Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks

What the job really is

Compile and record employee time and payroll data. May compute employees' time worked, production, and commission. May compute and post wages and deductions, or prepare paychecks.

At a glance

• Sector: Office & Administrative
• O*NET-SOC code: 43-3051
• O*NET job zone: 3 — medium preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records.
• Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions.
• Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers.
• Process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system.
• Prepare and balance period-end reports, and reconcile issued payrolls to bank statements.
• Review time sheets, work charts, wage computation, and other information to detect and reconcile payroll discrepancies.
• Distribute and collect timecards each pay period.
• Record employee information, such as exemptions, transfers, and resignations, to maintain and update payroll records.
• Issue and record adjustments to pay related to previous errors or retroactive increases.
• Keep track of leave time, such as vacation, personal, and sick leave, for employees.
• Compile employee time, production, and payroll data from time sheets and other records.
• Keep informed about changes in tax and deduction laws that apply to the payroll process.

Tools and technology

ADP Workforce Now, Accounting software, Intuit QuickBooks, Kronos Workforce Timekeeper, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Oracle HRIS, Oracle PeopleSoft

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping
• Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
• First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
• Billing and Posting Clerks
• Office Clerks, General
• Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs
• Administrative Services Managers
• Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 3 (medium preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.