Payroll Accountant

Controller Job Description

Many organizations employ or contract someone to handle payroll and other finances. These professionals may work under different titles and take on a variety of roles and tasks, but they all share the responsibility of ensuring the financial needs of employees and organizations are met. The main focus for these accountants is preparing, generating, and maintaining payroll documentation. This typically includes issuing and processing employee pay, commissions, and benefits, ensuring the accuracy of all information and adherence to government policies and guidelines. In some organizations, these accountants may oversee finances as well. This can include the analysis, preparation, and management of finances, including investments, budgets, and purchasing.
An aspect of versatility you will need in the payroll accountant job is the administrative skills. You should know your activities well and how to get around those activities without difficulties. This is what administrative skills entail. You will be faced with the prospect of managing different activities almost the same day or a little time in-between. You will need a good administrative skill to prioritize and know how to get around these activities all by yourself. This will definitely put to test your administrative skills. As a payroll accountant, you are always meant to have the details of a lot of workers or employees in the organization. You are given those details to work with and solve the problems for which you were hired. This requires that you should give yourself to taking note of vital details. Making a career in today’s world, including the payroll accountant career, involves relating with the Information Technology (IT) industry. Information technology ensures that you leverage on the possibilities of the digital world to make the most out of your payroll accountant job. In the payroll accounting job, you will need to be a good planner to be able to carry out your job. As the payroll accountant, you should be well knowledgeable in the affairs of employment compliance rules. This deals with also the terms and conditions of employment of every employee in the organization. To make accurate predictions for the organization, which your position as a payroll accountant requires, you will need to have excellent math skills. It is important to know that financial accounting of any type has its roots in mathematics. The problem solving skills of an employee depends a lot on the years of experience they have on the job or in a related field. This is why employers usually look out for people with payroll accounting experience to hire for a vacant position. The tasks may come with certain challenges, which you will need to apply problem-solving skills to resolve to be able to successfully complete the tasks. Decision making is part of your job as a payroll accountant. You have a lot of decisions to make in this position because of the fact that it is assumed that you are knowledgeable in this field and can make meaningful contributions to the organization in the aspect of payroll issues.
Most individuals will need at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field such as business administration, finance, statistics, actuarial science or economics in order to work in the field of payroll accounting. Individuals may be able to advance their careers by obtaining a Master’s degree in business administration or by pursuing a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license. There are also a number of specific payroll certifications that are provided by professional associations.

Typical duties of a Controller

· Oversee employee paychecks
· Calculate net salaries considering deductions and withholdings
· Ensure payroll and tax documents are accurate
· Update general ledger and payroll files
· Prepare accounting files, records, and schedules
· Monitor paid and unpaid leaves
· Process overtime earnings or holiday deductions
· Resolve payroll problems (e.g. overlooked bank holidays, late payments, etc.)
· Answer employee questions concerning payroll
· Participate in payroll audits
· Ensure compliance with governmental laws on payroll accounting and taxes

Skills:
· Previous experience as a payroll accountant or in a similar role
· Understanding local and governmental rules about payroll
· Excellent knowledge of MS Office, especially Excel
· Great computational ability
· Attention to detail
Qualifications: A valid national certification (e.g. Fundamental Payroll Certification); Degree in Accounting, Finance, or relevant field