Job Overview
Alternate Titles: Payroll Technician, Payroll Administrator, Payroll Coordinator, Payroll Assistant, Payroll Clerk
The Payroll Specialist performs tasks to establish and maintain employee/payroll records, handles a wide variety of record keeping and payroll processing activities, and operates all departmental equipment. Although duties normally follow established procedures, responsibilities may include routine, minor corrections to make documents acceptable for processing. This position is generally found only in payroll departments of 3 or more people.
Education, Experience, & Certifications
- High school diploma or equivalent and a good math/accounting aptitude to 4 years of experience and an Associate’s degree, depending on the level of the position
- Office experience plus knowledge of calculator required
- Specific bookkeeping / accounting / payroll training may be preferred
- Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC) or Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation from the American Payroll Association may be preferred
- MS Word and MS Excel required, database programs preferred
Typical Duties May Include:
- Checking and auditing timekeeping records for compliance with established standards
- Maintaining time and attendance records
- Entering new hires into the payroll system
- Posting changes in pay and tax status, and miscellaneous changes
- Computing wage and overtime payments
- Calculating and recording payroll deductions
- Processing requests for paycheck advances, and processing terminations
- May train less experienced Payroll Specialists and direct their daily work.
Advanced Payroll Specialists perform all duties of Entry Level Payroll Specialists and Intermediate Payroll Specialists, and perform other duties including balancing and controlling earnings and deduction totals, calculating and preparing general ledger entries, inspecting automated system output such as registers and standard reports, determining and correcting out-of-balance conditions, preparing and filing tax reports, gathering payroll data for inclusion in financial statements, and researching and preparing special reports for management, calculating military and jury duty pay, and processing garnishments and levies.
