Tell the interviewer that you always express empathy to the employee because you understand how concerning payroll challenges are for employees. State that you take detailed notes of the employee's complaint. When possible, tell the interviewer that you try to talk through the issue over the phone to solve the problem right away. Sometimes payroll issues need some time to figure out. In these instances, inform the interviewer that you express your apologies to the employee, and tell the employee you will look into it right away. Finally, tell the interviewer that you try to dig into these complaints as soon as possible following the phone call to ensure the employee's concerns are resolved within 48 business hours.
"I believe that we are service providers and the employees are our most important customers and any complaint related to payroll should be dealt with utmost importance. If I receive any such complaint my first reaction is to apologize that an issue has occurred and then I immediately look into the matter. I take notes about the situation and check with the concerned departments about why such an error occurred. Most of the times these complaints are resolved right away but there are times when it needs some inquiries and confirmations to be made that might take some time in which case I keep the employee updated about the progress and try to get it fixed as soon as possible on a priority basis."
"There are times when this happens. It is never great, because it means something went wrong on the input, but it is a great opportunity to connect with the associate and utilize my customer service skills to resolve the issue. I will listen to the concern, research it and communicate the resolution back to the associate. This error is noted with payroll and used to coach the manager who submitted it."
Start off by listing a handful of reports that you have prepared, including a high-level overview of what data can be found in the reports. Expand on this by telling the interviewer how you can manipulate data within your payroll system to generate any reports you are looking for, and mention that you can create reports in many formats including Word, Excel, and Adobe formats.
"I am well-versed in preparing income statements, new hire reports, promotion reports, deduction reports, leave/ absentee reports, wage types etc. and if needed I can manipulate the data provided to me in any form and create reports in any format including Word, Excel, etc."
"Reports are a large part of streamlining and ensuring accuracy of the payroll process. I run weekly auditing reports, total time and payments reports and financial reports to provide to my finance partner counterparts. Each payroll run, I also audit the inputs and track the paid time off updates for the organization. The reporting tool is great because you can consistently come up with custom reports to meet the needs of your work."
Start by sharing that you receive daily emails from different agencies that share updates to payroll rules and techniques. Discuss that your payroll vendor also keeps you in tune with new rules and techniques on their homepage or your dashboard. Mention the past few payroll conferences, seminars, or webinars you attended. Be sure to talk through any professional payroll organizations you regularly participate in, and finally, mention that you network with other payroll professionals to see what new techniques they are using!
"I read a lot (payroll magazines, online blogs) in my free time and follow many forums online. I also attend certain payroll conferences whenever I get time out of my work schedule."
"This is such an important part of maintaining compliance and staying current on industry changes/news. I am a member of multiple payroll associations. I read the news everyday and am connected with the IRS/DOL on any changes that impact my team."
Tell the interviewer that senior leadership needs payroll reports as a part of their role to understand expenses in regards to compensation and benefits as well as payroll taxes. At the end of the day, their job is to ensure the organization is secure financially, and there is a good chance that payroll expenses will be one of the highest expenses the organization occurs on a regular basis. To help them stay up-to-date on how payroll expenses are affecting the organization and ensure they have all of the necessary information to make sound financial decisions, payroll reports are necessary.
"It is the job of the higher management to make sure that the organization is secure financially, and there is a good chance that payroll expenses will be one of the highest expenses the organization occurs on a regular basis. To help them stay up-to-date on how payroll expenses are affecting the organization and to ensure they have all of the necessary information to make sound financial decisions, payroll reports are necessary."
"All levels of management benefit from payroll reports. Higher management typically uses the data in their forecasting or budgeting presentations. Leadership teams will include payroll reports when reviewing the company operating expenses and net company income."
It is a good idea to tell the interviewer that you enjoy being in a role that allows you to analyze information and be highly detail-oriented. Tell the interviewer that you enjoy being behind the scenes working with numbers, and you like that you are working in a very important role that does not require you to be in front of the crowd all of the time. Finally, be sure to talk about the company and the high level of respect you have for it.
"Ever since the beginning of my career as a payroll specialist, I have enjoyed working with numbers and improving the efficiency of the departments I have worked with. In addition to what I have heard about your organization, I have also done my own research and I have great interest and respect for the industry you serve and would love to utilize my knowledge and learn and grow my skills with the organization."
"That is a great question! Who wouldn't be? I bring 8 years of experience in this area and am a huge promoter of the mission/vision of this organization. There is nothing more rewarding than doing work you love for a company that resonates with you and does well by the community."
