The Payroll Podcast

Nick Day - JGA Payroll Recruitment

Payroll gets noticed when it goes wrong. That's about it. Which is a strange way to treat the function that pays everybody. I'm Nick Day. Twenty years recruiting payroll professionals means I've had the same conversation hundreds of times, with people who were brilliant at the job and invisible in the business. The Payroll Podcast started because I wanted to know why that keeps happening, and what the ones who broke out of it did differently. Every week I sit down with payroll leaders, global payroll operators, payroll technology founders and compliance specialists. We get into UK and international payroll legislation that lands with three weeks' notice. Fiscal drag, and what it quietly does to the people you pay. Pay transparency, AI legislation, earned wage access, salary administration, payroll AI tools and the payroll systems everyone is being sold. Payroll systems implementations that went sideways, and what was learned on the way out. Careers come up constantly. What it takes to move from running payroll to being asked your opinion before the decision gets made. And because I run a payroll recruitment agency, a fair amount of the conversation lands on hiring. This Payroll Podcast was born out of these payroll leadership conversations. Salary administration across a global workforce. Staff wellbeing in teams that carry more risk than anyone above them realises. Should companies hire a chief payroll officer? What role should a payroll body play in supporting the payroll profession? Why do good payroll leaders leave? No script, no polite version. Mostly it's the conversation you'd have with someone who does your job, if you ever got the chance to sit down with them. Four hundred episodes in, it's the most listened to payroll podcast in the world. Which still surprises me, given nobody thinks payroll is interesting until their pay is wrong. If you work in payroll, or you're building a career in it, start by subscribing to The Payroll Podcast. Topics include UK and global payroll, payroll legislation and compliance, payroll AI, payroll systems and management tools, the payment industry, earned wage access, pay transparency, DEI, payroll leadership and strategy, payroll recruitment and career development. 🌐 Stay ahead of the global payroll curve with insights on AI, strategy, earned wage access, wellbeing, DEI and more. Perfect for payroll professionals and global payroll leaders looking to embrace the future and enhance their strategies. 👉 Subscribe now and help raise the profile and drive the future evolution of payroll! 👉 Need Payroll Staff? Contact Payroll Recruitment Agency, JGA Recruitment - www.jgarecruitment.com / info@jgarecruitment.com 👉 Want to be a guest on the show? Email Nick@jgadigital.com

  1. 4d ago

    Talent Retention in Payroll Leadership | Building Careers for 2040 with Troy Markusson

    Payroll leadership faces a 2040 crisis that has nothing to do with compliance, technology, or AI. It's our failure to attract, educate, and listen to the next generation of payroll professionals. In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Troy Markusson, a global payroll leader with nearly 30 years of experience in large-scale payroll operations, transformation, and compliance, to unpack his original research project, Payroll 2040. Built from surveys and roundtables with over 200 students and early-career professionals, the research asks the question almost no one else is asking: what does the next generation actually think about payroll, and are we building a profession they even want to inherit? The conversation dives into the research's most striking findings, including how many early-career employees say they do not trust their employer to get their pay right, how quickly that trust breaks down over even a small dollar-value error, and why the vast majority want a human being, not an AI chatbot, the moment something goes wrong. Troy and Nick also explore payroll's looming talent cliff, why so many payroll departments still undersell the profession to the people who could power its future, and how language, storytelling, and even "payroll nerd" culture are becoming real tools for reclaiming the profession's identity. It is not a technology problem. It is not a compliance problem. It is a trust problem. Troy shares what his research revealed about closing the education gap, where AI genuinely helps versus where it undermines trust, and why strong cross-functional partnerships, not better systems, are what will actually carry payroll into its next era. Whether you're a payroll leader building your team's future or simply passionate about where this profession is headed, this episode reframes the payroll technology conversation around the people who matter most. This episode is sponsored by Deel Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide. See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday Guest and Host: Connect with Troy Markusson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-markusson/ Check out Troy's payroll nerd merchandise: https://www.nerdoutfitters.shop/ Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/ Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea Sign up for our newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7 Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon! Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Timestamps: (00:01) Introduction: Payroll's Greatest Future Risk (01:40) What Payroll Really Means: Trust Behind Every Payslip (06:10) Inside the Payroll 2040 Research Project (09:53) Key Findings: Trust, Errors, and AI Discomfort (17:22) Why Payroll Isn't Marketed Like Other Careers (21:30) The Hardest Skills to Replace as Talent Retires (24:18) The Payroll Talent Cliff (27:01) What Language Attracts (and Repels) Young Talent (32:58) The Pay Slip Understanding Gap (34:39) What Payroll Data Reveals Beyond Payroll (47:14) Reclaiming Payroll's Identity Through Storytelling (52:04) Payroll Vault: Career Advice, AI, and Final Takeaways

