Troy Markusson is a global payroll executive who has led large-scale global payroll implementations, supported top-tier clients at ADP, and spent the last five years helping companies (from multi-national to public sector clients) transform payroll operations. A passionate "payroll nerd," Markusson serves as an advisory board member on Chime Workplace's Payroll Advisory Council, partnering with other payroll leaders to influence the future of payroll solutions. He's been featured by Global Payroll Magazine, HR.com, and the It's About Payroll podcast.
Half of 2026 is already behind us, and some of the year's biggest payroll events have come and gone. PayrollOrg's 44th Annual Payroll Congress, the largest payroll conference in the world, drew more than 1,800 professionals to Nashville in May (including us!), and the Capital Summit put practitioners in the same room as the IRS, Department of Labor, and Social Security Administration back in March. But the payroll calendar is far from over.
The fall lineup is packed, with national events like the Payroll Leaders Conference, EIPC, and HR Tech alongside statewide conferences running from California to New England—all arriving as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reshapes federal withholding, paid family and medical leave keeps expanding state by state, and AI moves from pilot to production across HCM platforms.
This roundup covers the rest of the 2026 payroll calendar, from PayrollOrg's national events to the statewide chapter conferences where the most granular compliance guidance tends to surface.
The list is ordered by date, starting with the events coming up next.
The conferences that have already taken place this year appear at the end, with 2027 dates where organizers have announced them, so you can start building next year's calendar now.
Virtual and international options are included throughout, along with registration info, official links, and social channels where events have published them.
Note that registration deadlines for 2026 events are coming up; check websites for cutoff dates so you don’t miss the chance to attend your top pick(s).
As event details may change, check the official website for each conference for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
National payroll conferences
Payroll Forward
September 10, 2026 · Chime NYC HQ, New York City & Virtual
Payroll Forward is Chime WorkplaceTM's hybrid summit for senior payroll leaders, now in its second year. The 2026 edition, themed "Write What's Next: AI, Innovation & the Leaders Shaping What Comes Next," takes place the afternoon of Thursday, September 10, drawing roughly 50 in-person attendees at Chime's brand-new office on Fifth Avenue in New York City, plus a broader virtual audience.
The roughly 3.5-hour program spans three sessions:
The AI-Enabled Payroll Function: where AI is actually delivering value in payroll today
The Rise of the Chief Payroll Officer: presenting the case for elevating payroll to the C-suite
The Art of Storytelling: the communications framework for making that case internally
The event is tied to Chime's 30x30 movement, which aims to elevate 30 payroll professionals to Chief Payroll Officer roles by 2030.
🔔 Sign up to be notified as soon as registration (to attend in person or virtually) is live at chiefpayrollofficer.com.
Who should attend: Payroll leaders (directors, VPs, managers) exploring AI adoption in their function, practitioners building a business case for elevating payroll's seat at the leadership table, and payroll professionals who want practical frameworks for AI use cases and executive communication.
Why it matters: Payroll Forward is Chime Workplace’s flagship push to reposition payroll as a strategic, C-suite function rather than a back-office one. It brings candid and timely conversations around AI, professional leadership, and the future of payroll, equipping attendees with tools they can act on immediately.
The focused format and intimate community aspect make the most of gathering with likeminded professionals in a welcoming, metropolitan setting (or even more turnkey, online).
Plus, the one-day agenda is easier to justify than a longer-commitment event.
Not able to attend? You can still sign up to join the 1,000-member strong 30x30 community for access to industry-insider resources, payroll-oriented events, and more.
Payroll Leaders Conference (PLC)
September 14–16, 2026 · Kimpton Santo San Antonio – Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX
The Payroll Leaders Conference is PayrollOrg's leadership development event. Attendees choose one of four certificate programs offered in 2026 (Payroll System Selection and Implementation, Strategic Payroll Practices, The Art and Science of Building Strong Vendor Alliances, and Managing Payroll Operations Across the Globe) alongside three general sessions, a networking reception, and the annual Payroll Prism Awards luncheon, which recognizes payroll departments for excellence in management, processes, and technology. Program details and registration are on PayrollOrg's Payroll Leaders Conference page.