This is easy for you! This is what you do as a Payroll Specialist, and nine union contracts are not something that phase you. You can discuss how you will utilize the notes feature in your payroll software to document each contract requirements. Or, maybe you will utilize an Excel spreadsheet to keep notes for each contract if the functionality is not in the software. Either way, this is easy for you!
"I use Excel and take extensive notes while doing my job. I like to keep my work organized and plan everything in advance. In my past jobs, I have dealt with such situations in which I had to deal with special pay items and making sure that everything is paid correctly and on time."
"One of the most effective practices I have found works well in measuring an efficient payroll each cycle is utilizing checklists. Simply put, I will create checklist items for each union contract and payment terms to ensure we are double or triple checking the inputs to measure accuracy each cycle."
"A fiscal year is a 12-month cycle established by each individual organization for accounting/financial purposes. For example, an organization may choose to begin their fiscal year on March 1st each year and end on the last day of February of the following calendar year."
"A fiscal year is a 12-month cycle established by each individual organization for accounting/financial purposes. For example, an organization may choose to begin their fiscal year on March 1st each year and end on the last day of February of the following calendar year."
"The fiscal year is the accounting period for a company. Sometimes this is the calendar year. Other times, companies operate on a September - August fiscal year."
If you truly have salary expectations, now is the time to share them openly. Being honest about your expectations will help eliminate disappointment come job offer time. If you do not have salary expectations, that is great! Instead, tell the interviewer that you expect to be paid fairly for the market as well as equitably within the organization. Inform the interviewer that having a job you love coming to each day is more important than the salary, and as long as you are being paid equitably, you are elated about the opportunity!
"(If you don't have salary expectations) I have gone through the job description and all the job responsibilities totally excite me. I believe that this job will provide me with the mental satisfaction at the end of the day and thus whatever is fair for the market and equitably within the organization would be acceptable for me. (If you have salary expectations) I am looking for growth in terms of responsibilities as well as in monetary terms and since I have been getting 'X $' per annum (current package), I am expecting to get a raise and thus something around 'XYZ $' per annum."
"I am truly looking for compensation comparable with the work/responsibilities of the role. In my last role, my compensation was $55,000 and I am looking for a salary consistent with my career progression."
A lot of organizations have their own philosophy to this. Sometimes items such as employee reimbursements are more easily handled through A/P. Tell the interviewer that you would like to work as a team with the A/P staff to develop the philosophy that best suits the organization. You recognize that some functions are better in A/P while others are better in payroll, and you are willing to work as part of the team to help make these decisions.
"I believe that the A/P staff and the payroll department are a team and should work in sync with each other. There are certain expenses that are better handled through accounts payable than through payroll. If there is an item which is not a part of the payroll system and simply can't be adjusted into the system and is a one time occurrence, would prefer the payment to be done through Accounts Payable in order to make the things easier for all the parties involved."
"There have been a number of times we have used A/P to compensate an associate verses utilizing payroll. All of our contractors on 1099s are compensated through A/P. Anytime we hire a vendor to do work for our organization, we invoice and pay through accounting (not payroll)."
Be candid with the interviewer. Share your experience with filing quarterly taxes, year-end taxes, and all other taxes that are pertinent to your work. Expand on this sharing how you file your tax payments either electronically or by mail. Finally, be sure to wrap it up by disclosing how you locate payment amounts. Most likely, these amounts come from your payroll software.
"In the last organization I worked for, I was responsible for reporting income and employment taxes withheld from the employees on an Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return (Form 941) and deposit these taxes in full to an authorized bank. I was also responsible for filing a FUTA return annually, and depositing those taxes."
"Yes, in conjunction with the company tax accountants and CPAs. As the company liaison for payroll, I was responsible to ensure company compliance and mitigate liability."
Payroll inputs are simply the details necessary to set up an employee in the payroll system. These are items such as their name, date of birth, marital status, pay rates, vacation time, holidays, etc.
"Payroll inputs are all of the 'ins' that go into a payroll cycle. This includes time/hours, commissions, paid time off (holiday, vacation, sick, etc.), bonuses and any other variables or forms of payment."
A general ledger, or G/L, is used by businesses to track financial transactions by assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses.
"The general ledger is the main accounting record for a company or organization. It ties into the profit and loss and accounts for all expenses or monies earned across the board. It is a very important financial tool."
