Calum Mackinnon
Woking,Surrey
Summary
Experienced payroll specialist with extensive expertise in BACs payment systems and payroll systems mastery. Demonstrates strong financial literacy and confidentiality assurance, ensuring accurate budgeting and compliance with employment law. Proven track record in HMRC liaison, wage regulations understanding, and pension scheme management. Skilled in resolving employee queries and submitting Real-Time information efficiently. Committed to applying cost reduction strategies while administering workplace pensions effectively. Career goal: to leverage skills in financial management to optimise organisational efficiency.
Overview
38
38
years of professional experience
Work history
Senior Payroll Specialist
Shutterstock UK
London
01.2023 - 12.2025
- Systems Used ADP, Workday and full responsibility for production of monthly permanent and variable changes, Starters, leavers and internal changes.
- Verifying current output to previous month output and comparing variable changes.
- Monitoring and uploading work rules for the foreign payroll and managing the entire payroll function for Brazil, France, Holland, Romania, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia and UK: 300 UK employees and 400 EMEA employees.
- Automation monthly reports for workday and external payroll vendors.
- Monthly submissions RTI, EPS and EOY returns & SOX compliant.
- Conducted annual audits, ensuring regulatory compliance.
- Conducted regular checks on data integrity within the payroll system, avoiding potential errors before they arose.
- Provided training sessions to junior staff on the use of payroll software systems.
- Resolved pay discrepancies with careful investigation and follow-up.
- Handled all aspects of payroll administration to ensure compliance.
- Developed a deep understanding of payroll regulations to provide expert advice to staff and management alike.
- Built strong relationships with external agencies such as HM Revenue and Customs to facilitate prompt resolution of any tax-related matters that arise during the course of business.
- Implemented new payroll system, enhancing efficiency.
- Ensured accurate computation of payroll by meticulous verification.
- Worked closely with finance team for timely reconciliation of accounts related to salaries and wages paid out.
- Kept up-to-date records by consistent filing and documentation practices.
- Made certain that all employee leaves were accurately recorded in the system by coordinating closely with HR teams across different departments.
- Collaborated with HR team for seamless integration of new hires into the payroll system.
- Handled sensitive confidential information discreetly at all times whilst maintaining impeccable standards of data protection compliance.
- Managed payroll operations for streamlined processing.
- Adapted quickly to changes in tax law, maintaining accuracy in computations.
- Streamlined processes for improved turnaround times on queries.
- Responded promptly and professionally to all inquiries from staff about their payslips or other salary-related issues, reducing confusion and fostering a sense of trust among employees.
- Facilitated smooth communication between HR department and employees regarding any payroll-related issues or queries they may have had,.
- Assisted in benefits administration, providing employees with comprehensive information.
- Managed employee records on database to maintain accuracy and updated information.
- Audited time and attendance records, enhancing payroll accuracy.
- Handled challenging situations with sensitivity and understanding.
- Responded to enquiries and provided information regarding payroll related matters.
- Evaluated discrepancies and rectified payroll errors.
- Used payroll software to streamline processes for increased efficiency.
- Administered confidential payroll records, meticulously maintaining data integrity.
- Executed monthly payroll and pension procedures with meticulous attention to detail.
- Provided administrative support to accounting department.
- Managed PAYE deductions and transmitted payroll details to HMRC efficiently.
- Collaborated with HR department to streamline employee data.
- Responded promptly to inquiries regarding payroll, pension, and expense reimbursements.
- Dispensed forms such as P45s and P60s accurately and on time.
- Determined holiday pay entitlements with precision, maintaining compliance.
- Promptly resolved payroll discrepancies, minimising disruptions for employees.
- Utilised advanced Excel skills to create up-to-date reports.
- Generated and distributed comprehensive payroll reports to relevant stakeholders.
Payroll Manager
Portfolio and Robert Half
Marlow
03.2017 - 08.2017
- Monitoring the monthly payroll.
- Setting up pivot tables.
- Checking the input and output.
- Dealing with queries and resolving them.
- The temporary position was through Portfolio and Robert Half and this was with two companies. One based in Marlow and the other one in Woking. Each one has a large global company however the number of UK employees was maxed at 760. They had a high turnover of payroll staff and this was due to the volume of errors that occurs. By installing pivot tables we were able to check the input and compare against the output. This reduced the errors and resolved a lot of the monthly queries.
Assistant Payroll Manager
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS
Bracknell
04.2016 - 02.2017
- Managing 9 members of staff in Bracknell.
- Systems used Excel, ADP, Workday and full responsibility for production of month end reports and uploads into SAP.