Who should attend: Payroll managers and directors building leadership and analytics skills, aspiring payroll leaders, and shared-services leaders responsible for payroll teams.
Why it matters: PLC is the only national payroll conference focused on the management side of the profession, including leading teams, building analytics capability, and developing the next generation of payroll leadership, rather than compliance content alone.
Virtual Payroll Congress
On-demand: through October 9, 2026 · Virtual
PayrollOrg's Virtual Congress is the online companion to the in-person Payroll Congress. It runs as a one-day live program on July 9, with on-demand access to recorded sessions through early October. The program includes a curated subset of the in-person workshops plus a virtual expo. Anyone registered for the in-person Congress receives Virtual Congress complimentary; standalone registration is also available at ebiz.payroll.org. PayrollOrg posts updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Who should attend: Payroll professionals who couldn't make Nashville, distributed payroll teams who want broad access without the travel cost, and managers extending Congress content to staff who didn't attend in person.
Why it matters: Virtual Congress is the most cost-effective way to keep an entire payroll team current on PayrollOrg's annual content. It's particularly useful for managers building a training plan around the most-attended sessions from the in-person event.
PayrollOrg hosts a comprehensive schedule of virtual and in-person educational events throughout the year, covering topics such as payroll compliance, legislation, technology, leadership, and operational excellence. In addition to its flagship annual conferences, these events provide payroll professionals with ongoing opportunities to stay current on industry developments, earn continuing education credits, and connect with peers across the profession. The current event calendar is available at payroll.org.
October 18–21, 2026 · Hyatt Regency Columbus, Columbus, OH
EIPC is PayrollOrg's annual conference for payroll professionals working in higher education. The four-day program addresses compliance and operational issues unique to colleges and universities, including nonresident alien tax compliance, multi-state taxation, fringe benefit rules specific to higher education, overpayment corrections, termination and deceased-employee pay, 1042-S reporting, and payroll analytics. The 2026 edition is confirmed for the Hyatt Regency Columbus. Program details and registration are at PayrollOrg's EIPC page.
Who should attend: Payroll and tax professionals at public and private colleges and universities, higher education HR and finance partners, and vendors supporting higher education payroll operations.
Why it matters: Higher education payroll has its own compliance vocabulary (student employment, scholarships, foreign national taxation, retirement plan complexity) and EIPC is the only national PayrollOrg conference built specifically around it.
HR Technology Conference & Exposition
October 20–22, 2026 · Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
HR Tech isn't a payroll-only event, but for payroll leaders evaluating HCM platforms, payroll service providers, or AI-powered compliance tools, it's the largest HR technology expo in the world. The 2026 program centers on the human-AI workforce, with keynotes from senior HR executives at major enterprises and sessions covering payroll automation, predictive analytics, and integrated workforce planning. Full-conference passes include the HR Tech Expo and the Women in HR Technology Summit, and attendees can earn SHRM, HRCI, and HRIP credits. Official pass pricing is published on the registration page. The event's longstanding hashtag is #HRTechConf, and details are at hrtechnologyconference.com.
Who should attend: Payroll leaders involved in HCM or payroll platform selection, HRIS managers, payroll technology buyers, and any payroll professional whose 2027 priorities include AI, automation, or platform consolidation.
Why it matters: HR Tech is where payroll product roadmaps get previewed and where buyers can compare HCM, payroll, and compliance platforms side by side in a few days. The expo floor consistently includes 400-plus exhibitors, more than any other event in the people technology space.