If you have experience with a small business, share how many employees were on staff, the industry of the business, and how you began in their bookkeeping function. Be sure to mention any key differences you recognize between small businesses and larger organizations. And finally, be sure to mention that you enjoyed working for the small business and are grateful for the knowledge that you gained while working there.
"I started my career with a small organization and since I am a trained accountant, I was also required to do certain book keeping tasks. I was responsible for keeping the books and retaining documents for transactions. When I moved to a bigger organization, the bookkeeping tasks were not required to be managed by me as we had a separate individual doing this. But I still try to keep a track of the transactions in my department at least so as to stay on top of the things and keep my knowledge updated."
"In my previous role, I was responsible for some bookkeeping duties. I was in charge of keeping records for all financial affairs for the company. It is where my organizational skills came into play and made my job much easier!"
Be open and honest with the interviewer. If you do not have any experience, be honest about it while informing the interviewer of what payroll systems you have worked with. If you have experience, fantastic! Tell the interviewer how you researched payroll systems, got input from other payroll professionals, watched demonstrations, met with vendors, and received quotes from at least a few companies before selecting the system for your organization. Talk about how you analyzed your organization's needs to select the correct product as well as product components. Discuss who you worked with to implement the new system, how you integrated any data from an existing system, the communication used to bring staff up to speed on locating their new pay stubs, and any other pertinent details that set your experience apart from others. Employers want to hear that you handled this process with ease while navigating all of the complex details, so be sure to mention that you successful completed the implementation without much stress.
"I have mostly worked with the organizations where we already had payroll systems in place, thus I did not have an opportunity to implement a system from scratch. But, I have worked on 'X,Y,Z' systems in my career and I believe that if there is a need then I can very well implement any of these without any hindrances."
"Much! I have upgraded company payroll systems and bundled them in many capacities. It is a fun process and a great opportunity to upgrade your payroll practices to work better."
Candidly share your experience administering 403b plans as well as 457 plans. Share roughly how many employees you have participating in each type of plan, how you utilize your vendor's website to administer the plans, any audits you have been through with each plan, and any additional details that will add value. If you do not have any experience, it is okay! Tell the employer that you do not have any experience administering the plans, but you know that a 403 b is a special retirement plan typically seen in public schools, tax-exempt organizations, and churches. You can also share that 457 plans are typically seen for governmental employees and independent contractors. The 457 is unique because there is no tax penalty for early withdrawals, and independent contractors may participate.
"In my previous role, together with the financial controller, I was the plan administrator for the 403b and 457 plans. We managed the plan contributions with the carrier and our deductions on the payroll end."
You are a go-getter and a self-starter. Tell the interviewer that you would start off by simply clicking through the system to understand what it looks like. Next, you would visit the vendor's website as well as the Help link in the system to see if any tutorials are offered. Finally, you would Google any missing details to ensure you understand how everything works.
"I have always believed in learning by doing and also being tech savvy helps a lot. I try to familiarize myself with the system first on my own and if I come across any obstacles I ask questions, either to a teammate (if I have one) or Google."
"Having experience pricing, testing and evaluation many major payroll providers, it will be a seamless transition to familiarize myself with your payroll system. Each company typically customizes their payroll system to their organization, so it will only be a matter of clicking around to learn how the system works for the company. Some of the payroll systems I am familiar with are Workday, ADP, Paychex, Jupiter, Quickbooks, etc. Many of them function the same on the basic level."
Start off with a high-level overview of the payroll forecasting you have done including how often you have supplied forecasts and who has typically requested the forecasts. Next, tell the interviewer details about the most recent payroll forecast as an example of your work. Be sure to mention how you gathered your data, what software you utilized to pull the information, and how you created your projections. Finally, be sure to include who the data was presented to as well as how you presented the data (Excel, Word, email, in-person presentation, etc).
"As a response to a request by the finance department of the company to estimate the company's yearly expenses, I provided the yearly payroll forecast. This was a regular practice for the past 4 years of my career. I have been using the yearly employee salary data, along with the forecasts regarding any future hires that may be required by any of the departments. For providing the report, I used Excel although we have been using 'XYZ' system for our payroll calculations."
"We utilize our reporting system to forecast weekly payroll funds, hours, and various payments, taking into account the financial cycle and compensation bonus packages."