  2. Sep 1

    Silent Payroll Errors | Why Compliance Blindspots Matter with Jay Crider

    Your payroll runs smoothly but that's exactly where payroll compliance risk hides. In this episode In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment Group, sits down with Jay Crider, CPP, MBA, founder and principal of ValuGuard Payroll Advisory, talked about the hidden payroll errors, implementation gaps, and data vulnerabilities lurking beneath green status reports. Discover what audits, acquisitions, and system migrations reveal about payroll maturity, and learn how to identify and remediate silent failures before they cost you. This is not just a conversation about whether payroll gets processed. It is a conversation about whether payroll is governed. Jay and Nick break down the five pillars of payroll risk, why key person dependency quietly puts entire operations at risk, and how payroll leaders can finally translate what they see into language the C-suite actually listens to. They also cover Jay's Payroll Stability Index, or PSI, a free scoring framework built to quantify payroll risk the way a FICO score quantifies credit risk, real statistics on fraud, compliance penalties, and outage costs, and why payroll may be the largest uncontrolled financial process in most companies today. It is not just about getting the paycheck right. It is about proving the process behind it can be trusted under pressure. And if you have never measured that before, this episode will change that. Whether you are a payroll professional trying to earn a seat at the table, a finance leader trying to understand where your real exposure sits, or a business owner who assumes payroll is fine because no one has complained, this episode will give you a new way of seeing one of the most important functions in your organization. This episode is sponsored by Deel Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide. See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday Guest and Host: Connect with Jay Crider: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-crider/ Learn more about ValuGuard Payroll Advisory and run your free PSI snapshot: https://valuguardpayroll.com/psi-snapshot?src=payrollpodcast Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/ Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7 Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon! Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction: Why a Green Payroll Status Report Can Still Be Hiding Risk (03:01) What Payroll Really Means: Trust Made Operational (04:06) The Iceberg Analogy: What's Hiding Beneath a Stable-Looking Payroll (06:35) Why "Paid Accurately and On Time" Is an Incomplete Definition of Success (11:17) Controlled Process vs. Correct Outcome: The Real Test of Governance (13:29) Key-Person Dependency and the True Cost of Payroll Heroics (20:04) Introducing the Five Pillars of the Payroll Stability Index (24:27) Operational Continuity, Governance Controls, and the Cost of Fraud (32:17) Why a Risk Score Changes the Conversation With the C-Suite (39:55) Who Should Own Payroll Governance: HR, Finance, or a Future CPO? (45:56) Diagnosing Risk Before a Crisis Forces Your Hand (52:21) Payroll Vault: Rapid-Fire Questions and Jay's Boldest Prediction