Statewide payroll conferences
Many of the most actionable payroll compliance sessions of the year happen at PayrollOrg local chapter conferences, not at national ones. State-level events typically run one to three days and cover state income tax updates, local tax changes, garnishment law shifts, paid family and medical leave rollouts, and agency interpretations specific to that state. For multi-state employers, attending two or three statewide conferences a year often pays for itself in avoided compliance corrections.
The events below are listed chronologically; PayrollOrg maintains a running directory of registered chapter events that's worth checking as additional 2026 dates are confirmed.
Ohio Conference for Payroll Professionals
August 20–21, 2026 · The Ohioan Hotel and Event Center, Lewis Center, OH
Hosted by the Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky PayrollOrg chapter under the theme “Fall Breeze, Stress Free Payroll Please”, the Ohio Conference for Payroll Professionals is a two-day program covering federal updates and Ohio-specific compliance, in a state where municipal income tax complexity gives local payroll teams more jurisdiction-level work than almost anywhere else in the country. Details are at ohiopayrollconference.org.
Who should attend: Ohio-based payroll professionals, multi-state employers with Ohio workforces, and payroll teams managing Ohio's municipal tax landscape.
Florida Statewide Payroll Conference
August 26–28, 2026 · Marriott Jacksonville Downtown, Jacksonville, FL
Running under the theme “Sun, Sand and Strategy,” the Florida Statewide Payroll Conference is hosted by the Jacksonville Chapter of PayrollOrg and brings together practitioners from across the state for an education-heavy, conversation-rich program. Sessions typically cover tax compliance, FLSA issues, year-end planning, and HR-adjacent topics, with recertification credits available. Details are at jaxpayroll.org.
Who should attend: Florida-based payroll professionals, payroll managers, and senior specialists who want actionable tactics over big-stage keynotes, and multi-state employers with Florida operations.
Illinois Statewide Payroll Conference
August 27–28, 2026 · Chicago Marriott Schaumburg, Schaumburg, IL
Hosted by the Chicago Chapter of PayrollOrg under the theme “PAYROLL: The Greatest Show”, the 32nd Annual Illinois Statewide Payroll Conference is a two-day event covering Illinois-specific payroll compliance, federal updates relevant to Illinois employers, and a vendor fair with state agency participation. Attendees earn recertification credits and gain practical, working-level guidance on issues that often don't make it into national agendas: Chicago's local payroll taxes, state-specific garnishment rules, and Illinois Department of Revenue interpretations. Registration is at chicagopayroll.com.
Who should attend: Illinois-based payroll professionals, multi-state employers with Illinois workforces, and any payroll team navigating Chicago-area local tax complexity.
Oklahoma Statewide Payroll Conference
August 28, 2026 · Grand Casino, Shawnee, OK
Hosted by Oklahoma Payroll Org (OPAYO), this one-day statewide event packs education and networking into a focused format, ideal for lean payroll teams who want concentrated learning without a full week away. Details are at oklahomapayroll.org.
Who should attend: Oklahoma payroll practitioners, payroll leads who wear multiple hats, and small teams looking for cost-efficient compliance education close to home.
Texas Payroll Conference
September 16–19, 2026 · The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, The Woodlands, TX
The 37th Annual Texas Payroll Conference, themed “Back to the Basics,” is the largest statewide payroll event in Texas. The multi-day program combines educational sessions, a vendor exhibit area, and dedicated networking time for payroll practitioners, accountants, HR professionals, and adjacent industry experts. Approximately 150 first-time attendees join each year, alongside a substantial returning audience from across the state. Registration is attxpayrollconference.org, and the conference posts updates on LinkedIn.
Who should attend: Texas-based payroll professionals, payroll leaders at multi-state employers with significant Texas operations, payroll tax specialists handling Texas-specific compliance, and HR and finance partners supporting Texas payroll teams.
Georgia Statewide Payroll Conference
September 24–25, 2026 · Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center, Atlanta, GA
Hosted by the Greater Atlanta Payroll Association under the theme “Payroll in Harmony: Empowering People Through Technology,” the Georgia Statewide Payroll Conference is a two-day program for payroll professionals across the Southeast, combining compliance education with a technology-forward agenda. Details are at gapayroll.org.