The interviewer wants to hear that you organize your payroll days. Start off by telling the interviewer how you prioritize your work for the day. You may have a special checklist that you utilize on the day you run payroll, or maybe your software system has a checklist for you. Be sure to mention these! From here, simply provide the interviewer with a high-level overview of what an average payroll day looks like for you, remembering that the goal is for the interviewer to hear that you are organized.
"I have a checklist of items for the whole month with different items for each date. The items are different for the start, middle, and end of the month. My day begins by checking what part of the month it is and then I making sure that all the items are checked by the end of the day and in time. Part of this profession is focussed on accuracy, attention to detail, and not missing the dates. Missing upon even a single pointer means a delay in the salary distribution for the employees which according to me is unacceptable. I try to ensure that my part of the job is done in time without any delay."
"One of the things I love most about my work, is there is no such thing as a 'typical' day. Generally, we are managing some aspect of the payroll cycle - whether that be the preparation, inputting, processing or auditing. As always, things will come up that we address such as inquiries from business leaders on payroll to employee payroll questions. This keeps my role interesting!"
Laugh, and tell the interviewer that thankfully there are not many bad employees out there! Tell the interviewer that a bad employee is one that blatantly does not have the best interests of the organization in mind and is unethical or immoral. This will cover all of your bases. Laziness is an ethical issue. Theft is an ethical issue. Harassment is an ethical issue. All 'bad employees' tend to fall under the magical ethics umbrella. Finally, be sure again to mention that most employees are awesome, and the bad ones are few and far between in the grand scheme of things.
"Personally, I don't think that there is any such thing as a bad employee. I believe, a bad employee is one that blatantly does not have the best interests of the organization in mind and is unethical or immoral. I think laziness, theft, harassment are a few ethical issues, and the employees who are performing these acts are bad employees. On the other hand, I believe that this is a very small or negligible part of the organization and all employees are usually great."
"One or a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. An associate who demonstrates behaviors that are outside the general mission, vision or values of an organization is not serving the greater good of your company. If left unaddressed, they will either spoil the bunch or (if the culture is strong enough) weed themselves out."
Tell the employer that you are very excited about this opportunity, and you look forward to being on their team for many years. Explain that you are excited to learn and grow with the organization and you are grateful for this opportunity.
"I have been looking for an opportunity to learn and grow with the organization and this seems to be a perfect platform for me. I am really excited about this opportunity and plan on working with the team for many more years to come."
"Not at this time in my career. I am focused on adding value to an organization. Who knows? Maybe one day many years down the line, I would not rule this option out, but it would have to be a right fit for me and right now it is my great interest to be apart of a team like yours."
Explain that you understand mistakes will occasionally happen. If it is not a recurring issue, you would simply call the person and ensure it is corrected. If it is an ongoing issue, you would schedule a meeting with the person to talk about the problem face-to-face and explain that you have brought this to their attention on several occasions, and they are not meeting your expectations. Inform the interviewer that you would work with the individual to put a plan in place to eliminate future problems, and if the issue was not resolved, you would need to speak with their supervisor.
"If this is not a regular situation and has happened just once, I will call the person in charge and make sure that the report is sent to me before further delay and also that such issue is not repeated in the future. But, if his is happening on a regular basis, then I will arrange for a face-to-face meeting with the person concerned and try to find out why such a problem is occurring. After identifying the root cause of the problem, I will try to formulate a plan so that it doesn't happen in future. But, if the problem still persists and the issue is still not resolved, I will contact the person's supervisor."
"It is likely that I reached out the first time when the reports were late. I will reach out the next time to meet with the person to make sure there are no issues (training, roadblocks, etc.) with getting the reports done on time. If it calls for it, I will invite the associate to cross train to learn what the reports are used for on the other end. This will broaden their knowledge of the process they are part of and deepen their understanding of the roadblock it occurs when the reports are late. As always, if the behavior continues, we can make sure there are not issues happening outside of the workplace that might impact the associate's work OR take measures to initiate a performance improvement plan."
The interviewer wants to hear that you understand these basic payroll forms. Share a high-level overview of each of these forms with the interviewer. W2 - This is an IRS mandated form that employers must supply to each employee at the beginning of each calendar year which shows annual earnings, taxes withheld, tips, etc. This is the form employees utilize for their personal income taxes each year. W4 - Employees complete this document to tell the employer the amount of taxes to withhold from their paycheck. The employee identifies themself as single or married as well as the amount of exemptions they would like to claim. 941 - This document is the employer's quarterly federal tax payment. It shows the employer's portion of federal income taxes, Medicare tax, and social security tax.