- Monitoring and uploading work rules for the foreign payroll and managing the entire payroll function for France, Israel, Holland, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Ireland and UK: 300 UK employees and 400 EMEA employees.
- Setting up macros to pull in the data from another system.
- EOY returns & SOX compliant.
- Managing the foreign payroll involved reviewing and updating how this could be automated. The Israel payroll was manually entered into a spreadsheet and this was taking nearly two weeks to correct, then the legal working hours and days. By reviewing this and then setting up a pivot table that was recorded in a macro this reduced it from two weeks to 30 seconds. All the payroll journals were setup in the same way and then uploaded into SAP. Workday was also setup to send out reminders to the Israel employees to complete their working days in workday.
Temporary Payroll Manager
Hugoboss
12.2015 - 03.2016
Payroll Manager
THOMSON DIRECTORIES
05.2008 - 08.2015
- Managing 9 members of staff.
- Systems used Excel and PW and Sage Update processes and procedures including systems implementation from a fully manual payroll full responsibility start to finish of Auto Enrolment and RTI along with pension uploads to Scottish Windows.
- Full responsibility start to finish weekly distributing payment and Directors, employees and pensioners payroll 1000 members of staff, 600 pensioners, UK expats.
- Foreign calculation in relation to expats on a monthly basis. Also production of BACS payments, Ad-hoc reporting and when requested including Grosso Net, Starters and Leavers, Salary increases/decreases and Department changes on a monthly and quarterly basis.
- Responsible for internal costing journals and monthly reconciliations, pension and third party reconciliations. Complete contact with third party companies dealing with benefits including Bupa Dental, Critical Illness, Kiddie vouchers, Pension and Life Assurance.
- Production of year-end tax returns on a monthly basis and TPI and LGP and SAND also liaison with Finance, Rand HMRC. Complete by automate the payroll system by installing employee portal eliminating production of payslips. Also weekly meeting with international customer services.
- Responsible for outsourcing the internal payroll to Inter.
European Payroll Manager (Maternity Cover)
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS
Bracknell
10.2006 - 05.2008
- Reporting to the European Department Manager & managing 9 members of staff in Bracknell and in Germany.
- Systems used Excel, Centrefile and SAP.
- Managing the entire payroll function for France, Israel, Holland, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Ireland and UK: 300 UK employees and 400 EMEA employees.
- Full responsibility for the production of month end reports and uploads to SAP.
- SOX compliant monitoring & updating processes and procedures and EOY returns.
CPIS Payroll Manager (Long-term Sickness Cover)
CROYDON COLLEGE
06.2005 - 06.2006
- Managing 9 members of staff.
- Systems used Excel and PS2000 (production of weekly, monthly and annual reports).
- Responsible for a payroll of 1,000 employees all based in the UK from start to finish.
- Updating annual and monthly increments and production of pension calculation and submission of joiners and leaver forms to TPA & LGP.
- Production of month end reports and reconciliations & year-end processing.
Payroll Manager (Maternity cover)
NESCOT
08.2004 - 06.2005
- Managing 9 members of staff.
- Responsible for a payroll of 1,000 employees all based in the UK from start to finish.
- Production of month end reports and reconciliations.
- Production of TPA & LGP returns.
- Year-end processing.
Payroll Manager (Contract Assignment)
TELEWEST COMMUNICATIONS GROUP PLC
12.2003 - 06.2004
- Managing 9 members of staff.
- Responsible for a large volume payroll of 9,500 employees.
- Production of ad-hoc reports month end reports and reconciliations.
- Year-end processing.
- Importing data to centre-file.
Payroll Manager (Contract, covering sickness position)
GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND
09.2003 - 11.2003
- Full systems management.
- Close liaison with Finance and HR on a daily and weekly basis.
- Month end reconciliation journals and costing.
- Printing of standard payslips, rail payslips and responsible for the distribution of these on a monthly basis.
- Dealing with enquiries and providing full customer service experience.
Payroll Consultant
COMPAQ COMPUTER LIMITED AND HP
10.2001 - 09.2003
- Systems used Excel and PS2000.
- Processing of £550 million payroll bill & reconciling 10 inter-company accounts.
- Responsible for a full payroll of 10,000 members of staff across the UK.
- Production of year-end tax returns and P11D forms and PSA.
Deputy Payroll Manager (Contract whilst payroll was transferring to Leeds)
TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENTS
Leeds
03.2001 - 09.2001
- Working for a number of companies providing all aspects of payroll.
- Production of electronic downloads to Oracle.
- Streamlining procedures along with supervision, training and motivation of staff.
- Processing of payroll from start to finish including Bacs submission.
- Liaison with other departments and external service providers.
