Payroll Clerk Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the job description of a payroll clerk, to help you learn the duties, tasks, and responsibilities that they perform.

What Does a Payroll Clerk Do?

The payroll clerk is responsible for organizing and setting up employee payroll data and handling the number of hours worked.

The payroll clerk job description also entails designing and forwarding paychecks according to the number of hours spent in working. He/she also rectifies all paycheck errors.

Payroll clerks assemble and arrange time sheets and input the associated data on pay and employee periods into a computer.

He/she will verify aspects of payroll associated with sick days, hourly wages and annual salaries, vacation, as well as overtime.

Payroll clerks function in virtually every industry and carry out diverse duties all of which involve handling time cards, answering phones, faxing documents, welcoming guests or managing simple bookkeeping responsibilities.

They might also help to guarantee that the right amount of tax is deducted from checks and also give answers to queries from employees.

Their role may also include ensuring that paychecks are forwarded through the mail or positioned in work stations.

Clerks working in the payroll office are best known for handling and dispensing paychecks to the staff of the organization.

They will conventionally ensure that employees collect their paychecks promptly and in the appropriate amount, and will also function in critical duties such as handling new hires or dismissals and processing staff benefits.

The major role of the payroll clerk however is the arrangement and keeping of records of staff work hours in order to be able to organize payroll accurately and promptly.

They are required to take note of specifics and possess outstanding typing skills.

They are often required to have a good understanding of basic mathematics, computers, and other work tools that transmit critical information on paychecks to staff.

Payroll clerks must be coordinated, inspired and professionally capable of functioning with little or no supervision.

Other areas they must be proficient include grammar, customer service, and an outstanding ability to adhere to instructions.

Payroll Clerk Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The duties, tasks, and responsibilities as shown in the sample job description for the payroll clerk position below, are usually performed by individuals working in that position in most organizations.

• Estimate the earnings of employees by making reference to their yearly salary time sheet to find out the number of hours spent in working
• Establish payroll during the suitable time and write off checks
• Make advance verifications on the number of hours worked, pay modifications and input information into the applicable records
• Ensure checks are endorsed and authenticated by the manager
• Carry out computations from work tickets and worksheets
• Estimate and take into account deductions such as withholding, insurance and union dues, social security and income tax
• Certify that timecards have their right endorsements as at the time of submission
• Keep payroll records up to date by entering modifications in insurance coverage, deductions, savings, unit transfers and job title
• Organize reports by assembling summaries of leave, deductions, taxes, disabilities, nontaxable wages and earnings
• Organize payroll liabilities by estimating employee, state and federal income, employer’s unemployment and workers compensation, social security, and social security taxes
• Find solution to irregularities in payroll by assessing information

Payroll Clerk Job Description for Resume

Information from the job description example above can be useful in writing a good resume that can secure an interview when vying for the post of a clerk in a payroll environment.

Payroll Clerk Requirements: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Career Success

The following qualities, skills, and knowledge will enable a payroll clerk to function optimally and excel on the job:

• Minimum of a college degree with sufficient knowledge on operating software and validating information presented
• Ability to evaluate information with sufficient data entry proficiency
• Outstanding skills in giving attention to details with display of dexterity in maintaining confidentiality
• Painstaking in approach, as well as display of outstanding familiarity with reporting tools, as well as ability to use financial software