As a Contracting Relationship Manager my week generally follows a similar pattern. It starts off quiet on a Monday and gets busier every day leading up to Friday when I make 99% of our payments for the week. It's like a race against time, the payments all have to be accurate of course but as well as that I want them done quickly so that my team mates can answer any phone calls with "Yes, you've been paid"!

Today's a Wednesday. We start our day as usual with a team meeting, catching up on anything important that happened the day before and outlining our plans for the day ahead. My contribution doesn't tend to vary too much, Agency A had fewer subcontractors than usual and Agency B had more which prompts the Contractor Liaison Officers (CLOs) in the team to go to work finding out why, making sure all the project/assignment confirmations we have are all up to date and checking whether contracts have ended or if they've just had a holiday and will be due hours again next week. Depending on whether they're employees or self employed subcontractors this could mean that we have holiday entitlement to update.

I've only been away from my desk for 15 minutes but when I get back I've already got e-mails from 6 different agencies asking for invoices. It's nose to the grindstone time! Part of my job is to make sure that any agency that requests an invoice gets one within an hour. It's difficult at times, especially if I get a couple of big or complicated requests through at the same time but I will always do my best and let people know if their invoice is going to take a little longer than usual. On a Wednesday I get invoice requests from 30 - 40 agency clients. Some of these are only requesting an invoice for one person but I always keep my ears open for any hint that there could be more contracts available. We have a friendly little competition going with the other teams on our Operations floor as to which Business Unit has the most contracts out. It means things get quite exciting on a Friday afternoon as the final numbers start coming in!

As soon as I've got a minute I check our bank accounts to find out what payments have come in today and get them calculated and paid out. We don't get many payments during the week but there are usually one or two. Today I have four. Three of them are matched up and paid without any issues but the fourth has been sent into the wrong bank account. I check what's happened and find out that the subcontractor's employment status on this project has changed from Crest Plus Exchange Limited (Umbrella Plus) to C G Construction (CIS Plus). The agency unfortunately didn't have time to update the bank details before they ran their payroll.

Our contracting solutions are totally separate so we have to be very strict as to how we deal with the funds received. If an agency has someone registered as being paid through C G Construction and they're actually paid through Crest Plus Exchange Limited it means that the agency's monthly returns for HMRC could be incorrect and that causes issues at the end of the year. I have to send the money back and request that the agency resend it into the correct bank account. In order to make sure that payment isn't delayed there is paperwork to be authorised and we need to ensure that the agency is kept fully up to date - they have their part to play too so we need to start early.

In between raising and returning invoices I answer any payroll queries which come in. This morning we have had a few calls from subcontractors who've been told by their agency that they will be getting paid today. Unfortunately I haven't had any hours or money through to let me know if that's the case. We get this kind of call quite regularly. Sometimes the money is on the way as a same day transfer and we'll be getting confirmation a little later in the day, sometimes there has been a misunderstanding and no payment is due. It's often the case that the subcontractors have been told that the money has been sent today. This is technically true but it can be a bit confusing as although the money has been sent, it is a BACS transfer which means it won't clear into our account until Friday. I clarify this with the consultant at the agency and let the CLOs know what is happening in case the subcontractors concerned call back.

At about 1 o'clock the post gets sent up from the distribution centre. I deal with anything payroll related including P46s, Jobcentre Plus queries and remittances from all of the different agencies I pay. Funnily enough I always seem to get more post on days when I'm busy!

On Wednesdays we process requested and approved holiday entitlements to ensure payments are credited to bank accounts on Friday.

At about 5pm I go through any outstanding e-mails from the day, make sure I have created all of the invoices and sent them to the correct people, file them all in the correct folders, prepare my "To Do" list ready for action first thing in the morning and get everything set up ready for another busy day tomorrow.

I'll be writing another installment on Friday so you can see the kind of issues I deal with on our main payroll day and until then all I can say is roll on the weekend!