Payroll Manager Job Description: What They Do and Why You Need One

Fast and accurate payroll processing, including accurate and timely processing, is an integral part of any growing business. Employees want to get paid on time and accurately (who doesn’t?), and businesses want to make sure they’re staying compliant with payroll regulations and taxes.

Payroll managers play an essential role, ensuring that employees get paid the correct amounts and that the employer isn’t over or under-paying both employees and payroll taxes. This is particularly important when a business starts to grow rapidly and needs to hire more workers.

So how should a growing business hire a payroll manager who can navigate all the intricacies required of the job? It starts with a great job description. Let’s take a closer look at what a payroll manager does and how you can attract the best candidates with a top-notch job description.

What does a payroll manager do?

As the name implies, a payroll manager is responsible for handling all aspects of the payroll process, with a focus on compliance with legal and tax requirements, and keeping payroll documentation, up-to-date, organized, and accurate. This position requires a thorough understanding of payroll rules and software, along with exceptional organizational and leadership skills. The payroll manager oversees various payroll functions, ensuring accurate and timely payroll expenses, collaborating with departments, maintaining compliance, and streamlining procedures for efficiency.

But being a payroll manager isn’t just about running payroll. They’re also responsible for the entire payroll process, including managing timekeeping systems, overseeing payroll transactions, choosing and maintaining payroll software, collaborating with HR and other accounting staff, and resolving any payroll-related issues that may arise. Should a company face an audit, the payroll manager plays a key role in working with auditors to ensure compliance.

In larger companies, the payroll manager often oversees a team of payroll specialists, but smaller companies tend to only need one or two on staff.

Thinking about hiring a payroll manager? Here’s what you need to consider.

There’s more to just number crunching when it comes to being a payroll manager. Here are few things to look for in a candidate.

• Good with numbers: This is the basic requirement for this job. Payroll managers need to have a high aptitude for math and have other numerical skills.
• Knowledge of compliance: While compliance can be learned, the ideal candidate will already have a solid working knowledge of the payroll rules and regulations on a federal, state, and local level.
  • Understanding of payroll tax obligations and the importance of compliance with federal and state laws.
• Communication skills: Despite being a numbers-based role, payroll managers often still need to be able explain how payroll works in plain language when talking to employees and leadership.
• Confidentiality and discretion: Payroll managers have access to a lot of sensitive personal and business information. They also may be privy to confidential conversations relating to employees. You need someone who is not going to share anything inappropriately with employees, as well as anyone outside the organization.
• Timeliness: Employees expect to be paid on time, and businesses often need payroll to be processed in a timely manner to avoid cash flow crunches. The payroll manager plays a pivotal role in ensuring their duties are completed each week and month on time.
• Eye for detail: There are many details that go into accurate payroll calculations. With employees coming and going, life situations changing, PTO, and other factors impacting the amount on an employee’s paystub, it’s essential for payroll managers to be detail-oriented.
  • Accuracy in managing payroll expenses is crucial.
• People skills: Everyone loves getting paid, but problems arise from time to time. And not all employees handle it very well. As such, payroll managers need to have good people skills to be able to address employee concerns in a way that doesn’t exacerbate difficult situations.
• Admin skills: While not the most glamorous tasks, a good portion of payroll is doing admin work. Payroll managers should feel comfortable doing repetitive, but necessary tasks.
• Familiarity with payroll software: This might not be an essential skill, but it’s definitely a plus if a payroll manager candidate has it.

In addition to these skills, it’s also a good idea to hire someone who has shown initiative and can be proactive. Payroll managers should be able to self-direct their tasks without having a manager reminding them what to do and when to do it.

Key interview questions to ask a payroll manager.

Attracting the best candidates with a killer job description is important. But you’ll still need to get a sense of their capabilities and personality during the interview process. Here are a few questions to ask to help you find the candidate who’s the best fit for your business:

Tell me about your experiences processing payroll.

