Senior Specialist Payroll-CA

CN; Montreal; Hybrid; CAD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

CN is seeking a Payroll Accountant to deliver specialized payroll accounting and compliance for Canadian operations. You will validate time entries, gross earnings, deductions, and vendor remittances, ensuring accurate payrolls for unionized and management staff under tight deadlines.

You will prepare financial data and reports for internal stakeholders and support cross-functional collaboration to align with CN's reporting objectives, while ensuring regulatory compliance with tax authorities.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of progressive payroll and accounting experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance/Commerce/HR; payroll certifications preferred.
• Experience with SAP HR/Payroll and regulatory reporting.

Responsibilities

• Execute Canadian payroll for unionized and management staff, including off-cycle runs.
• Validate data transfers between Time, Payroll systems and third-party remittances.
• Prepare reports and support internal stakeholders with regulatory compliance.
• Coordinate year-end tax slips and liaise with audits and authorities.

Skills

Canadian payroll rules

Bilingual (English & French)

SAP HR/Payroll

Microsoft Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance/Commerce/HR

National Payroll Institute Certification

CPA designation or equivalent

Tools

SAP

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Job Summary

The incumbent delivers specialized payroll accounting and compliance support for Canadian payroll operations. This role is responsible for validating and processing time entries, gross earnings, statutory deductions, and vendor remittances, while ensuring accurate payroll execution for unionized and management employees. The position demands precise and timely payroll disbursements under strict deadlines. In addition, the incumbent prepares financial data and reports for internal stakeholders, supporting cross-functional collaboration and aligning with CN's financial reporting objectives. The role also ensures full compliance with regulatory reporting requirements set by governing bodies such as tax authorities.

Job Summary

The incumbent delivers specialized payroll accounting and compliance support for Canadian payroll operations. This role is responsible for validating and processing time entries, gross earnings, statutory deductions, and vendor remittances, while ensuring accurate payroll execution for unionized and management employees. The position demands precise and timely payroll disbursements under strict deadlines. In addition, the incumbent prepares financial data and reports for internal stakeholders, supporting cross-functional collaboration and aligning with CN's financial reporting objectives. The role also ensures full compliance with regulatory reporting requirements set by governing bodies such as tax authorities.

Main Responsibilities

Execution of Employee Payroll Requirements

• Carry out all processes related to unionized and management payroll processing and off-cycle runs, including special payments
• Ensure accuracy of data transfers between Time system and Payroll system
• Ensure quick resolution of all employees pay disputes
• Investigate employee overpayments and coordinate recovery of funds
• Manage resources to ensure that all employee inquiries are handled on a professional and timely basis

Deductions and Third-Party Vendor Management

• Perform all payroll gross-to-net tasks and third-party remittance processes including final payments to vendors
• Ensure timely issuance of all payments to individual tax authorities and be responsible for tax remittances and audits through adherence to current tax regulations
• Maintain various employee deductions

Reporting and Audits

• Carry out all gross to net Ad Hoc reporting requests from CN stakeholders
• Ensure compliance with Federal, Provincial and state regulations and guidelines.
• Improve queries, report and develop cross-functional reporting solutions
• Continuously identify and recommend improvements for systems, technology, and processes to improve efficiency
• General ledger account analysis and reconciliation
• Coordinate, review and validate year end tax slips
• Ensure timely filing of year end summaries and tax slips
• Coordinate all external audits as requested by Federal and local tax authorities
• Introduce controls that proactively identify errors for both pre- and post-payroll execution and ensure accurate posting of results to CN's General Ledger.

Working Conditions

The role has standard working conditions in an office environment with a regular workweek from Monday to Friday and is eligible to participate in CN's hybrid work model. The role involves managing priorities and delivering work within established timelines, with support from the team to ensure sustainable and effective workload management.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of progressive payroll and accounting experience
• SAP knowledge in using Human Resources, Payroll and Time modules*
• Candidates with an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience will be considered.
• Any requirement marked with (*) will be considered an asset (not mandatory).

Education/Certification/Designation

• Bachelor's Degree Accounting, Finance, Commerce, Human Resources, or similar
• National Payroll Institute Certification and American Payroll Association Designation or equivalent payroll experience*
• Professional Accounting Designation (CPA)*
• Candidates with equivalent practical experience, education, or training will be considered.
• Any requirement marked with (*) will be considered an asset (not mandatory).

Competencies

• We Care About Each Other
• We Strive for Excellence
• We Succeed Together
• We Lead Responsibly
• Vision and strategic thinking
• Impactful and inclusive leadership
• Performance and value delivery
• Empowerment and talent development
• Strategic communication and influence
• Managerial courage and decisiveness
• Listening
• Process optimization
• Compliance
• Stakeholder management
• Build trust

Technical Skills/Knowledge

• Excellent knowledge of Canadian Payroll rules and legislation
• SAP knowledge in Human Resources and Payroll Modules
• Excellent knowledge of accounting practices and procedures, Canadian payroll disciplines and taxation
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Suite (Excel, PowerPoint and Word)
• Fluently Bilingual, both written and verbal (English, French)