on training.
“We asked both the employees and the employers what sort of money they had available for payroll training,” said Kelly. “And it was interesting that the employers actually had a higher number than what employees thought would be available to them for professional development. So the money is there. I think most organizations recognize that to have employees who are valuable and to keep employees, you do need to continue with the ongoing learning and I think the best place to start is in the area you’re working.”
Cost of certification
Kelly said she couldn’t put a figure — even a ballpark one — on how much it will cost to get either designation.
She said there was a bit of confusion over pricing in the past with the different colleges and universities and what fees went to the CPA and what went to the schools.
“The pricing is being reviewed,” said Kelly. “We’re trying to streamline that and come up with a pricing that works well for everyone and is equitable.”
Kelly said the amount of time it takes to earn the certification varies.
“Typically people can take anywhere from a couple of years to five, six or seven,” she said. “It just depends on how aggressive you are and how much free time you have to dedicate to it.”
With the top women tennis players in the world battling below, Kelly, the chair of the certification task force, was unveiling the Canadian Payroll Association’s (CPA) new certification programs in an executive suite overlooking centre court at the Rexall Centre.
It was the perfect venue for the unveiling of programs designed to push the payroll industry — which is dominated by women — to new heights, she said. After all, a recent study by the CPA of 3,500 practitioners and employers showed that 88 per cent of payroll staff are women.
The first pilot project for the new certification wrapped up last month as students wrote the final exam for the Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) certification. The PCP certification is designed for practitioners in non-management positions and replaces the old Payroll Administrator (PA) and Payroll Supervisor (PS) certifications.
“The PCP is designed for somebody who can see (payroll) through the whole yearly cycle,” said Kelly. “They will be able to meet all the compliance needs so that any organization can feel comfortable with somebody in that role that they’re not going to miss anything.”
The other new certification is Certified Payroll Manager (CPM). It’s designed for payroll professionals in management positions and replaces the old Payroll Manager (PM) certification.
Some colleges are rolling out courses for the new designations this fall, but the bulk of the new certification training will be launched next year, said Kelly. Classroom training is set to begin in January 2006 and the online training will launch a month later.
As part of the changes, the CPA is doing away completely with correspondence. Training will now be delivered in one of two ways — either in a classroom setting or online. The association is also developing a professional code of conduct that certified professionals have to adhere to. It is also looking at developing a payroll textbook for post-secondary instruction and getting post-secondary credit recognition for CPA payroll courses.
What happens to practitioners with the old designations?
Practitioners who currently hold the PA or PS certification will be grandfathered into the PCP certification. Those with the PM designation will be grandfathered into the CPM certification.
Kelly said a letter will be sent to payroll professionals who currently hold a designation through the CPA informing them of the change and what they need to do to keep the certification current.
One thing that’s part of the new certification is continuing professional development. Kelly was quick to point out that this is not a scheme designed to fill up the CPA’s training seminars.
Payroll practitioners with the PCP certification are required to do 15 hours of professional development every three years while those with the CPM have to do 37.5 hours to stay current.
“But it’s really not something we’re doing to drive our seminars,” said Kelly. “It can be done through any professional development. It could be taking business courses, it could be writing articles or it could be speaking at a conference.”
Making the business case
From Kelly’s point of view, there’s a pretty easy business case for practitioners to make to their employers to support them in their certification training. There’s also a strong argument to make for not hiring new practitioners without the certification, she said.
“It can be extremely costly if you don’t have someone who understands the compliance legislation and there could be some pretty heavy penalties and fines by not remitting correctly and on time,” she said.
The CPA’s research found employers are willing and able to spend money on training.
“We asked both the employees and the employers what sort of money they had available for payroll training,” said Kelly. “And it was interesting that the employers actually had a higher number than what employees thought would be available to them for professional development. So the money is there. I think most organizations recognize that to have employees who are valuable and to keep employees, you do need to continue with the ongoing learning and I think the best place to start is in the area you’re working.”
Cost of certification
Kelly said she couldn’t put a figure — even a ballpark one — on how much it will cost to get either designation.
She said there was a bit of confusion over pricing in the past with the different colleges and universities and what fees went to the CPA and what went to the schools.
“The pricing is being reviewed,” said Kelly. “We’re trying to streamline that and come up with a pricing that works well for everyone and is equitable.”
Kelly said the amount of time it takes to earn the certification varies.
“Typically people can take anywhere from a couple of years to five, six or seven,” she said. “It just depends on how aggressive you are and how much free time you have to dedicate to it.”
