An Accounting Career Hopeful’s Guide to Payroll Compliance Legislation

Do you have a future in finance? Canadian businesses from coast to coast are looking for motivated, detail-oriented individuals to help them manage their money. With the right training, you can assume a respectable role as an accountant, bookkeeper, or payroll compliance professional.
At Academy of Learning College (AOLC), students from all walks of life meet in both in-class and online learning communities to gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in this field. With the help of our expert instructors, you can develop your own expertise about the accounting industry and a wide variety of its best practices.
One key aspect of modern accounting is payroll compliance legislation. Read on for our guide to this important matter.

Accounting Course Beginners Ask: What is Payroll Compliance Legislation?

If you’re looking to upgrade your accounting skills, or are new to the finance field altogether, you may not know what modern payroll compliance entails. Essentially, Canadian legislation exists to govern how payrolls are to be run and what kinds of deductions and declarations they must feature.
According to The National Payroll Institute (formerly The Canadian Payroll Association), “the objective of payroll is to pay employees accurately, on time and in compliance with legislative requirements.”
For example of such legislative requirements, consider payroll information formatting. A business in Saskatchewan would need to ensure its payroll features everything from employee names and addresses to a stated hourly/salary pay rate in order to be fully compliant with Canadian payroll standards.

The majority of Canadian provinces legislate for payroll to also include:

• Employer name
• Pay period date
• Net pay
• Gross earnings
• Itemized deduction rates
• Holiday pay
• Overtime earnings
• Commissions, and more

Because some of these rules vary by province, it’s important for businesses to hire payroll supervisory professionals who are familiar with their particular province’s compliance legislation. For example, Saskatchewan’s payrolls must feature a ‘gross earnings’ section, whereas British Columbia and Alberta do not. If you choose to study at AOLC, you’ll be taught a payroll compliance accounting course tailored to the particular legislation that applies to your province.

How Canadian Payroll Compliance Legislation Impacts Accounting Careers

It is the responsibility of payroll compliance graduates to inform various community stakeholders about the legislation that applies to their respective payrolls. Throughout your accounting career, you’ll need to apply provincial and federal legislation to a range of different scenarios impacting individual pay.
After accounting college, a company, business, or organization may hire you to implement and oversee its particular payroll process. You will likely need to use computerized accounting programs to draft payroll documents that comply with the legislative requirements of their location.

With your help, employers in your community can trust that their employees are being paid fairly, efficiently, and lawfully.
Are you interested in pursuing payroll training through accounting school?
Visit Academy of Learning College to learn more about getting started.