While this question might seem a little open-ended, it will help you assess both their own organizational skills as well as general understanding of payroll processes.

What payroll or HR software have you used?

This question will help you gauge a candidate’s familiarity with different software suites that they will  need in your business.

What is FICA and how do you calculate it?

FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) contributions need to be deducted when calculating payroll, and it’s integral that payroll managers have a thorough understanding of it.

What are some examples of voluntary and involuntary deductions?

Payroll managers should understand and be able to explain the difference between these two types of payroll deductions.

What types of benefits are taxable?

This question measures how knowledgeable the candidate is in terms of taxable benefits and how to apply them to payroll calculations.

How well do you work under pressure?

Payroll needs to be processed accurately and in a timely manner, and it’s essential for a payroll manager to be able to do this when the clock is ticking.

If you were hired for this role, what would be your top priorities in your first month?

This question will help you understand how the candidate organizes and plans in their role.

How have you handled mistakes when calculating payroll?

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, that’s understandable. But it can have serious consequences when a payroll manager makes a mistake. It’s a good idea to get an understanding of how a candidate will catch and fix any mistakes they make, ideally before any real issues arise.  

Payroll manager job description essentials.

Attracting the ideal candidates for a Payroll Manager role will largely depend on putting out a comprehensive job description. Here’s a sample Payroll Manager job description that you can use to guide and assist you in finding the best person for your business.

Feel free to use this job description, but remember to adapt it to your own business and requirements!

Sample Payroll Manager job description

The GreenLeaf Cafe is in search of a highly driven and independent person to be our new Accounting and Payroll Manager.

In this role, you will be tasked with managing the daily bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, and HR operations of The GreenLeaf Cafe. The perfect candidates will possess a minimum of 3-5 years of experience in bookkeeping and/or accounting, with previous HR experience being an added advantage. Core responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Processing payroll on a bi-weekly basis
• Process and verify time sheets on a timely basis.
• Overseeing necessary updates to payroll records of team members
• Prepare payroll checks in accordance with current pay periods to assure that employee checks are received on a timely basis
• Handling weekly cash log reconciliations
• Guaranteeing timely and precise monthly financial reports
• Supervising operations related to payroll and monthly book maintenance
• Serving as the point of contact for all tax preparation with an external CPA
• Undertaking the preparation of the annual budget
• Participating in meetings with the management team
• Supervising the payroll team and ensuring collaboration with other departments

Requirements:

• A minimum of three years of experience in payroll preparation is essential
• At least a high school diploma or its equivalent
• A clear background check
• Quickbooks Online Experience
• Attention to Detail;
• Ability to Work Independently
• Articulate and Professional Communication Skills

Compensation

List compensation here, including salary, days off, health benefits, etc.

How to hire the best payroll manager

Hiring in today’s job market can feel like a guessing game: You never know if you’ve selected the right candidate until they’re on board and well into their job.

Luckily, Homebase is here to help you streamline, expedite, and enhance your hiring process. With Homebase, you can track all applicants in one location, ask screening questions to filter out candidates who may not align with your company’s needs, and even message candidates and schedule interviews, all from our handy app.

Once you’ve picked your preferred candidate, you can send them an offer letter directly through Homebase. And when they accept, you can start the onboarding process using our app.

Your new payroll manager will love working with Homebase, as our hours tracking software automatically logs employee’s time worked, the amount of overtime, and more. Data can be automatically integrated into most payroll systems, but we support exports as well. Plus, Homebase keeps an eye on the payroll compliance requirements and can alert you before you actually commit a violation!

How to hire the best payroll manager

Payroll managers are a vital component of nearly any business team. That’s why hiring the right person is as integral to a business’s success as hiring the right CEO.

Taking the time to understand what makes an excellent payroll manager is a great first step. Using Homebase to streamline the search process is a fantastic second step.

Go ahead and make payroll easy. Give Homebase a shot.