Jill Knutson
Jill Knutson is a Senior Consultant/Analyst at CGI, where she supports a government payroll implementation project for the City and County of Honolulu. In this role, she focuses on payroll compliance, system implementation, garnishments, and training, helping ensure accurate and standardized payroll operations within the public sector. Her work requires strong attention to detail, problem-solving skills, and the ability to guide stakeholders through complex regulatory and system changes.
With nearly four decades of experience in payroll and human resources operations, Jill has built a career spanning healthcare, corporate, and government environments. Her previous roles include Payroll Consultant positions at PayTech and payroll leadership at HCA, where she oversaw large, multi-state payroll operations across hospitals and healthcare systems. She has extensive experience managing payroll for thousands of employees, developing standardized policies, and training teams on systems such as Kronos and other enterprise payroll platforms.
Jill earned her academic background in marketing from the University of Wyoming and holds the Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) credential, which she has maintained for over 25 years. Throughout her career, she has become especially passionate about training, mentoring, and building efficient payroll systems that support both compliance and organizational success. Known for her logical approach and resilience under pressure, Jill continues to contribute her expertise to complex payroll transformations while helping others grow in the field.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP)
• From Excel to SQL
• University of Wyoming
• American Payroll Association (APA)
What do you attribute your success to?
I think my success really comes down to the opportunities that were given to me throughout my career. The crazy thing is how I got started in payroll. I was actually hired by a skilled nursing facility in San Diego to bill Medicaid for them, and the second week there, the office manager overheard me telling a colleague that I had taken accounting classes. Next thing I know, she's calling me into her office saying she's going to have me learn payroll. From payroll, it moved into accounts payable, and I was posting everything in the general ledger. The GL book was about six inches thick back then because it was all manual. It was just a matter of opportunities that came along, and people saw that I understood payroll, that I had some leadership capabilities, and that I was able to get people to listen so I could also train. In 2000, when the APA started offering certifications, I went and got certified as a CPP, and I've been certified for 25 years plus now. I've worked for different companies with different sizes, and I've overseen payroll for HCA hospitals across Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The fun part for me in payroll now is actually the training. I did a lot of training when I lived in Denver and worked for HCA. I was in the hospitals training Kronos, and I wrote policies for on-call and callback that all the hospitals agreed to. I'm a very logical thinker, and to me, accounting's very logical, so that helped. I also make sure to take care of myself by going to the gym to relieve stress. I work out with a trainer, and I played a lot of sports. I'm from a big family as the baby of eight kids, and I go home to Colorado a lot because family and my close friends are very important to me, especially after we lost both our parents.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice she ever received came from a college professor who encouraged her to pursue accounting, a suggestion that ultimately guided her toward a successful and fulfilling career in payroll and financial compliance.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Pay attention to the detail. That's what the payroll world's all about. But also, be able to listen to people coming into payroll, because most of the time, payroll gets blamed for stuff that is really garbage in, garbage out. We process what we're given from the managers. If the managers forget to give us a week's worth of vacation on a timesheet or whatever, then that person's not going to get paid for that. But payroll has to learn to listen and not react to the anger that's coming in the door. You gotta have thick skin, you gotta be able to listen, but pay attention to the detail. You're gonna fail to do payroll if you don't. Really, when it comes to listening, that's how you find where the problem lies.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges and opportunities in her field include bringing public-sector payroll systems—specifically for the City and County of Honolulu—into full compliance, correcting pay stub and deduction configurations, and successfully implementing a new payroll platform. A key focus also involves training the local payroll team on garnishment rules and compliance standards to ensure long-term accuracy and sustainability.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to her in both work and personal life center on family, along with a strong commitment to attention to detail, active listening, mentoring and training others, and maintaining resilience in the face of challenges.