  3. Aug 24

    AI for Payroll | How Failed Implementations Shape Your Career with Raju Chauhan

    AI for payroll is reshaping the profession but failed implementations reveal what truly matters. In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Raju Chauhan, explore why payroll compliance and management require human judgment, what automation gets wrong, and how payroll professionals evolve into strategic oversight roles. Essential for anyone navigating payroll implementation in the AI era and building a resilient career This is not just another AI hype conversation. It is a grounded, practical look at where the technology genuinely helps and where it quietly creates risk. Nick and Raju explore why AI does not fix broken payroll processes but exposes them, how AI can act as a structured thinking partner without replacing critical thought, and why safeguarding personal and payroll data has become the single biggest risk facing leaders today. They also cover the real difference between adoption and AI literacy, practical starting points for leaders who feel behind, and why automating the most repetitive manual tasks first is the smartest place for any payroll team to begin. It is not about replacing payroll professionals. It is about revealing where payroll needs to evolve. And those are two very different things. Whether you are just starting to explore AI or already rolling it out across a global payroll function, this episode is an honest, practical look at how to do it without losing the discipline payroll depends on. This episode is sponsored by Deel Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide. See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday Guest and Host: Connect with Raju Chauhan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajuchauhan40/ Connect with Nick Day: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickday Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7 Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon! Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Timestamps: (00:01) Introduction: Is AI Coming for the Payroll Profession? (02:15) What Payroll Really Means: Creating Smiles Behind Every Payslip (06:52) Raju's First Encounter with AI: From ChatGPT to Real Payroll Tools (12:31) Getting Started: Where Payroll Leaders Should Begin with AI (14:27) Overcoming the Two Biggest Fears About AI in Payroll (18:24) The Real Risk: Data Safeguarding and AI Literacy (21:55) How AI Became Raju's Thinking Partner, Not His Idea Generator (26:13) Can AI Actually Improve the Employee Experience? (29:38) Shortcut or Discipline? What Recruitment Teaches Payroll About AI (35:39) Bad Data In, Bad Data Out: Why Structured Prompting Matters (40:00) Automation Priorities and the Future of Payroll in an AI World (44:09) Payroll Vault: Career Advice, Data Risk, and Predictions

  4. Aug 17

    Building a Strategic Payroll Career | Leadership Beyond Compliance with Jamie Phillips

    Payroll careers are often written off as accidents. Someone needed a job, a shared service center needed a body, and thirty years later they never left. But staying in payroll for three decades and being recognized as one of the best in the profession does not happen by accident. So what actually separates people who simply work in payroll from those who go on to shape its future? In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Jamie Phillips, CPP, the 2026 Payroll Man of the Year as named by Payroll Org. With over three decades of experience spanning payroll leadership, workforce management, human capital management, industry education, and mentoring, Jamie brings a rare, career-long view of what it actually takes to stay relevant in an industry that keeps changing shape. This is not just a conversation about winning an award. It is a masterclass in what separates accumulating years of experience from becoming more valuable with every one of them. Nick and Jamie unpack how payroll has shifted from a transactional function to a strategic one over the past thirty years, why data analytics has been the single biggest transformation in the profession, and why the idea that payroll resists change is more myth than reality. They dig into Jamie's own path back to graduate school at fifty, why lifelong learning is a mindset rather than a milestone, and how mentoring newcomers through Payroll Org's certification courses has shaped his own legacy. They also talk candidly about the isolation that can come with reaching the top of a payroll career, and why community and networking are two of the most underrated tools for staying sharp. It is not just about winning an award. It is about what you do with thirty years to deserve it. And that is what separates a job from a career. Whether you are six weeks into payroll or thirty years in, this episode makes the case that longevity means nothing without curiosity, contribution, and a willingness to keep evolving. This episode is sponsored by Deel Managing a global team is complex; Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide. See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday Guest and Host: Connect with Jamie Phillips:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-phillips-mha-mhrd-cpp-19b2505 Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/ Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7 Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon! Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction: Is Payroll Longevity Ever an Accident? (01:35) The Elephant in the Room: Jamie's Cycling Accident (03:33) What Payroll Means to Jamie After 30 Years (04:31) Meet Jamie Phillips: Life Beyond the Payroll Desk (08:31) How Jamie Fell Into Payroll By Accident (11:00) The APA's Role in Giving Jamie a "30,000-Foot View" (15:00) 30 Years of Change: From Transactional to Strategic Payroll (20:15) Ranking the Biggest Transformations: Data, Experience, and Technology (22:43) Why Jamie Went Back for Two Master's Degrees After 50 (27:59) Community, Networking, and Avoiding Isolation at the Top (29:44) Becoming the 2026 Payroll Man of the Year (37:47) Advice for Newcomers: Learn, Network, Zoom Out