Payroll Manager (Temp payroll) (Contract)
ROBERT WALTERS
12.2000 - 02.2001
- Installation of new SAP HR payroll system within project deadlines.
- Supervision of 17 payroll staff.
- Production of margin reports to Consultants.
- Introduction of scanned timesheets.
Payroll Manager (Temporary Contract, covering position whilst someone was on holiday in Australia)
EXPMOMENTUM
01.2000 - 05.2000
- Supervision and training of staff.
- Project planning and setting up tax references updating payroll procedures and policies.
- Database organization and redesigning payslip and report generation.
- Changing payroll frequency from monthly to weekly, fortnightly and 4-weekly. Data conversion by capturing and logging import index portal data reduced work duplication.
- EOY submissions and BACS transmissions.
Payroll Administrator (Contract)
BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT LTD
09.1999 - 12.1999
Operations and Development Manager
COMPAN MANAGEMENT
06.1997 - 08.1999
- Processing weekly, fortnightly, lunar and monthly payrolls varying in size from 1 – 300 employees.
- Oversee implementation of new systems and new client payroll and technology and BACS submissions.
- Setup membership database which allows BACS files to be created in MS Access and transferred to the BACS program.
- General payroll enquiries.
- Setting up processes and procedures and advising & training internal payroll staff.
LONG-TERM TEMPORARY PAYROLL ASSIGNMENTS
03.1992 - 01.1997
- Companies included:
- Royal College of Surgeons, British Gas, Card Protection Plan, Foreign and Colonial, Monsoon, Look Ahead Housing Association
- Duties included:
- Implementation of in-house and bureau systems including Paypoint and Personnel Partner.
- Year-end returns.
- Production of payroll journals and reconciliations.
- Maintaining staff statistics and recording absence.
- All aspects of payroll administration from input to production.
Payroll Supervisor (Maternity cover)
GLAXO
04.1991 - 03.1992
- Production of monthly and bi-monthly reports.
- Year-end tax returns.
- Installation, implementation and integration of computerised payroll system.
Payroll Supervisor
MIDDLE EAST BROADCASTING CENTRE
01.1990 - 04.1991
- Responsible for all aspects of payroll administration.
- Sole responsibility for installation of updated payroll system.
Benefit Officer
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA
01.1988 - 11.1989
- Input and report writing on Personnel Partner and Microlink.
- Full administration of company benefits.
- Administration of payroll.
Skills
- BACs payment system experience
- Financial literacy
- Confidentiality assurance
- Budgeting proficiency
- Employment law awareness
- HMRC liaison experience
- Wage regulations understanding
- Pension scheme management
- Employee queries resolution
- Real-Time information submission
- Cost reduction strategies application
- Payroll systems mastery
- Microsoft excel expertise
- Workplace pensions administration
Timeline
Senior Payroll Specialist
Shutterstock UK
01.2023 - 12.2025
Payroll Manager
Portfolio and Robert Half
03.2017 - 08.2017
Assistant Payroll Manager
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS
04.2016 - 02.2017
Temporary Payroll Manager
Hugoboss
12.2015 - 03.2016
Payroll Manager
THOMSON DIRECTORIES
05.2008 - 08.2015
European Payroll Manager (Maternity Cover)
CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS
10.2006 - 05.2008
CPIS Payroll Manager (Long-term Sickness Cover)
CROYDON COLLEGE
06.2005 - 06.2006
Payroll Manager (Maternity cover)
NESCOT
08.2004 - 06.2005
Payroll Manager (Contract Assignment)
TELEWEST COMMUNICATIONS GROUP PLC
12.2003 - 06.2004
Payroll Manager (Contract, covering sickness position)
GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND
09.2003 - 11.2003
Payroll Consultant
COMPAQ COMPUTER LIMITED AND HP
10.2001 - 09.2003
Deputy Payroll Manager (Contract whilst payroll was transferring to Leeds)
TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENTS
03.2001 - 09.2001
Payroll Manager (Temp payroll) (Contract)
ROBERT WALTERS
12.2000 - 02.2001
Payroll Manager (Temporary Contract, covering position whilst someone was on holiday in Australia)
EXPMOMENTUM
01.2000 - 05.2000
Payroll Administrator (Contract)
BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT LTD
09.1999 - 12.1999
Operations and Development Manager
COMPAN MANAGEMENT
06.1997 - 08.1999
LONG-TERM TEMPORARY PAYROLL ASSIGNMENTS
03.1992 - 01.1997
Payroll Supervisor (Maternity cover)
GLAXO
04.1991 - 03.1992
Payroll Supervisor
MIDDLE EAST BROADCASTING CENTRE
01.1990 - 04.1991
Benefit Officer
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA
01.1988 - 11.1989