"Certainly! W2 is an associates annual statement (used for tax returns). W4 is a worksheet where employees claim tax dependents. 941s are the quarterly financial statements."
Openly share the largest, and most impressive, cost-cutting measure you have been in charge of by sharing who identified the initiative and how you were selected to lead the implementation, providing a brief overview of the cost-cutting measure, and talking through an overview of what steps you took during the implementation. Be sure to mention all of the positive kudos you received following the implementation.
"For cost-cutting, the first thing I did was to stop using any sort of paper by the payroll department. This reduced the expenses incurred on the stationery and was applauded by the other departments as well and they also tried to implement it in their departments."
"Many! As a payroll and numbers person, we are always looking at costs. We recently realized that it made sense to bundle our payroll and benefits providers into one solution, saving us $4.50 per employee each payroll cycle. In an organization made up of over 5,000 associates, this has saved the company hundreds of thousands each year."
Employment laws are constantly changing. First, be sure to mention those daily emails you receive about updates to employment law which keep you in-the-loop about payroll changes that affect your organization. Additionally, discuss any annual seminars or trainings that you typically attend, professional associations that you belong to, or any collegiate courses you have taken to ensure you are successful in your career.
"Apart from getting a degree in accounting I have also been attending several trainings and certification courses. I have attended several DOL seminars and FLSA seminars as well."
"I am always striving to be better. Some of the things I do include networking with my industry association for payroll professionals and attending events where credible speakers offer insights on topics related to my work. I love reading books and staying current on industry trends."
You take multi-tasking and stress with ease! Payroll is a field filled with deadlines, and the interviewer wants to hear that you gracefully handle the process without getting worked up. Think about a recent time when you had a pressure-filled day. Start off by sharing what made the day complex and pressure filled, and be sure to laugh about it along the way. Next, tell the interviewer how you tackled the stressful situation, and be sure to mention that even though you had a lot on your plate, you were able to glide through the day smoothly and meet all expectations. Finally, wrap it up by sharing that the pressure of payroll tends to motivate you to succeed everyday!
"Few months back, my manager decided to put me on some more important tasks and thus delegated the task for making the timesheet entries to the payroll system to one of the new joiners. By the end of the month we received an intimation from the accounts department that they had not received the calculations from our side till that date. This was already delayed by four days. Then we realized the new joiner was not even present and had apparently left the job without any notice. Without any further delay I jumped in and worked over time, throughout the night, to ensure that the information was passed on in time. This helped in timely calculations of the salaries for the employees and thus no delay was caused. I completely understand that our job is extremely important as many employees rely upon us for timely disbursement of their salaries."
"Having worked in high stress environments, I have adapted to work best under pressure! Prioritizing your work and effective time management are two critical practices to handling yourself under pressure."
This is a very broad question, so the key is to provide a high-level overview of your experience. Tell the interviewer how many years you have been doing payroll, what systems you have used, how many employees you conduct payroll for, the industry you work in, as well as how many people work in the payroll function. Be sure to highlight any promotions you have received within the payroll function as well.
"I have been working as a payroll specialist for the past "
"As someone with over 8 years experience in payroll, I have inputted, managed, audited, and streamlined the payroll process. My involvement spans from training the managers on the front end to reconciling the financials with the accounting team on the back end."
"Retro pay happens in the following scenario: When an employee receives a pay increase, there is a date the new rate of pay begins. Sometimes this is not communicated to payroll in time for the new paycheck cycle, so you 'retro pay' the employee for wages that should have been received at the new updated pay rate."
"Retro pay happens in the following scenario: When an employee receives a pay increase, there is a date the new rate of pay begins. Sometimes this is not communicated to payroll in time for the new paycheck cycle, so you 'retro pay' the employee for wages that should have been received at the new updated pay rate."
"Retro pay is retroactive payment for a service or work, typically when payment is overlooked or an error takes place. Retro pay will correct the payment and make the change retroactive to the appropriate effective date."
Express how excited you are for your career in payroll with the company, and if you have aspirations for becoming a payroll manager some day, be sure to tell the interviewer this! Be realistic in your timeline for achieving this role. We recommend simply stating that you recognize this may take several years to achieve, but you are very excited about working in the payroll specialist role right now to learn as much as you can.