Who should attend: Georgia-based payroll professionals, multi-state employers with Southeast workforces, and payroll teams evaluating technology alongside compliance training.
Wisconsin Payroll Statewide Conference
September 24–25, 2026 · Embassy Suites Brookfield, Brookfield, WI
Hosted by the Greater Milwaukee PayrollOrg Chapter under the theme “Payroll: A Season of Change!”, this two-day conference offers payroll education with a strong local practitioner network. It's a solid environment for improving the human systems behind payroll: training, communication, internal controls, and issue prevention. Details are at milwaukeepayrollorg.com.
Who should attend: Wisconsin payroll managers, HR/payroll liaisons, and teams focused on reducing exceptions and building stable workflows.
Iowa Statewide Payroll Conference
September 25, 2026 · Des Moines, IA
PayrollOrg of Greater Iowa hosts this one-day statewide event under the theme “Payroll: Powered by People.” The compact format makes it one of the most accessible compliance education options in the region. Event details are listed on the PayrollOrg of Greater Iowa website.
Who should attend: Iowa payroll practitioners and Midwest payroll teams looking for a low-cost, single-day compliance-update experience.
Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference
October 1–2, 2026 · Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park, Falls Church, VA
Themed “The Payroll Labyrinth” for 2026, the Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference is the marquee chapter event for payroll professionals across Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The two-day program emphasizes regional compliance: tri-state withholding, federal-contractor payroll requirements, and the cluster of paid leave programs that have emerged across the Mid-Atlantic. Plus, federal updates and recertification-eligible workshops. The conference also presents the Payroll Professional of the Year award and the Memorial Educational Grant. Find details at vspc-apa.com.
Who should attend: Payroll professionals in Virginia, Maryland, and the DC metro region, federal contractors with payroll teams in the area, and multi-state employers with workforces concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic.
California Payroll Conference
October 21–23, 2026 · The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa, Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area), CA
Themed “Our Future's Bright! Join the Vision,” the California Payroll Conference is the state's premier payroll event. Organizers describe 39 years of bringing California's payroll community together, with record attendance in 2025. The multi-track program combines workshops, networking with payroll industry experts, and a vendor expo showcasing payroll products and service providers; attendees register for a track in advance, and sessions can fill up.
For payroll teams, California is arguably the most demanding compliance state in the country: daily overtime, meal and rest premiums, aggressive wage statement enforcement, and a steady stream of new legislation. All of which makes a California-specific agenda unusually valuable. Registration is at californiapayroll.org, and the conference posts updates on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Who should attend: California-based payroll professionals, payroll leaders at multi-state employers with California workforces, and compliance specialists responsible for the state's wage and hour rules.
Why it matters: No state generates more payroll compliance risk per employee than California. A conference built entirely around that landscape, with state agency participation and a practitioner community that has dealt with the same audits and penalties, delivers guidance national events can only summarize.
New England Payroll Conference
October 22–23, 2026 · Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel, Portsmouth, NH
The 33rd Annual New England Payroll Conference is an established regional event built around education, networking, and community, with social activities and wellness-focused session offerings added for 2026. It's especially useful for payroll teams navigating the dense cluster of New England paid leave programs and multi-state withholding across six closely packed states. Registration is at nepaycon.org.
Who should attend: Payroll practitioners and managers across New England, and multi-state employers with workforces spread across the region's six states.
New Jersey Statewide Payroll Conference
October 23, 2026 · Hilton Garden Inn, Springfield, NJ
Hosted by the Central Jersey Chapter under the theme “Payroll in Motion: Staying Compliant in Times of Change,” this one-day statewide conference covers New Jersey-specific compliance (a state with its own family leave insurance, disability programs, and aggressive wage enforcement) alongside federal updates. Details are atnjstatewidepayrollconf.org.
Who should attend: New Jersey payroll professionals and tri-state-area employers managing New Jersey's layered leave and disability programs.
October 29–30, 2026 · Hyatt Regency, Bloomington, MN
The Northstar Chapter's annual statewide conference, themed “Fall Into Payroll” for 2026, serves Minnesota's payroll community with two days of education and networking—timely in a state rolling out its new paid family and medical leave program. Details are at the Northstar Chapter website.
Who should attend: Minnesota payroll professionals and multi-state employers preparing for the state's paid leave implementation.
Carolinas Payroll Conference
November 4-7, 2026 · Embassy Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC
The 38th Annual Carolinas Payroll Conference, themed “Don't Fumble Your Payroll” for 2026, is jointly organized by PayrollOrg chapters across North and South Carolina to build a regional network of certified payroll professionals and provide multi-day training with vendor exhibits. Exact dates and registration are posted at carolinaspayrollconference.org.
Who should attend: Payroll professionals across North and South Carolina, and Southeast employers who want multi-day regional training in a relaxed oceanfront setting.
International and virtual payroll conferences
For teams managing global payroll, the 2026 calendar includes several strong options beyond the U.S. circuit. And for teams without travel budget, there are a few remote-friendly conferences to consider attending. PayrollOrg's Virtual Payroll Congress (July 9, covered above) remains the most accessible entry point, and the virtual, Europe-based events below extend that reach internationally.
CIPP Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE)
October 7–8, 2026 · The Celtic Manor Resort, Wales, UK
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals' Annual Conference and Exhibition is the largest payroll conference and exhibition in the United Kingdom, covering payroll, pensions, and reward management, with strong content on global mobility and cross-border compliance. Recent editions have drawn more than 600 delegates and over 40 exhibitors. Details are at cipp.org.uk, with updates on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Who should attend: Payroll leaders with UK employees, global payroll managers handling internationally mobile workers, and U.S. teams expanding into the UK or Europe.
Global Payroll Association events
Throughout 2026 · Virtual and in-person (Europe)
The Global Payroll Association runs virtual and in-person events throughout the year focused on cross-border payroll, multi-country compliance, and global payroll operations—a useful ongoing option for teams that can't anchor global training to a single annual conference. The current calendar is atglobalpayrollassociation.com.
Who should attend: Global payroll managers, shared-services leaders running multi-country payroll, and vendors serving international payroll operations.
How to make the most of a payroll conference
Registration and travel are the easy part. Most of the return on a conference comes from intentional planning for what happens before, during, and after the event. Payroll leaders who consistently get value out of these conferences tend to follow a similar pattern.
Make the business case to your manager
Of course, before you can pack your bags, most practitioners will need to convince their company/boss/leadership to green-light them going, especially if travel is involved. Getting approval to attend a payroll conference often comes down to one thing: showing your leader the return. Before you ask, build a quick case around three angles:
Strategic sessions: Identify two or three agenda topics that map directly to your team's current priorities or pain points, and name them specifically.
Networking value: Payroll conferences draw decision-makers from companies navigating the same challenges you are; the peer conversations in the hallways often yield more actionable intel than anything on a slide.
Post-conference ROI: Commit to a debrief covering a short summary of what you learned, vendor comparisons, or one process improvement you'll bring back. Framing the ask as an investment with a defined output makes it easier for your manager to say yes, and gives you something to point to when it pays off.
Before the conference
Build a plan tied to your team's actual priorities. Start with the two or three payroll problems that are open on your desk right now, such as multi-state withholding, paid leave compliance, year-end planning, a platform migration, or a new garnishment process, and use those to filter the agenda. A plan tied to specific work decisions is far more useful than a plan built around topic interest.
Pre-select the sessions that map to those problems. Most conference agendas release four to six weeks in advance. Block your schedule the same week the agenda drops, while the strong sessions still have seats. Flag a primary and a backup for each time slot so you have an option if a room fills up or a session disappoints in the first 10 minutes.
Identify the vendors you want to speak to before you arrive. Walk the exhibitor list ahead of time and mark the five to ten vendors whose products are on your evaluation list, are already in your stack, or solve a problem you're actively scoping. Book meetings with them in advance rather than relying on the expo floor; the best vendor conversations happen in scheduled 20-minute sessions, not in passing on the way to lunch.
Set two or three specific learning goals. “Understand the operational implications of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for our Q4 close” is a usable goal. “Increase my payroll knowledge” is harder to focus around. The more specific the goal, the easier it is to evaluate sessions against it on site.
If you're sending a team, divide and conquer. Two people sitting in the same session is a missed opportunity. Assign sessions across the team based on each person's role and development needs, and plan a 30-minute end-of-day debrief so everyone benefits from everyone else's sessions.
During the conference
Stick to the plan, but leave room for serendipity. Block one or two open windows each day for hallway conversations, follow-up vendor meetings, and the inevitable session swap. Payroll professionals consistently report that some of their best takeaways come from unplanned conversations between sessions, but only if there's room in the schedule for them.
Take notes in a format you'll actually revisit. A shared document organized by topic (compliance updates, vendor evaluations, peer contacts, follow-up items) is more useful three months later than a notebook full of session-by-session bullet points. Capture action items separately from notes so they don't get buried.
Treat the expo floor like research, not shopping. Before approaching a vendor, know what you're trying to learn: pricing model, implementation timeline, integration with your existing systems, customer references in your industry. Vendors who can't answer those questions in a focused conversation usually can't answer them later either.
Collect peer contacts intentionally. Payroll professionals at companies your size, in your industry, or running the platform you're considering are often the most valuable people in the room. A short conversation followed by a LinkedIn connection within 24 hours converts far better than a stack of business cards collected and forgotten.
Attend at least one session outside your immediate scope. The payroll profession rewards breadth. A manager who understands global payroll, analytics, or AI applications well enough to ask the right questions has a meaningful advantage over one who stays narrowly in compliance. Use the conference to cover ground you can't easily cover at the office.
After the conference
Debrief within a week. Memory fades quickly, and so does momentum. A short written summary, e.g. three things you learned, two things to action, one thing to bring back to the team, is more useful than a long report nobody reads. Share it with your manager and your team.
Convert action items into work. The clearest sign of a wasted conference is a notebook full of good ideas that never made it into the team's actual workload. Translate two or three takeaways into specific projects, owners, and deadlines within the first month.
Follow up with vendors you actually want to evaluate. Most vendor follow-up gets buried in the post-conference email rush. If you committed to a demo or a reference call, send the calendar invite the week you return, not when you eventually clear your inbox.
Apply for recertification credits promptly. PayrollOrg conferences, statewide chapter events, and HR Tech all offer credits toward CPP, FPC, SHRM, and HRCI designations. Submitting credits while the conference is still fresh is far easier than reconstructing attendance months later.
How to choose the right payroll conferences for your team
The 2026 payroll calendar has more to offer than any single team can attend. Choosing well, and sending the right people to the right events, is the difference between a year of catch-up and a year of compounding compliance and operational gains. With this many strong options, the question for most payroll leaders is not whether to attend a conference but how to build a calendar that returns more than it costs. A few principles tend to hold up:
Anchor the year around PayrollOrg's Payroll Congress. It's the most complete payroll-specific education available, and it sets the benchmark for what your team should know going into the following year. With 2027 registration opening in August 2026, the San Antonio edition belongs in next year's budget now.
Add one regional event close to home. State and statewide conferences cover the local tax and compliance details national events can only summarize. They're also where peer relationships with payroll professionals at neighboring employers tend to form. And with confirmed 2026 events from California to New England, most teams have at least one within driving distance.