  5. Aug 10

    Mandatory Payrolling of Benefits, Salary Sacrifice Traps and Zero-Hours Reform

    In this episode: Mandatory Payrolling of Benefits, Salary Sacrifice Traps and Zero-Hours Reform | Payroll Question Time Payroll Question Time is brought to you by SD Worx. SD Worx offers smart, tailored and integrated HR and Payroll solutions, along with the local expertise, global reach and reliable service you need to grow your business today! UK payroll has a lot to get through before the summer break. Is your business ready for the biggest shake-up to benefits reporting in a decade? In this episode of Payroll Question Time, host Steve Yardley and our expert panel tackle the most pressing payroll topics of the moment, from mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind to salary sacrifice and national minimum wage risk. From new HMRC data requirements for company cars to the Fair Work Agency's zero-hours contract consultation. With April 2027 mandation now confirmed and phased, this is essential viewing for every payroll professional in the UK. From car benefit reporting quirks and real-time Class 1A charges to holiday pay record keeping and salaried staff hours tracking, this session covers the operational, compliance, and strategic issues you need to act on before September. We cover: • Mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind: the confirmed April 2027 and April 2028 phased timetable • New and dropped HMRC reporting fields for company cars and medical benefits • Why payrolling benefits in kind isn't a lift-and-drop of your P11D process • The new real-time Class 1A employer NI charge and what it means for your April to July bills • When the voluntary payrolling registration service is expected to reopen • Car benefit reporting quirks, the P46 car form, and why real-time alignment still isn't there • Salary sacrifice and national minimum wage: why "voluntary" doesn't mean it's exempt • GymFlex, cycle to work, and other disguised salary sacrifice arrangements • The Fair Work Agency's zero-hours contract consultation: guaranteed hours, notice and canceled shift pay • Why zero-hours reform could create an ongoing obligation, similar to pension re-enrolment • Holiday pay record keeping and why NMW investigators are asking about it • Tracking working hours for salaried staff and the burden of proof on employers • The April 2029 proposal to cap salary sacrifice tax relief at £2,000 a year • Is HMRC getting better? A look at dispute resolution timescales in practice Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications to stay updated with every Payroll Question Time and the latest insights on UK payroll changes 2026 and ongoing payroll legislation updates. Learn more about SD Worx Academy training courses: https://www.sdworx.com/en-en Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/691ee4… Steve Yardley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syardley/ Nick Day's LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickday Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Our Panel: Simon Parsons, Director of UK Compliance Strategies, SD Worx Richard George, Senior Bureau Manager, MHA Mathew Akrigg, Policy & Advisory Leader, CIPP Jeni Morris, National Minimum Wage Specialist Steve Yardley, Host, Managing Director, JGA Recruitment Group Timestamps: (00:00) Welcome & Panel Introductions (06:03) Mandatory Payrolling of Benefits in Kind Confirmed (09:50) New HMRC Data Requirements for Company Cars (15:20) Preparing Payroll for Real-Time Reporting (22:37) Live Q&A: Voluntary Registration Reopening (28:07) Car Reporting Quirks & the P46 Car Form (32:58) Salary Sacrifice's Hidden NMW Trap (42:48) Zero-Hours Contract Consultation Breakdown (54:33) Holiday Pay & Worker Status Under NMW Scrutiny (1:04:15) Salary Sacrifice's Future: The 2029 Cap (1:11:14) Tracking Hours for Salaried Staff (1:18:27) Is HMRC Getting Better? Wrap-Up Hashtags: #PayrollQuestionTime #UKPayroll #MandatoryPayrolling #PayrollingBenefits #SalarySacrifice #NationalMinimumWage #ZeroHoursContracts #FairWorkAgency #PayrollCompliance #Class1A #EmploymentRightsAct #PayrollLegislation #PayrollProfessionals #SDWorx #CIPP #JGARecruitment

