Who I help

All types of clients from various sectors.

How I help

Payroll delivery. Payroll queries. Payroll legislation updates.

“I DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP WHERE CLIENTS TRUST IN OUR ABILITY.”

Clare Walker is a Payroll Assistant Manager based in our Glasgow office. She supports a portfolio of clients, ranging from SMEs, large corporate, and charities, with their payroll processing, any payrolling queries they might have, and keeping them up to date with any changes or updates to payroll legislation.

Clare works closely with the Global Employment Tax department within the wider Payroll and Employment Team, supporting clients with all aspects of payroll such as advice on the tax and NI position on payments, assisting with various payroll calculations and general payroll queries.

Developing trust by working together

“An ideal client relationship for me is one where you are both comfortable speaking to each other about ways to improve the service or the information that’s provided. It’s about creating a personal relationship where you are a face to the client, a sounding board for advice and not just a service provider. To create those relationships where everyone is comfortable you need to develop trust, which we do by working together and being honest with each other.”

Everyone works together and benefits from each other’s knowledge

“One of the things I enjoy most about working with clients is finding out how we can help to make the payroll process work as smoothly as possible, delivered accurately and on time, for both parties. I love developing a relationship that allows them to trust in our ability to provide a great service. Occasionally clients might be reluctant to change in processes and new technology, having a solid relationship based on trust means they are more receptive to our recommendations.

I make sure our clients can contact me easily to discuss any queries they may have. They expect me to have the knowledge to understand the requirements of their payroll and process it as efficiently as possible.

Working with my colleagues, I enjoy the teamwork where everyone works together and benefits from each other’s knowledge. You get the opportunity to help with various queries and develop knowledge on other clients. At AAB we provide a comprehensive range of services from audit to business advisory, so there is always someone we can call on if our clients have any queries outside our own area of expertise.”

Technology helps to enhance our approach

“Advancements in technology have been of great benefit to us. They have facilitated payroll becoming more streamlined enabling us to deliver a service that is faster and of a higher quality. It’s not just in the payroll part of our service delivery that technology has helped us, as we also see the benefits through communication.

With payroll and all our other services at AAB I think it’s important to be client facing and develop a good relationship by being present in person. Talking face-to-face makes it easier for our clients to ask us questions, and for us to gauge how they are feeling. If something needs to be explained in more detail, we can demonstrate what we’re talking about. We take the time to get to know our clients and their preferred methods of communication, so we always take that into consideration when arranging meetings.”

We respect and trust each other

“At AAB, we bring to life our value of ‘We respect and trust each other’. The payroll team work very closely together, and we have various Teams chats to share knowledge and support each other. You can tell from the questions asked that everyone trusts their colleagues and that also expands to other departments so we can ensure we are assisting clients and team members as efficiently as possible.

Providing an excellent service

One of my greatest strengths is my willingness to help others, and I’m always looking at where things could be improved and how we can adapt to changes within the team or business.

A client once expressed that the work I had done for them had made them decide to stay with the company. I was delighted as it meant I was providing an excellent service – I never want to see clients leave because they are not happy.

I’m really excited to see how AAB expands in the future and the opportunities this will bring to the payroll department.”

A specialist area

“I think there’s a common misconception that payroll is just a push of a button. We have to provide advice on clients’ payroll information to ensure they stay compliant with tax and NI legislation and ensure that employees are being paid on time and correctly and that the relevant information is sent to the relevant bodies for third party reporting e.g. HMRC, pension providers, childcare voucher providers.

We provide calculations to clients for starters and leavers but also on other pay items as necessary. Recently we have seen clients asking for more payroll support as legislation becomes more complex, as they recognise it’s a specialist area and not one that you want to make mistakes with.

Keeping up with the legislation that impacts payroll is another part of the process that many people aren’t aware of. I consistently review HMRC legislation and pull additional information from websites such as CIPP to ensure my knowledge is kept up to date.”