Reserve a seat at one technology event. Whether it's HR Tech or a vendor user conference, payroll leaders involved in platform decisions benefit from seeing the market side by side at least once a year.
Use Virtual Congress to extend access. The combination of in-person attendance for senior payroll staff and Virtual Congress access for the broader team is often the most cost-effective way to keep an entire payroll function current.
Build the calendar against the regulatory year, not the conference year. Capital Summit and the state conferences are most valuable when scheduled around quarter-end compliance cycles, year-end planning, and known legislative milestones.
2026 payroll conferences that already took place (and their 2027 dates)
The events below ran earlier in 2026. They remain some of the strongest entries on the payroll calendar, so they're listed here with 2027 dates where organizers have announced them (useful for teams already building next year's training budget).
IPPA Spring Summit
Held March 3–5, 2026 · Paris Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
The Independent Payroll Providers Association's Spring Summit is one of the largest vendor-agnostic gatherings for payroll and HCM companies, with an agenda spanning payroll operations, sales, compliance, and AI in payroll service delivery; recent editions have drawn close to 500 payroll professionals. As the earliest major event of the year, IPPA often signals the themes the rest of the payroll calendar will follow. The 2027 Spring Summit is confirmed for March 9–11, 2027, in Arlington, TX. This is the event's first move beyond Las Vegas in more than 20 years. Details are at ippa.net, and IPPA posts updates on LinkedIn.
Who should attend: Independent payroll provider owners, executives, and sales leaders, plus HCM and benefits vendors looking to reach the independent payroll segment.
Capital Summit
Held March 16–17, 2026 · Hilton Arlington National Landing, Arlington, VA
Capital Summit is PayrollOrg's annual legislative and regulatory conference. The two-day program brings payroll professionals into direct conversation with representatives from the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, U.S. Census Bureau, Government Accountability Office, and federal and state child support authorities. The 2026 program covered the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, child support, local payroll taxes, and wage and hour compliance, with attendees earning up to 12 RCHs, 1.2 CEUs, or 14 CPE credits. There is no substitute for hearing directly from the government agencies whose interpretations shape day-to-day payroll operations. Capital Summit is the closest thing the profession has to a regulatory roundtable.
The conference is held annually in March and will next take place from March 8-9, 2027 at new location Hilton Arlington Rosslyn The Key, with details shared at payroll.org/Summit.
Who should attend: Payroll compliance leaders, payroll tax specialists, government affairs and policy professionals working on payroll-adjacent issues, and any payroll leader whose role includes regulatory interpretation.
Maryland Statewide Payroll Conference
Held April 9, 2026 · Marriott BWI, Linthicum Heights, MD
Hosted by the Charm City Payroll Association, the Maryland Statewide Payroll Conference is a one-day program drawing payroll practitioners from the Baltimore metropolitan area and surrounding states. The 2026 program ran with the theme “Take a bite out of Payroll…Let's get cooking!” and featured speakers from the Maryland Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. The compact format and modest registration cost make it one of the most accessible compliance events in the Mid-Atlantic; the 2026 program was approved for 7 RCHs. 2027 dates had not been announced at the time of writing; the event is typically held in early April, with details posted at charmcitypayroll.org.
Who should attend: Baltimore-area payroll practitioners, Maryland employers, and small to mid-sized employers in the Mid-Atlantic looking for cost-efficient compliance education with credit hours included.
The Payroll Group (TPG) Annual Conference
Held May 3–6, 2026 · The Scottsdale Resort and Spa, Curio Collection by Hilton, Scottsdale, AZ
The Payroll Group's annual conference is the marquee event for independent payroll service bureaus, a tight-knit alliance that shares education, compliance updates, and operational best practices. The 2026 program combined educational sessions, structured peer networking, and social events, with sponsors including EarnIn, UKG, TAB Bank, PrismHR, and Payroll Integrations. For payroll teams that serve multiple clients, TPG is where the scaling questions, such as around standardization, tax operations, client onboarding, and service tiers, get worked through with peers running the same model. 2027 dates had not been announced at the time of writing; details are posted at thepayrollgroup.org.
