Katrin R. - Interim Payroll Accountant

Darmstadt, Germany

Experience

Jul 2024 - Present

1 year 3 months

Interim Payroll Accountant

In my role as Interim Payroll Accountant, I am responsible for posting the monthly payroll runs for 15 EMEA countries. I review the posting lists, ensure that all payments are executed correctly, and verify that the paid amounts match the recorded liabilities.

Additionally, I correct discrepancies from past years and ensure the proper accounting of special topics such as company cars or benefits in kind.

To optimize the process, I developed a Python script that prepares the posting lists for the SAP system, enabling a more efficient data integration.

Industry: Life Science

Tasks:

Posting payroll runs in SAP
Account reconciliation
Execution and posting of payments

Apr 2024 - May 2024

2 months

Business Analyst

To prepare for autonomous driving in public transportation, an analysis of potential risk scenarios is conducted. For this, a developing data model with its objects and attributes is examined and it is determined which safety-relevant impacts plausibly arise from faulty data.

Industry: Travel & Logistics

Tasks:

Supporting the specialist team in risk analysis
Identifying safety-relevant attributes in the data model
Coordination with stakeholders

Jan 2024 - Feb 2024

2 months

Business Engineer

Designing and further developing an AWS-based service for automated and quality-checked processing of georeferenced data on a map-based visualization component. Analyzing the digital planning process for telecommunication construction projects and implementation planning within our own platform.

Industry: Travel & Logistics

Tasks:

Supporting the technical Product Owner in requirements analysis
Reviewing and further specifying existing requirements
Identifying and eliminating redundant requirements
Refining acceptance criteria based on the gathered requirements
Modeling the specific requirements as a use case diagram
Coordination with stakeholders

Skills:

MapStore
SAFe

Tools:

Atlassian Confluence
Atlassian Jira

Jun 2023 - Present

2 years 4 months

Trainer

In this training, participants not only learn the method but also apply it directly. Together, we turn the vision of a new feature into a user story, which we implement using example mapping and Behavior Driven Development.

As a useful byproduct, we derive automated tests with little effort and write the code using Cucumber and AsciiDoc.

Tasks:

Preparing and conducting a workshop

Feb 2023 - May 2023

4 months

Test Engineer

Haufe-Lexware

Further development of an existing inventory management system, taking into account legal requirements and changed customer demands. Adapting outdated technologies. Expanding test automation.

Tasks:

Participating in product backlog refinements
Refining user stories through example mapping
Developing and executing sprint-related test cases in Gherkin
Conducting exploratory tests
Creating test plans and test collections
Performing release-relevant technical tests as well as system and acceptance tests
Documenting test results
Risk analysis and assessing the impact of defects
Supporting the maintenance of automated test suites

Skills:

Gherkin
C#
Specflow
Behaviour Driven Development
Scrum

Tools:

Visual Studio
Azure DevOps
Microsoft Teams
Miro

Apr 2022 - Dec 2022

9 months

Business Analyst, Quality Assurance, Service Design

Conception and development of a web application for monitoring disturbance detection and visualizing heating systems (system status, system KPIs, time series of measurements) as well as optimization recommendations.

Industry: Energy Services

Responsibilities:

Gathering customer needs through regular interviews
Creating personas and modeling use cases
Supporting the Product Owner in deriving user stories
Refining acceptance criteria based on the collected requirements
Creating a test plan
Deriving functional tests based on quality requirements and gathered acceptance criteria
Conducting manual and automated tests of the web application
Designing a deployment process considering the test strategy

Skills:

Scrum
Cypress
SQL
TypeScript
AsciiDoc
BPMN

Tools:

MS Azure
GitLab
IntelliJ
Visual Studio Code
Atlassian Jira & Confluence

Jun 2021 - Apr 2022

11 months

Business Analyst, Test Manager

Digitalization of administrative services under the Act to Improve Online Access to Administrative Services (Online Access Act). Creation of digital application processes for citizens and businesses. Extension of basic components for processing an OZG case.

Industry: Public Administration

Responsibilities:

Gathering customer needs through regular workshops
Joint analysis and revision of existing requirements
Modeling specific requirements as use cases with quality requirements and acceptance criteria, considering user-centered application design
Analyzing interfaces and transforming data
Defining test cases based on requirements and supporting test execution
Collaborating with responsible bodies to further develop the XGewerbeordnung standard
Designing the implementation of gender-neutral language and accessibility in the application

Skills:

Kanban
UML
BPMN

Tools:

Atlassian Jira
TestRail
Atlassian Confluence

Jan 2017 - Present

8 years 9 months

Business Consultant

Small and medium-sized businesses often lack the expertise and resources to handle their own financial and payroll accounting. For these clients, we provide occasional or ongoing support both in preparing the ongoing bookkeeping and in payroll processing.

Responsibilities:

Maintaining employee master data
Advising on process workflows
Preparing payroll
Communicating with health insurance companies and external bodies
Ongoing financial accounting and preparatory activities for the annual financial statement
Collaboration with tax advisors

Skills:

Master data management
Financial accounting
Payroll processing

Tools:

Lexware Financial Office

Jan 2006 - Dec 2016

11 years

Developer

Development of custom form files for users of the Lexware portfolio. Using the provided scripting language, customer-specific layouts were created for order forms and business reports. Requirement gathering took place in close coordination with users, and implementation followed an agile, iterative approach.

Responsibilities:

Process analysis
Gathering requirements
Documenting requirements
Designing layouts
Iterative implementation of new script files
End-to-end testing on the client system
Adjustments after version updates

Apr 2001 - Dec 2016

15 years 9 months

Business Consultant

Supporting small and medium-sized businesses in optimizing their financial processes. Analyzing business processes and designing a new target state.

Selecting suitable software to model business processes as needed, implementing the software, and training employees.

Responsibilities:

Analyzing existing business processes
Designing the target state
Selecting suitable software to model business processes
Implementing the software (installation, commissioning, training)
Conducting subject matter training on accounting, payroll, and ERP systems
Serving as the point of contact for functional and technical issues
Providing support for application questions (Lexware portfolio)

Summary

I bring over two decades of diverse experience in finance, business analysis, and IT with a strong focus on payroll accounting and process optimization. In my current role as Interim Payroll Accountant, I manage complex salary processes for multiple countries and have successfully automated key tasks through Python scripting, ensuring accuracy and efficiency.

My background includes roles in energy services, public administration, and travel & logistics, where I have honed skills in requirement engineering, testing, and stakeholder management. I am driven by a commitment to reliability and customer focus in every challenge I face.