  6. Aug 3

    Is This the End of Country-by-Country Payroll? with Sivanne Fishel

    For years, multinational payroll was managed country by country, provider by provider, and spreadsheet by spreadsheet. That model worked when businesses expanded slowly. Global workforces do not expand slowly anymore. In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Sivanne Fishel, VP of Client Success for Global Enterprise Accounts at Papaya Global, to ask whether the traditional multi-provider payroll model has become one of the biggest risks in global payroll today. With over 12 years of experience supporting large organisations through workforce payments, compliance, and technology transformation, Sivanne brings a rare inside view of what full consolidation actually looks like at scale. This is not just a conversation about switching platforms. It is a masterclass in why fragmentation quietly costs companies far more than they realise. Nick and Sivanne unpack why payroll consolidation has shifted from a hard sell to client-driven demand, why the strongest case for going all-in on one platform is not efficiency but accountability, and why fragmented providers create hidden costs in compliance risk, worker experience, and retention that rarely show up on a balance sheet. They dig into Papaya's new agentic AI compliance tool, One by Papaya, how AI is genuinely saving payroll teams time and cost today, and why the human touch behind every payslip still cannot be automated away. They also look ahead to what a connected global workforce ecosystem could look like by 2030. It is not just about which provider you use. It is about who takes accountability when things go wrong. And that changes everything about how payroll should be built. Whether you are managing one provider or twenty-seven, this episode makes the case that global payroll's next chapter is about ownership, not just optimisation. This episode is sponsored by Deel Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide. See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday Guest and Host: Connect with Sivanne Fishel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sivanne-fishel-805993218/ Explore Papaya: https://www.papayaglobal.com Read Papaya Global's research on the future of global payroll: https://www.papayaglobal.com/research/the-future-of-global-payroll Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/ Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7 Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon! Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction: Is This the End of Country-by-Country Payroll? (01:12) What Payroll Really Means Today (and How COVID Changed Everything) (04:07) From Convincing Clients to Client-Driven Demand for Consolidation (09:41) Inside One by Papaya: Agentic AI, BI Analytics and the Payments Merger (17:57) Why Payroll Still Hasn't Earned Full Strategic Recognition (24:25) Is the Multi-Provider Model Still Sustainable? (28:40) Accountability Over Efficiency: The Real Case for Consolidation (32:28) How Compliance Changes on a Consolidated Global Platform (35:56) Where AI Is Delivering Real, Measurable Value in Payroll (42:32) Prompting Tips and Fast-Forwarding to Payroll in 2030 (45:06) Building a Global Workforce From Scratch: Sivanne's Blueprint (48:35) Payroll Vault: Career Advice, Predictions and Final Questions

  7. Jul 23

    Trust, Transparency & The Future of Payroll | The Payroll Podcast Vault #2

    Payroll Has Never Been More Complex. Are You Prepared for What's Next? In this Special Vault edition, Nick Day gathers some of the sharpest minds in global payroll and asks them all the same questions, distilling decades of experience into one powerful episode. The result is a masterclass in why payroll is never just about processing numbers. It's about trust, livelihoods, and leading through change. From navigating the EU Pay Transparency Directive to learning why "no system will solve all your problems," this episode unpacks the real difference between business transformation done right and transformation that fails. Guests share hard-won advice on AI adoption, RFP discipline, career growth, and what it really means to be a custodian of trust in payroll. This episode is sponsored by Deel Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide. See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7 Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon! Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Timestamps: (00:00) Intro: Wisdom from Payroll's Top Minds (00:37) Welcome to the Payroll Podcast Vault (02:31) EU Pay Transparency Directive: Advice and Predictions (04:51) Payroll as a Livelihood, Not Just a Transaction (06:35) Why No System Solves Everything (07:11) The Future of Payroll: AI and Automation by 2030 (09:28) Why Every Payroll Leader Must Learn AI (10:39) Getting RFPs and Transformation Right (13:26) Trusting Your Instincts in a Payroll Career (16:06) Listening First: Lessons for 2026 (19:53) Appreciating Your Payroll Team (22:11) Why You Should Never Be Fully Reliant on Software

