Abbey Moran, CPP, is APA’s Region 5 Board of Advisor. She serves as the liaison between APA and local chapters in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Learn more about Abbey with this exclusive Q&A session!
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I was born and raised in Northern Virginia, minutes outside of Washington DC. I’ve been in payroll for almost 20 years, starting with timesheets and scheduling, then making my way to internal auditing and payroll processing. I have worked in a one-person payroll shop all the way to managing payroll teams of 15+ for workers around the globe.
I currently live in my childhood hometown with my husband, Justin, and three daughters, Annabelle, Olivia, and Violet. They keep us busy along with our two dogs and two cats. I take pride in seeing how my career reflects on my family – prankster Annabelle has a never-ending line of payroll puns and they often poll me about how payroll and taxes work for school projects. Most recently, they have enjoyed becoming honorary “NPW Fairies” helping me set up surprise celebrations for my team during National Payroll Week.
How long have you been involved with APA and local chapters?
I have been a member of APA since 2007 when my manager (hi Stacey!) sent me to the APA’s Payroll Practice Essentials and Garnishments Forum courses. I was blown away by my instructor – the legendary Nora Daly. Her confidence and extensive knowledge of everything payroll sparked something inside of me. I wanted to be on that level of subject matter expertise but didn’t know where to begin.
My opportunity came in 2010 when Congress was in Washington DC. My manager (hi Kristi!) insisted I attend. I’ll admit, since it was my first Congress experience, I didn’t know what to expect. There were thousands of people, all doing the same job I was, with the same intention of learning as much as they could to be the best payroll professional they could be. The entire experience took my breath away, and I was hooked. I signed up to volunteer for the APA’s Hotline Referral Service shortly after the conference.
Since that first Congress, I have had the honor and privilege to serve in many more areas. Some of my favorite experiences have been with the Government Relations Task Force subcommittee for Child Support and Garnishments, co-chairing the Strategic Payroll Leadership Task Force subcommittee for Best Practices, joining the National Speaker’s Bureau, and the Certification Item Development Task Force.
On a local level, I am also a member of the Washington Metropolitan Area Chapter (WMAC), currently serving in my 2nd year as President. I have been a member since 2009 and have volunteered on many committees, including Community Outreach and National Promotions, planning National Payroll Week and Chapter of the Year (COTY) activities.
I also help with the annual Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference. Right now, I work on the monthly newsletter, but in past years I have helped with speakers and the conference theme/social committees.
The life experiences, knowledge gained, and friendships developed from my involvement with the APA have been invaluable. If you’re not volunteering…why not? Trust me when I say it sounds more intimidating than it actually is. If you ever have questions about volunteering, please reach out to someone. I’m more than happy to answer questions and I know that goes for most of us currently volunteering.
What goal would you like to achieve as a Regional Advisor?
My goal as a Regional Advisor is to help the chapters in Region 5 achieve their goals. Each chapter is unique in their own way, but we face many of the same challenges. I love seeing the collaboration as we all work together to come up with ideas.
What advice would you like to give to the chapters in your region?
We are here to help! I keep hearing about chapters across the U.S. facing the same challenges – membership, attendance at chapter events, participating in APA contests. You are not alone, there is a huge community out there to network with. Some of the best ideas arise when we put our heads together.
Secondly, enter the chapter contests! The annual Chapter of the Year Contest was recently revamped to make it easier for chapters to participate, and to put focus on what your chapter has accomplished. It’s not the size of your chapter that matters, it’s the hard work, dedication, and FUN that you bring to the table. I’ll even help you with your entries!
Are you a proud chapter leader in Region 5? Introduce yourself to Abbey in the comments or send her an email.
Abbey Moran, CPP began her 2-year term as the Region 5 Board of Advisor in May 2018.
