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Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014
News CPR
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September 2014 CPR
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September 2014
Embracing change, initiative,
professionalism key to success
Payroll manager Frank Lilley discusses his career, changes in the profession
BY SheilA BrAwn
"Payroll is where things get real." That
is the message payroll manager Frank Lilley
likes to convey to colleagues working in other
areas of Nexen Energy ULC.
Based in Calgary, Lilley is responsible
for managing the payroll for the oil and gas
company's 3,500 employees in Canada, the
United Kingdom and the United States. He
also makes sure the company's employees on
international assignments meet their income
tax obligations here and in their host country.
As a payroll manager, he says it is impor-
tant to ensure people in departments whose
work can affect payroll, such as human re-
sources, pensions, compensation, legal and
corporate, understand how payroll works.
"We try and keep a good relationship with
them so that they think of us when they're
contemplating changes," he says.
Lilley has worked at Nexen for three years.
He started working in payroll in 1993 at
TransAlta. Lilley has also worked in payroll
at Suncor Energy and Petro-Canada.
Lilley came to payroll as a certified general
accountant, having taken business adminis-
tration at school with a major in accounting.
"I asked to be moved to payroll because it ap-
pealed to me," he says.
Lilley says his first experience with pay-
roll occurred in 1979 when he was a student
and helped to run an office one summer.
"I had to do the payroll by myself and the
Revenue Canada taxation guide was all I had
for information to figure out what I was sup-
posed to do in terms of paying people twice a
month," he laughs.
He says having an accounting background
has been beneficial for him.
"Payroll is one of those fields where, most
of the time, it's either in HR or it's in finance/
accounting. It doesn't really perfectly fit in
one or the other, but it impacts both, so for
me it's been helpful that I understand the
financial impact of the payroll function in
terms of where it hits the company in the bal-
ance sheet from a liability and expense per-
spective," he says.
Lilley says one of the things he likes about
payroll is the constant change. "It's never-
ending in terms of what's (new). You need to
be up to date on payroll legislation and regu-
lations."
While there are new procedures to learn,
Lilley says he enjoys the challenge that
change brings.
"That's what I enjoy, having constant new
challenges, new things that need to be im-
plemented and trying to tie things together
see PAYROLL on page 8
NATIONAL PAYROLL WEEK
Canada's payroll professionals are responsible for
ensuring that $860 billion in annual wages and taxable
benefi ts get paid to employees, accurately and on time.
PAYROLL PROFESSIONALS – KEEPING CANADA PAID.
S E P T E M B E R 1 5 - 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 P A Y R O L L . C A • # N P W 2 0 1 4
PAY
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