Who should attend: Payroll service bureau owners and leaders, operations managers, payroll tax leaders, and anyone responsible for process consistency across many payroll accounts.
PayrollOrg's 44th Annual Payroll Congress
Held May 12–15, 2026 · Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Nashville, TN
Payroll Congress is the flagship event of PayrollOrg (formerly the American Payroll Association) and the largest payroll-specific conference in the world. The 2026 program in Nashville drew more than 1,800 attendees, featured over 100 workshops, and hosted the industry's largest payroll expo. Here’s what we caught firsthand. Sessions covered federal and state tax compliance, multi-state payroll, garnishments, fringe benefits, global payroll management, artificial intelligence in payroll operations, and the practical implications of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Attendees can earn up to 20 Recertification Credit Hours (RCHs) and 2.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
The 45th Annual Payroll Congress is confirmed for May 11–14, 2027, at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, TX, with registration opening in August 2026 at payrollcongress.com. Registration for in-person attendance historically includes complimentary access to that year's Virtual Congress, and PayrollOrg posts conference updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Who should attend: Payroll managers, payroll directors, CPP and FPC candidates, payroll tax specialists, payroll service bureau leaders, and the HRIS and finance partners who depend on payroll's compliance work. Payroll Congress is also the single best venue for HCM and tax compliance vendors to see what the payroll profession is asking for next.
Why it matters: PayrollOrg sets the curriculum that shapes practitioner expectations for the year ahead. The workshops are where new IRS, SSA, and Department of Labor guidance gets translated into operational practice, and the expo is where the technology that supports that work gets benchmarked.
Payroll University (National Payroll Institute, Canada)
Held June 2–5, 2026 · Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, Montreal, QC, Canada
Payroll University is Canada's premier professional conference for payroll practitioners, hosted by the National Payroll Institute. The 2026 edition in Montreal featured more than 50 educational sessions, keynote presentations, and extensive networking, with Continuing Professional Education hours toward professional designations. 2027 dates had not been announced at the time of writing; payroll teams with Canadian employees should watchconference.payroll.ca.
Who should attend: Payroll professionals processing Canadian payroll, U.S. payroll leaders with Canadian entities, and global payroll managers responsible for North American operations.
SHRM Annual Conference & Expo (SHRM26)
June 16–19, 2026 · Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL
SHRM26 is not a payroll-only event, but it is the largest HR conference in the world, and its wage and hour, benefits, and compliance tracks consistently draw payroll leaders. For 2026, SHRM projected more than 25,000 attendees across 375-plus sessions and a 650-plus exhibitor expo, with keynotes from Oprah Winfrey, Simon Sinek, and John Maxwell. Full details are at annual.shrm.org, and the event hashtag was #SHRM26.
Next year’s event will take place June 27-30, 2027 in Chicago. Sign up for updates at shrm.org/buildingfor27.
Who should attend: Payroll leaders who sit inside or alongside HR, total rewards and benefits partners, and teams whose compliance scope extends beyond payroll into broader workforce policy.
Why it matters: Payroll decisions increasingly get made in HR's orbit. SHRM26 is where the policy conversations that eventually land on payroll's desk, like leave administration, pay transparency, and AI governance, happen first.
See you out there!
Chime WorkplaceTM attends and sponsors events across the payroll calendar. To stay in the loop on where we'll be and get ongoing resources for payroll and benefits professionals, join our exclusive 30x30 community, a movement to elevate 30 trailblazing professionals to Chief Payroll Officers (CPOs) by 2030. (Now 1,000 members strong!)
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The Chime Visa® Debit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. The secured Chime Visa® Credit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Please see the back of your Card for its issuing bank.
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