Job Description

Payroll & Finance Officer

Hybrid - three days a week in the office

Competitive salary plus benefits

Smarts is one of the UK's top PR & Creative agencies and one of the fastest growing in the PR Week Top 20. From our offices in Belfast, London, Glasgow, Amsterdam, and New York. Our nearly 200 strong team of creatives, strategists, writers, film-makers, designers, influencer experts and internal comms champions are all pointed in that direction, working out every day how to embed clients like Diageo, Booking.com, British Gas and Zalando in the cultural fabric of people's live, forging meaningful connections that last.

A multi-disciplinary agency, our expertise stretches beyond traditional PR and media relations, into social and digital, influencer partnerships, content creation and more

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Reporting to the Financial Controller the post holder will assist in several areas of financial management from payroll and pension through to project management.

Covering the 3 Smarts group companies (Smarts NI, MSQ Partners Europe BV and Smarts US), the overarching requirement is to ensure efficient operation of monthly payroll & pensions and consistent and accurate processing and reporting thereof, whilst also complying to relevant country regulations.

The post holder will maintain an appropriate level of technical knowledge in payroll and pensions matters and will develop and maintain a sufficient level of skill to utilise Smarts systems.

Within Smarts Group there are hundreds of live projects at any one time. The post holder will also develop a sound understanding of how Smarts' projects are set-up and will work with project leads to determine and verify monthly project closures in conjunction with the Finance Managers.

The nature of the role requires close working relationships with colleagues in Finance, Human Resources and in Smarts generally; consequently, good communication and team-working skills are key.

Key Tasks

Smarts NI & MSQ Partners Europe BV Payroll - responsibility for communicating monthly payroll instructions (joiners, leavers, amends, maternity leave, etc.) to the external payroll bureaus and ensuring completeness, accuracy and reconciliations of all final output reports by appropriate deadlines Smarts US Payroll - responsibility for ensuring completeness, accuracy and reconciliations of all final reports provided by a fellow MSQ subsidiary company Accurate management of monthly payroll and pension recharges between Smarts entities and wider MSQ Group agencies Monthly and year-end reconciliation of payroll ledgers in the P&L, plus Pension, PAYE and Net Wages balance sheet reconciliations Maintaining up to date knowledge and awareness of payroll and pension legislation and internal developments affecting the payroll function including, but not limited to, operation of pension salary sacrifice scheme and other salary sacrifice arrangements Responsibility for UK and NL Pension Scheme Administration, ensuring monthly accurate payments are made in a timely manner and all procedures are followed as per the Pension Regulators Ongoing upkeep of documented departmental procedures around payroll and pension Maintain confidentiality and data protection standards in handling sensitive employee payroll and pension information Preparation of all payroll and pension reporting for auditors at year-end Collation of information for annual P11D submission Collation of information for annual PSA (PAYE Settlement Agreement) submission Monthly liaison with project leads to determine job closures, to include checking of all key areas (budgets, systems accuracy, client billing, supplier invoices). Working closely with Finance Managers to approve the monthly closures and associated mark-up Completion of statutory surveys from the Office of National Statistics, Quarterly Business Surveys, Annual Survey of International Trade in Services Assist Financial Controller / Finance Managers with ad hoc tasks and ensuring the smooth running of the finance department Liaison with internal and external bodies e.g. Human Resources, MSQ Group HR, HMRC, Pension Providers, The Pensions Regulator, ONS etc

Essential Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

ATI/ACCA/ACA/CIMA qualified (or part-qualified) At least 2 years experience in all aspects of UK payroll, tax regulations and pension administration. Strong understanding of statutory deductions, including income tax and NI contributions Understanding of data protection regulations and confidentiality requirements in handling employee information Continuous learning mindset to stay updated with changes in payroll & pension regulations and best practices Excellent attention to detail and accuracy Strong excel skills Strong time management & organisational skills, to handle multiple payrolls and deadlines Focused and methodical approach to managing work Ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines Analytical and logical problem-solving skills Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team environment Clear communicator: written & verbal
If this sounds like you, apply today!

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Holywood BT18 9HU