ASK THE EXPERT – NATIONAL PAYROLL WEEK

Spreading Joy: Sharp Consultancy’s Annual Easter Egg Drive

At Sharp Consultancy, our annual Easter Egg Drive has once again brought together our team, clients, and community to support local charities and spread a little cheer. As a finance and accountancy recruitment business rooted in Yorkshire, we’re proud to use our network to give something back—and this year has been no exception.Led by Tom Davage, Senior Consultant in our South Yorkshire office, our team has been out and about collecting Easter egg donations from our fantastic clients. The generosity shown has been incredible, especially given the ongoing challenges many continue to face. Thanks to everyone who contributed, we were able to deliver meaningful support to three wonderful charities in our region: Paces, a specialist centre supporting children with cerebral palsy and motor disorders; St Luke’s Hospice, which offers compassionate end-of-life care; and The Family Works, a trauma informed, family support project working alongside underprivileged families.Tom, who organised this year’s initiative, shared: “When you hear the stories from the people working within these charities, it really opens your eyes to the challenges others face. If we can bring a smile to someone’s face—even through something as simple as an Easter egg—it makes it all worthwhile. Every bit of support counts.” Seeing familiar donators from past years and welcoming new ones has been truly heart-warming. It’s a testament to the kind and community-minded nature of the businesses we work with. To all our clients who donated, thank you. Your kindness and continued support make this initiative possible and help us make a real difference. If you’d like to get involved next year or learn more about the causes we support, we’d love to hear from you. Together, we can keep making a positive impact—one small gesture at a time.

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It’s National Payroll Week (Mon 6 – Fri 10 Sep), and throughout the week our team of specialist consultants have been sharing their in-depth knowledge and expertise to employers and candidates working in the sector on recruitment and career-related matters.

Sharp Consultancy has been at the forefront of transactional financial recruitment across the North for more than 25 years. Our highly experienced specialist team has an extensive network of talented candidates for roles across the full spectrum of levels within accounts payable, credit control, payroll and purchase ledger.

Today, Matt Civil, Business Manager examines the wider skills that hiring managers are looking for from the modern payroll professional.

Historically, it would be fair to say that the focus for payrollers has been about getting people paid accurately and timely. However, we are now seeing that hiring managers are placing an increasing amount of emphasis upon the value-added skills that a payroll professional can bring such as analytical skills for management information and reporting which require a higher level of Microsoft Excel skills than would have previously been expected from those working in the role.

Such a skill set can save time and money for an organisation; candidates that possess analytical skills will be able to look in to how efficient the payroll is run, highlighting errors and queries which may be avoidable in future payroll runs. This information can help organisation be better informed when it comes to making business decisions; for example, manufacturing and product-based firms can more accurately forecast costs to determine if certain course of action – including price rises, discounts, discontinue ranges – are viable and as a management tool, smart decisions, such as weighing up the value of temporary workers versus overtime costs for full time permanent employees, can be made.

Companies that have a real focus upon training, as well as investment in technology and system improvements, will not only be in a much stronger position to attract the highest calibre candidates, they will also find that by offering study support – and continuing with a programme of ongoing training opportunities - they will improve retention rates whilst their staff are developing sought-after skills.

There have been many changes to regulations and legislation in recent years, including one of the most recent – the Government furlough scheme – which will be coming to an end this month and moving forward, payroll candidates and professionals will need to demonstrate their ability to keep on top of and adapt to these changes. It is likely that more changes will be forthcoming which will lead to higher demand for the most highly skilled candidates; payrolls salaries have seen a sharp increase in the last 3 – 4 years with more emphasis placed on candidates that can run a payroll from end-to-end.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent transactional finance professionals across the full spectrum of roles including accounts payable, credit control, payroll and purchase ledgers. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today to find out more.