Payroll Clerk Career Guide and Counseling

Question: Can you describe the daily tasks of a payroll clerk? I need to know every detail. I just took a job with a company that does staffing for accounting. Allthough my background is in HR, my accounting knowledge is lacking. All the books I've read have just given me the basics. I need to know in detail what duties an payroll clerk will need to preform on a daily basis.

Answer: Payroll clerks, also called payroll technicians, screen timecards for calculating, coding, or other errors. They compute pay by subtracting allotments, including Federal and State taxes and contributions to retirement, insurance, and savings plans, from gross earnings. Increasingly, computers are performing these calculations and alerting payroll clerks to problems or errors in the data. In small organizations or for new employees whose records are not yet entered into a computer system, clerks may perform the necessary calculations manually. In some small offices, clerks or other employees in the accounting department process payroll. Payroll clerks record changes in employees’ addresses; close out files when workers retire, resign, or transfer; and advise employees on income tax withholding and other mandatory deductions. They also issue and record adjustments to workers’ pay because of previous errors or retroactive increases. Payroll clerks need to follow changes in tax and deduction laws, so they are aware of the most recent revisions. Finally, they prepare and mail earnings and tax-withholding statements for employees’ use in preparing income tax returns. In small offices, payroll and timekeeping duties are likely to be included in the duties of a general office clerk, a secretary, or an accounting clerk. However, large organizations employ specialized payroll and timekeeping clerks to perform these functions. In offices that have automated timekeeping systems, payroll clerks perform more analysis of the data, examine trends, and work with computer systems. They also spend more time answering employees’ questions and processing unique data. You can read more here: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos149.htm

Question: can a payroll clerk release some personnel information to outsiders..? do you know if a payroll clerk has the right to release some informations (earnings, length of employment and so on) to outsiders ? What is the relevant legislation in that regard ? Thanks for your answers !

Answer: This depends upon whom is asking. With respect to financial institutions they can confirm or deny details the employee has supplied. Certain government agencies (in Australia) such as Child Support and the ATO have extra powers under their relevant Acts to request the furnishing of such information. The payroll clerk normally handles these situations as they have constant and direct access. The Privacy Act protects you from them passing this information out to third parties other than described above or through reason of court order. Hope it helps

Question: What kind of degree should a person have as a payroll clerk?

Answer: High School

Question: how does one go about becoming a payroll clerk? any advice?

Answer: Take a class at a local community college, unless you're job would let you cross-train in that department.

Question: Do you have any tips for an upcoming payroll clerk interview?

Answer: General interview tips: Make eye contact Come with questions to ask at the interview Bring your portfolio Dress appropraite Don't fidget Don't lie about your skills Anticipate the questions and come up with answers ahead of time Make conversation at the begining, like about the weather When you shake hands be firm Be confident, remember you are selling yourself to them Bring references and their contact information Bring a copy of your resume incase they've lost it Cover tattoos and remove facial peircings Don't wear perfume/cologne because some people are allergic GOOD LUCK!!!

Question: ??HELP!!!! i was these classes for a entry job in payroll clerk??? also your experiences in the field??? HI, i was thinking of taking classes at local college for entry level job as a payroll clerk, principles of accounting 1,payroll accounting, principles of federal taxation. if these classes are not enough what else would i need? and what are the work duties of a payroll clerk? what are the entry pay rates for this position? also i would like to know if these classes are enough for me to prepare peoples personal tax form for extra cash? would a class like law office administration or legal aspects of business organization be helpful if so which is best? and pay scale?

Answer: Basically you should have also some input on legal related issues such as employee rights and stuff like that. Basically you should be ok with what you got there.

Question: i want to work as a payroll clerk for census in n.j. how? i worked as a payroll clerk a long time ago for the census

Answer: First step is to go to www.usajobs.com and do a search with Census bureau as your keyword. Then you can see what positions the census bureau is hiring for and in what locations. If there is an opening for a payroll clerk in NJ, then put in for it. Otherwise, you can go ahead and post your resume and get e-mail elerts when new positions within the Census bureau open up.

Question: Is it illegal for a payroll clerk to tell you how to fill out w-4? I've always been told by companies I worked for that they can't legally help you w/ your w-4 however my cousin was recently told by supervisor/payroll clerk what she could claim. So which is right? Seems like a conflict of interest to me. the payroll clerk said she could only use 1 or 2 as her withholdings which is not true but the clerk refused to enter anything but those 2 numbers. This to me seems a confilct b/c its seems the employer may be trying to do something not quite right within their own taxes is all.

Answer: The only time the employer can't let you fill out the W-4 the way you want is if the IRS sends them a "lock in" letter. Then and only then are you limited to the number of allowances. (I've seen lock in letters with married / 9. This was issued after the taxpayer filled in married / 99.)

Question: what is the procedure that the payroll clerk would adopt for the new employees of the company?

Answer: My boyfriend says "Surely it would be to collect their personal details such as national insurance details, p45 from last company, bank details, etc" and "what day they started and how much they are on to calculate their first pay packet"

Question: Any Sites That Teach You To Do Payroll By Hand? I am trying to learn how to calculate payroll manually for a payroll clerk job, any websites that show how to do this?

Answer: You may want to start here: