Leadership in a crisis: How Audrey Curran steered PKF Payroll Services through the pandemic
Interview with Kapil Khanna, All-Ireland Business Foundation
The Payroll industry has been challenged immensely over the last 18 months.
Furloughing of staff, the advent of remote working and fluctuating requirements from Revenue have placed huge pressure on companies and on their payroll processes.
If payroll stops everything stops, and General Manager of PKF Payroll Services Audrey Curran told the All-Ireland Business Times that she was acutely aware of this fact as she lead her company through months of uncertainty.
She said: “I look back now and think how did we get through that, because it wasn’t easy, I won’t lie”.
“Things were changing continuously in the early days of the pandemic because of all of the changes from Revenue and the introduction of the different supports that companies needed to avail of.”
“Every day there were weekly updates on how we were to process stuff through payroll. We were in constant communication with our clients – many of whom were obviously in a state of total panic.”
“We didn’t think about the problem too much, we very much just got on with it. We’re a small team here and I’m lucky to work alongside fantastic people so we got through it.”
PKF Payroll Services Limited is the Payroll Outsourcing division of PKF O’Connor, Leddy & Holmes Limited which offers audit, accountancy, tax and advisory services from its Harold’s Cross base since 1962.
Audrey joined in 2016 with the goal to develop a dedicated payroll division within the company.
The position has given her a ringside seat to the devastation that the pandemic has wreaked on the economy and on her clients.
“As a payroll company, we were very aware of the challenges that companies were facing as we could see when people were put on leave or let go. Many of our clients are still availing of the Covid support schemes and I think that it will be challenging for a lot of companies when they run out.”
But while she predicts further uncertainty in the coming months, Audrey maintains that there is plenty to be optimistic about as the country emerges from lockdown.
She said: “I think there are opportunities out there now. We’re also seeing a lot of companies setting up payroll in Ireland to establish a presence in the EU which is very positive for the country.”
“For us, I think we’ve been so busy because companies have looked at what’s happened during Covid and have considered the risks of having their payroll person getting sick.”
“Many are now looking at outsourcing their payroll so they can maintain consistency and continuity.”
“Companies are realising that outsourcing payroll is cost-effective and allows for valuable resources to be directed towards more productive and profitable business functions.”
Audrey has been successful in steering her team through the worst of the pandemic and is looking forward to maintaining her companies position as a market leader in the payroll industry.
How has she done it?
“For us, I think we’ve been so busy because companies have looked at what’s happened during Covid and have considered the risks of having their payroll person getting sick. Many are now looking at outsourcing their payroll so they can maintain consistency and continuity. Companies are realising that outsourcing payroll is cost-effective and allows for valuable resources to be directed towards more productive and profitable business functions.”
Audrey has been successful in steering her team through the worst of the pandemic and is looking forward to maintaining her companies position as a market leader in the payroll industry.
How has she done it?
“The important thing has been communication and customer service,” she said.
“I think businesses must communicate with clients and with their teams at all times and let them know what’s happening. My primary focus was the safety of our team. Once I had the right supports in place for my people, we could then focus on going above and beyond for our clients. Every company has its idiosyncrasies and they all quite rightly wanted to know how they are going to be affected by the various changes and updates from Revenue.”
“I was on the phone a lot every day with business owners talking to them about what grants and schemes they could avail of and if I felt they needed more support we have a business services team here that helped them.”
“We operate a personal service and our clients know that they can pick up the phone at any time if they need help or advice.”
Thanks to their hard work the talented team at PKF Payroll has achieved Business All-Star Accreditation for the second year in a row.
Reacting to the news Audrey said: “We are delighted to be acknowledged as an All-Star Business for a second year running.
“It validates what we have been doing over the last few years and lets us know that we are on the right track.”
“We are very customer focused and the feedback from them has been invaluable because without them we wouldn’t have a business.”
To learn more about PKF Payroll Services, visit www.pkfpayroll.ie or contact Audrey Curran today.