Senior Payroll Specialist

SENIOR PAYROLL SPECIALIST

Remote | Canada
This role allows you to work from your home office in Canada. You must live in and be eligible to work in Canada.

ABOUT US
AMLB is a non-traditional virtual accounting and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) business that enables clients and colleagues to reach their potential. Launched just over 3 years ago, AMLB is growing quickly, serving a portfolio of clients making a real impact in a range of industries from ecommerce to not-for-profit. We act as strategic financial partners that really get to know our clients’ businesses, are relationship-focused rather than transactional, and have built a reputation for delivering proactive advice that unleashes our clients' performance potential.

HOW WE’RE DIFFERENT

What does non-traditional mean? We don’t work from a physical office (our clients are from across Canada and we’re there for them when they need us, virtually); we deploy cloud-based technologies and automation as game-changers for our clients and internal firm workflows. And we’re completely paperless. This allows our people to pursue careers in a 100% virtual and results-based practice that focuses on value-added work. You will never spend time manually entering bank and credit card transactions! It also means we do not use hours worked to measure performance. Instead, we’ve established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure impact. Examples of our KPIs are: deliverable time and quality, responsiveness to clients and client satisfaction scores.

We view each team member as having the potential to make a real difference not only for our clients but for each other and the success of our firm. That is why, for each employee, we invest in industry leading tools and training programs, provide a high level of autonomy, encourage the pursuit of initiatives to improve the way we work and provide a coach for one-on-one support from day one to foster development.

One of AMLB’s core values is inclusive collaboration, which means we believe in seeking out different perspectives than our own to make all of us better colleagues and partners. We are signatories to Canada’s 50 – 30 Challenge as well as the BlackNorth Initiative, which together demonstrate our commitment to gender parity and under-represented groups. In recognition of our efforts, AMLB won a Karbon Excellence Award for Diversity & Authenticity in 2023 and were shortlisted for the Sustainability award, selected from over 500 nominations globally. This is part of our DNA.

POSITION OVERVIEW

We are looking for an experienced and highly capable Senior Payroll Specialist to join our dynamic team. In this role, you will take ownership of complex, multi-client payroll portfolios and serve as a senior payroll resource for both clients and internal team members. You will be responsible for ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing while proactively identifying risks, resolving complex issues, and strengthening payroll processes across AMLB.

The Senior Payroll Specialist will operate with a high degree of autonomy and judgment. In addition to managing full-cycle payroll, you will provide guidance on payroll compliance, support escalated client matters, contribute to process design and documentation, and help develop the capabilities of the broader team. You will work closely with the Payroll Lead, Cloud Accountants, Founders, and clients to deliver a consistent, high-quality client experience.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Full-Cycle Payroll Ownership: Lead and oversee payroll processing for a diverse portfolio of Canadian clients, ensuring accurate and timely completion across weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly payroll cycles.
• Manage new hires, salary and compensation changes, terminations and ROEs, taxable benefits, statutory holiday pay, commissions, deductions, EHT, WSIB, RRSPs, and other complex payroll transactions.
• Review payroll calculations, reconciliations, remittances, filings, and year-end information slips including T4, and T4A.
• Compliance & Risk Management: Maintain strong knowledge of Canadian federal and provincial payroll requirements and proactively identify compliance, accuracy, timing, and service risks before they affect clients.
• Act as a senior point of escalation for complex payroll questions, discrepancies, CRA matters, government registrations, and other payroll-related issues.
• Client Advisory & Relationship Management: Build trusted relationships with clients and provide clear, proactive guidance on payroll matters, compliance requirements, process improvements, and emerging issues.
• Take ownership of client concerns from identification through resolution, ensuring timely communication and a high-quality client experience.
• Quality Assurance: Perform detailed reviews and audits of payroll data, reconciliations, deductions, remittances, and reporting to identify discrepancies and prevent recurring issues.
• Technology & Automation: Use cloud-based systems such as WagePoint and Karbon to improve accuracy, visibility, efficiency, and communication. Identify opportunities to automate or streamline recurring payroll activities.
• Process Improvement: Identify root causes of payroll issues and lead sustainable improvements to workflows, controls, documentation, and standardized procedures.
• Develop and maintain payroll SOPs, checklists, training resources, and step-by-step procedures to support consistency and scalability.
• Team Leadership & Knowledge Sharing: Serve as a payroll subject-matter resource to Cloud Accountants and other team members. Provide guidance, coaching, and support on payroll-related questions and complex client situations.
• Research changes to payroll legislation, CRA guidance, and industry practices and proactively communicate relevant updates and recommendations to the team and clients.
• Collaborate with the Payroll Lead and Cloud Finance Services Team on initiatives that improve service quality, team capability, and AMLB’s overall payroll offering.
  
  

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

• Professional Qualifications: Minimum of 4–5 years of progressive full-cycle Canadian payroll experience, preferably supporting multiple businesses or clients simultaneously.
• Senior-Level Payroll Expertise: Demonstrated ability to independently manage complex payroll portfolios, resolve escalated issues, and exercise sound judgment in payroll and compliance matters.
• Canadian Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) designation is an asset; additional payroll certification or related accounting credentials are considered an asset.
• Compliance Expertise: Strong understanding of Canadian federal and provincial payroll legislation, tax requirements, remittances, year-end reporting, and government filings.
• Attention to Detail & Quality: Exceptional accuracy, strong analytical skills, and the ability to identify and resolve discrepancies before they become client-impacting issues.
• Technology Proficiency: Strong experience with payroll software and cloud-based systems, with an interest in automation, reporting, and technology-enabled process improvement.
• Client & Relationship Orientation: Demonstrated ability to build credibility and trust with clients, communicate complex payroll matters clearly, and manage multiple priorities and relationships simultaneously.
• Leadership & Mentoring: Comfortable acting as a senior resource for colleagues, sharing knowledge, providing guidance, and helping improve team capability.
• Problem Solving & Ownership: Proactive, solutions-oriented, and comfortable working independently with limited supervision while knowing when to escalate appropriately.
• Communication & Collaboration: Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with clients, internal teams, and leadership.
• Confidentiality & Integrity: Demonstrates a high degree of professionalism, discretion, integrity, and confidentiality when handling sensitive payroll and employee information.
• Continuous Learner: Stays current with payroll legislation, CRA guidance, technology, and evolving best practices.
• Entrepreneurial Mindset: Takes initiative, looks for opportunities to improve how work is done, and contributes to AMLB’s growth and service offering.
  
  

THE ATTRACTIONS

• Generous opportunities for career advancement and growth as an expanding organization.
• A trust-based culture that allows you to work from anywhere, with flexible hours and an emphasis on results delivered over hours worked.
• A competitive compensation and bonus structure (plus half-day Fridays in August!).
• The chance to work in a fun, entrepreneurial, and collaborative environment for an organization with a strong growth mandate that embraces innovation and new ideas.
• An employee-focused culture with forward-thinking leadership and an incredible upward trajectory.
• The opportunity to join a diverse, driven, and talented team in a role of significant impact and visibility.
• Ongoing coaching and mentorship from AMLB’s co-founders, who are former Fortune 500 executives, prioritizing learning and collaborative culture.
• Exposure to the latest technology, with autonomy to test and explore new platforms often.
• The opportunity to work with a diverse group of companies, ambitious entrepreneurs, and non-profit executives across Canada, including high-growth start-ups at various stages.
• Comprehensive benefits package, $500 per year for training purposes, hardware/software, and a $250 contribution towards your home office setup.
• An entrepreneurial business where you will have the opportunity to wear many hats, make a real impact, and gain experience using tools that are disrupting the way accounting is done.