Job Responsibilities
Apart from performing a host of technical responsibilities, payroll specialists are experts in the areas of payroll functions and in doing so make decisions and judgments within the purview of established limits and also perform leading roles. Various job responsibilities performed by payroll specialists can be discussed in the following manner:
- Calculate hours, based on which payments are accordingly paid to the employees manually or through relevant software. Apart from regular work hours, there are vacation hours, overtime hours, tax deductions.
- Matching pay checks with the payroll data prepared by the specialist.
- Verifying the payments, monitoring any possible inconsistency that might occur and also checking accuracy of payroll.
- Being almost a similar wing of HR, they formulate HR policies with regard to payments and strive to keep the employees of the organization content.
- They process employee hiring, termination, benefits while maintaining an effective payroll filing system.
- Constant updating of payrolls; this calls for checking payrolls from time to time in terms of changes in address and paycheck..
- Leadership role; supervises the subordinate clerks and delegates payroll responsibilities to them. Co-ordinates the activities of subordinates.
- Compilation and analyzes of payroll data, thereby preparing reports on the same.
- Research and being updated on the current trends.
- Addressing and solving problems that may arise in due course of payroll functions.
- Focus on three key areas: reconciliation or comparing two set of data in order to ascertain accuracy; cost accounting or allocating expenses based on activities; remittance, that is, calculation and payments of amounts due to outside agencies.
- Strong communications skill.
- Analytical power and ability to solve mathematical problems
- Concentration in order to achieve accuracy.
- Tactfulness in dealing with various issues and people. Should be able to handle the queries that employees make from time to time.
- Supervisory skills.
- Computation skills.
- Evaluation expertise.
- Detail knowledge of all sorts of payroll functions.
- Multi-tasking.
Bachelor's degree in fields like accounts, finance, business administration.
In case of absence of the above, job experience as payroll clerks and assistants for four years can also lead to a promotion to the post of payroll specialists. Out of these four years experience, the candidate should have either a two year clerical accounting experience or a similar combination of experience, HR training and education approved by HR.
Salary
Salary of payroll specialist depends upon the size and profitability of the business organization. Median annual salary can be around $ 44,000 for payroll specialists.
Conclusion
Inaccurate and untimely payment always upset the employees of any organization. Hence payroll specialists play a very significant role in keeping the company's work force contented and productive. With an incumbent HR training, these professionals ensure proper payroll and help the company progress.
