Elaine Cromwell

As the only voluntary accreditation on the market to be developed in partnership with HMRC, the scheme is designed to identify risks to a business arising from skills gaps or inadequate processes and is a significant accolade for payroll teams once accreditation has been achieved.

The firm is amongst only a handful of independent accountancy practices to have completed the rigorous assessment that aims to ‘raise compliance standards through payroll procedures in the profession’.

Headed by partner Elaine Cromwell, the firm’s BACS-approved Payroll Bureau sits within their Outsourced Finance division. The department has grown over recent years, with 11 dedicated staff looking after the payroll needs of 500 businesses.

The assessors examined 23 separate areas of the business relating to payroll and staff including core processes; data security; onboarding and development plans to identify evidence of good practice and to ensure Thomson Cooper was operating at sufficiently high standards to qualify for accreditation.

Ms Cromwell said: “We are proud that our business has passed such intense scrutiny and is now recognised as a PAS Bureau. Thanks to my whole team who worked exceptionally hard to achieve the PAS accreditation.

“We share the Institute’s drive to raise recognition of the payroll profession and the value the profession delivers to businesses and public life, especially when dealing with issues like furlough.

“More business owners than ever are outsourcing their payroll due to increasing legislation and regulation and need to be confident their provider can deliver a compliant and reliable service. We believe the PAS accreditation provides clients with the reassurance that we will deliver an industry-leading responsive, accurate payroll service of the highest quality.”