More than a salary guide: what I found most interesting in this year’s findings

Written and published originally for the CIPP Professional Magazine October-November 2026 Edition

By Gemma Creamer, Director

Every year I look forward to the Payroll Salary Guide being published, and the 2026/27 edition is one we’re particularly proud of. Nearly 600 payroll professionals shared their experiences with us, giving over 1,700 salary data points when combined with our own placement data. That level of participation means the guide gives a genuine snapshot of what is happening in payroll market right now.

Whilst it is called a ‘Salary Guide’, it’s also a lot more than a set of salary tables. The guide covers hiring trends, working patterns, benefits, qualifications and technology, so it’s useful whichever side of the market you’re on. If you’re a payroll professional, it can help you understand your worth, compare your package and think about your next step. If you’re a business, it helps you benchmark pay, understand what candidates value and plan your hiring with more confidence. We’re also proud to have worked with the CIPP on articles for this year’s guide, which brings an extra layer of insight from the heart of the profession.

Here are a few of the things that stood out to me:

Payroll hiring has become more considered

Speaking to hiring managers every day, the recruitment findings in the guide resonated. More than half of respondents recruited at least one payroll professional in the past year, broadly the same as last year, however what has changed in recent months is confidence. When the survey ran in early 2026, only 22% of employers expected to hire in the next six months, down from 42% the year before.

That matches what I saw in conversations earlier in the year: tighter budgets, longer processes and a real reluctance to get a hire wrong. What I find encouraging is that the market has shown signs of stabilising since then. The guide looks at what that means for employers, including where temporary and interim support fits and why some specialist skills remain difficult to find, and how to manage those hiring challenges.

Salaries for payroll have settled, but not everywhere

After years of movement, pay has steadied across much of the UK, with most increases close to inflation. For professionals, that makes the wider package, including flexibility, development and benefits, more important than ever. For employers, salary alone is less likely to be what sets them apart.

There are exceptions worth knowing about, though. Some regions and roles bucked the trend, and leadership roles continued to attract a premium, with Head of Payroll seeing the largest uplift of any executive role for the second year running. The data also brings out some of the finer detail behind senior pay, particularly the growing influence of qualifications and company size as responsibility increases, plus the premiums that specialist skills can command.

AI in payroll: a trend we can finally track

Everyone in payroll is talking about AI, and a second year of data means we can now show how that conversation is developing rather than a single snapshot. The share of respondents using or testing AI has risen from 25.5% to 31.2%, although most teams are still exploring rather than fully committing. The tools people are choosing have also shifted noticeably in a single year, which I didn’t expect.

Growing interest hasn’t made anyone less careful, though. Data security and compliance remain the biggest concern, and more people raised them this year than last. That feels right to me for a profession built on accuracy and trust: open to what AI can do, but careful about how it’s introduced.

Take a look at the payroll salary guide for yourself

The full Payroll salary guide 2026|2027 includes permanent, temporary, executive and international salary tables, alongside insights on benefits, overtime and the future talent pipeline. Whether you’re reviewing pay, planning to hire or thinking about your own next move, I hope you find it as useful as I do. And if you’d like to talk through what it means for you or your team, my team & I always happy to have a chat.