  8. Jul 16

    Payroll Is a Strategic Business Function, Not Back Office with Tiana Neal

    Most businesses think payroll is simple. Checks go out, employees get paid, and nobody complains. But treating payroll as an administrative task rather than a strategic function is exactly what keeps it invisible, underfunded, and one crisis away from becoming the biggest story in the business. In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Tiana Neal, Founder and CEO of Transcenders Consulting Group, to make the case that payroll is one of the most human, strategic, and risk-critical functions in any organisation. It is not an admin task sitting quietly in the background, but a direct line to employee trust, compliance exposure, and business intelligence most companies never think to use. This is not just a conversation about clicking a button and running a payroll cycle. It is a conversation about why payroll remains one of the most misunderstood functions in business, and what happens when errors, blind spots, and burnout are left unaddressed. Nick and Tiana explore why data is payroll's most underused strategic asset, why hackers understand payroll's value better than most executives do, and why automation is changing the profession without replacing the expertise behind it. They also cover why unchecked overtime and PTO abuse quietly cost companies far more than most leaders realise, why buying a new payroll system rarely fixes a broken process, why payroll professionals should get involved in building their company's AI tools rather than fear them, the case for treating payroll as a genuine career path rather than a stopgap job, and why getting payroll heard before decisions are made matters more right now than chasing a seat with a job title attached. It is not just about getting the payroll numbers right. It is about the trust, resilience, and business intelligence sitting behind every single payslip. And if you are not thinking about payroll that way yet, this episode will change that. Whether you are a payroll professional tired of being seen as a back office function, an HR or finance leader trying to understand the real risk and value sitting inside your payroll team, or a business owner who has never thought twice about what payroll actually protects, this episode will give you a new way of seeing one of the most business-critical functions in your organisation. This episode is sponsored by Deel Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide. See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday Guest and Host: Connect with Tiana Neal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiana-neal-emba-22903386/ Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/ Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7 Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon! Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content! Timestamps: (00:01) Introduction: Why "Back Office" Is the Wrong Label for Payroll (02:04) Meet Tiana Neal, Founder and CEO of Transcenders Consulting Group (03:58) The Real Cost of Getting Payroll Wrong (08:35) The Language Gap Between Payroll and Leadership (13:15) Payroll Data, Security, and Why Hackers Get It Before Executives Do (19:44) Overlooked Compliance Risks: Overtime, PTO, and Union Filings (23:39) When Companies Blame the System Instead of the Process (26:25) AI and Automation: A Tool, Not a Replacement (29:19) What Separates a Good Payroll Team From a Strategic One (32:06) Rethinking the Chief Payroll Officer Debate (35:21) Inside the Human Role Podcast and Tiana's Own Journey (39:01) Preparing Payroll Leaders for What's Coming Next (45:05) The Payroll Vault: Closing Advice and Final Thoughts

Ratings & Reviews

4.3
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Payroll gets noticed when it goes wrong. That's about it. Which is a strange way to treat the function that pays everybody. I'm Nick Day. Twenty years recruiting payroll professionals means I've had the same conversation hundreds of times, with people who were brilliant at the job and invisible in the business. The Payroll Podcast started because I wanted to know why that keeps happening, and what the ones who broke out of it did differently. Every week I sit down with payroll leaders, global payroll operators, payroll technology founders and compliance specialists. We get into UK and international payroll legislation that lands with three weeks' notice. Fiscal drag, and what it quietly does to the people you pay. Pay transparency, AI legislation, earned wage access, salary administration, payroll AI tools and the payroll systems everyone is being sold. Payroll systems implementations that went sideways, and what was learned on the way out. Careers come up constantly. What it takes to move from running payroll to being asked your opinion before the decision gets made. And because I run a payroll recruitment agency, a fair amount of the conversation lands on hiring. This Payroll Podcast was born out of these payroll leadership conversations. Salary administration across a global workforce. Staff wellbeing in teams that carry more risk than anyone above them realises. Should companies hire a chief payroll officer? What role should a payroll body play in supporting the payroll profession? Why do good payroll leaders leave? No script, no polite version. Mostly it's the conversation you'd have with someone who does your job, if you ever got the chance to sit down with them. Four hundred episodes in, it's the most listened to payroll podcast in the world. Which still surprises me, given nobody thinks payroll is interesting until their pay is wrong. If you work in payroll, or you're building a career in it, start by subscribing to The Payroll Podcast. Topics include UK and global payroll, payroll legislation and compliance, payroll AI, payroll systems and management tools, the payment industry, earned wage access, pay transparency, DEI, payroll leadership and strategy, payroll recruitment and career development. 🌐 Stay ahead of the global payroll curve with insights on AI, strategy, earned wage access, wellbeing, DEI and more. Perfect for payroll professionals and global payroll leaders looking to embrace the future and enhance their strategies. 👉 Subscribe now and help raise the profile and drive the future evolution of payroll! 👉 Need Payroll Staff? Contact Payroll Recruitment Agency, JGA Recruitment - www.jgarecruitment.com / info@jgarecruitment.com 👉 Want to be a guest on the show? Email Nick@jgadigital.com