Deborah Ann Van Coppenhagen

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

I am a highly accomplished and driven Payroll Manager with extensive experience within the freight transport, construction, wholesale and manufacturing industries. Providing professional service ensuring payroll delivery, excellent customer service, and meeting agreed SLAs are a top priority for me. I have a soundtrack record of interpreting financial information and managing payroll functions, including payroll clearing accounts, payments to third parties, payroll costing, budgeting, cash forecasting, and reporting, and successfully participating in internal and external audits.

Exceptional understanding of legislative and technical payroll policies and procedures and the ability to identify payroll-related risks to the business, documenting and formalizing mitigations for the identified risks. I am a strong leader who guides and couches her team to ensure optimal performance to meet business objectives. A strategic and analytical individual with strong problem-solving, business communication and people management skills, possessing the ability to work in a highly pressurized environment maintaining attention to detail and quality.

My aim is to maximize my expertise by utilizing my experience and education to add value to a reputable organization.

PAYROLL MANAGER 

TRANSNET PORT TERMINALS | MAY 2006 – FEB 2019 

• Responsible for the accurate and timeous payment of salaries for a staff complement of approximately 10 000 employees.
• I was an A Signatory on the Transnet Port Terminals Bank Account – Releasing all payroll-related payments as well as the payments due to Creditors (reviewed recons for creditors and approved for payment).
• Manage and lead the payroll team on a daily basis to ensure the delivery of an effective and accurate payroll service.
• Develop the payroll team to improve their knowledge of basic payroll principles, legislation and Company policies, and procedures.
• Payroll reconciliations and journals as required.
• Develop, implement and manage administrative and payroll processes and policies in order to ensure the most efficient procedures and ensure all staff adhere to protocol and required standards.

• Prepare the leave pay provision and relevant monthly accruals.
• Provide support to the Finance department in relation to payroll costing, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting.
• Identify and implement improvements in processes, controls and procedures. 
• Prepare Human Capital budget.
• Manage the internal and external audits and attend briefing and closeout meetings with auditors. 
• Ensure continuous process improvement through root-cause analysis. 
• Identify payroll-related risks to the business, document and formalize mitigations for the identified risks. 
• Implement corrective actions related to audit findings to minimize losses associated with non-compliance, internal controls, frameworks, and legislative requirements. 

• Ensure compliance with statutory requirements, specifically as it relates to payroll, tax, retirement funding, LRA, BCEA.
• Ensure payroll compliance with wage agreements and legislation to relevant to HR/payroll policies.
• Ensure the successful and timeous rollout of payroll projects.
• Partner with the HR Admin Department to ensure alignment between the payroll Finance and the HR Departments.
• Prepare monthly, quarterly and year-end management reports. 
• Ensure employee queries are swiftly resolved.
• Knowledge of general finance policies.
• Performance management of reporting staff in the Salary Division.
• Third party payments.
• Facilitate 3rd party query resolution and account handling

• Ongoing optimization of SAP payroll and HR modules to keep abreast with legislation changes.
• Provide support to users and Train users.
• Test changes in QA and in production to ensure that change requests meet the requirements.
• Ensure Sap HCM is updated with the latest patch level.
• Liaise with SAP HCM and FI consultants and IT.
• Train all HR administrators on new developments and changes to the SAP system.
• Audit HR users and SAP data integrity.

• Ensure compliance through the payroll and HR systems.
• Manage the annual and bi-annual PAYE reconciliations process for SARS and review the IRP 5 certificates to be issued.
• Manage tax directive applications.
• Manage AA88 SARS deductions.
• Prepare and submit monthly EMP 201, annual EMP 501 
• Reconcile IRP 5’s for both bi-annual and annual submissions to SARS. 
• Provide tax-efficient remuneration structures in accordance with SARS regulations.

• Submit the annual employee earning’s to the Workmen’s Compensation Fund – (COIDA) for assessment.

• Manage all benefit claims and withdrawals.
• Administer all Company benefit plans.
• Ensure approved benefits are implemented correctly and timeously.
• Pension, Provident and Group Life rules.

• Matric
• Diploma - Bookkeeping
• Certificate - HR Management