Carla Joseph, PCP
Elsipogtog – Rexton, NB
Carla Joseph is a payroll professional who is new to the profession and discovering that she loves it.
Carla, along with her colleague Catherine Baxter are the two Financial Officers/Payroll in charge of the Elsipogtog First Nation-Education Authority in New Brunswick. A year ago, Carla assumed this new role when the Elsipogtog First Nation-Education Authority was created as a separate entity.
Prior to that, Carla was a receptionist in various departments, then office manager for Education in Elsipogtog First Nation, where she was born and raised, and has worked all her life. Last September, the school welcomed 300+ of the First Nation’s students ages 4 to 13.
“Before I took on this role, I thought payroll was just about making pay cheques,” Carla says, adding that the National Payroll Institute has been invaluable to her. “When I was starting to take courses to get my PCP designation, I thought ‘Good Lord! It involves all of this?!’ It was more complex than I imagined.”
Despite the fact that payroll can be challenging, Carla really enjoys it. She is not surprised because accounting was her favourite course in high school: she has always loved numbers and in the past also did some accounting work for Elsipogtog First Nation. “I love my job. I have so many more responsibilities now in payroll and it is so rewarding.”
Carla and Catherine manage the payroll for the school’s staff members, including determining and paying different tax remittances, for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous employees who work at the school. “There’s a lot to juggle, but it’s always interesting,” she says, adding that they have to stay on top of areas as varied as CPP increases and sick pay accruals or deductions.
And ensuring that the financial and payroll operations are up to par is very important, she says, adding that she knows she is contributing her best for Elsipogtog First Nation-Education Authority.
Her community is very important to Carla, as her life is entwined with it. Although the pandemic made the school’s first year very challenging, there has been much to celebrate within this past year, with the announcement that the Elsipogtog First Nation was the winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2021. This means the First Nation will receive $250,000 for upgrades to the Chief Young Eagle Recreation Centre, an opportunity to host a National Hockey League preseason game and $10,000 worth of youth hockey equipment.
The announcement, which was made live on Hockey Night in Canada, was greeted with tremendous excitement, says Carla. “It was triumphful! The energy here was unbelievably high!”
Carla knows there’s much more that can be done to improve the conditions in Elsipogtog First Nation, but is gratified that she is helping make a difference.