"At present I am very excited about the opportunity to work as a payroll specialist for your organisation as I believe that this will be a great learning opportunity for me. Some years down the line I want to see myself as a payroll manager but I believe that I still have a lot to learn before I get there."
"I am always looking to grow personally and professionally wherever I am in life. I welcome the opportunity to grow with the organization and take on a senior leadership position. In any role I take, I plan to add value and build meaningful relationships that serve the greater good of the company."
Think about the last time an error was made on someone's paycheck. This makes the perfect example for this question. Briefly overview the situation at a high level without blaming anyone for the error. Tell the interviewer how you learned about the situation, took notes about the employee's phone call, and respectfully apologized for the mistake and inconvenience. Tell the interviewer that you immediately got to work correcting the error, called the employee back to tell them that the error had been corrected, and took action to ensure similar errors would not happen again in the future. We are all human, and mistakes are going to happen. The interviewer simply wants to hear that you handle the situation with dignity and take the proper steps to ensure you avoid any additional errors in the future.
"I was once contacted by an employee with an error in his pay check. I took notes about the employee's phone call, and respectfully apologized for the mistake and inconvenience. Then, I immediately got to work correcting the error, called the employee back to tell them that the error had been corrected, and took action to ensure similar errors would not happen again in the future. We are all human, and mistakes are going to happen. Whats more important is that we take the necessary steps that such mistakes are not repeated."
"We have had several leaders giving different direction in our department. This creates confusion. To diffuse the situation, I called a meeting with both parties to come together and work out an agreed upon direction. It was effective in bringing light to the difficult situation and resolving any conflicts it was creating."
This one is easy! Take a look at the job description before heading to the interview, and you will see what attributes are most important to the role. They will likely be listed in the Qualifications section of the job posting, and you will likely see things such as high attention to detail, verbal & written communication skills, interpersonal skills, or the ability to problem solve. Simply repeat 3 or 4 of these in the interview, and give a very brief overview of why they are important to the payroll function.
"I believe that attention to detail, accuracy and precision along with commendable communication skills are some of the very basic attributes a person should have for this position. I pay attention to detail and accuracy at the highest importance, as without these you may not be able to avoid mistakes, which in this profession are no less than a disaster."
"Payroll experience will be important, along with the know-how to add the most value possible to the role. Attention to detail and organization are key attributes to being successful in a role as Payroll Specialist."
Candidly share your thoughts about which courses you liked best and why. The interviewer may use this information to help create a career path for you in the organization, so now is the time to share your thoughts.
"I have always enjoyed working with numbers and thus accounting was my favorite subject. Preparing the balance sheets was one of my favorite activities."
"I enjoy business as a whole so I really enjoyed coursework in accounting, compensation theory/management and organizational management. All gave me a great feel for the work involved in effective payroll practices and its contribution to a company."
Each organization will likely have different controls in place before approving payroll. Of course, you will need all time sheets approved, compensation changes entered, bonuses allocated, relocation assistance entered, and any other special data for the week addressed. Be sure to mention these items in addition to what your current process is. You may have a checklist built into your payroll software or perhaps you have a checklist in place; be sure to mention these tools too.
"It depends on the methodology we are using for the calculation of the payroll for the employees. If we have a payroll system in place, then we always have a ready-to-use checklist and we simply need to ensure that all the items in the checklist are in place. But, if there is no system and we have to do it on our own, I prefer using Excel and have my own checklist of items according to which I usually need all time sheets approved, compensation changes entered, bonuses allocated, relocation assistance entered, and any other special data for the week addressed. In the organization that I currently work, we use a payroll system, so we have a checklist that we follow."
"We look at just about everything! I require all of the hours, paid time off, bonus and commissions, etc. We look at the taxes each cycle and various other expenses that are reported. It is our role to be the gatekeepers for the payroll process, so that means ensuring all necessary forms and policies have been carried out."
Simply start off by discussing how you decided on payroll. Did you take a payroll class in high school that intrigued you? Maybe your mom or dad was a Payroll Specialist. Perhaps you had a teacher who encouraged you to pursue payroll because of your detail oriented nature. Whatever your path was, be excited to share it! Next, tell the interviewer what education you pursued to prepare yourself for your career, and wrap it up by sharing how you landed your first internship or job.
"I started my career as a cashier in a big departmental store, after which I was promoted as a store manager. What I specifically enjoyed doing there was the tasks related to payroll and since I had an educational background in accounting, I decided to start working as a payroll specialist. I worked as an Intern in the beginning for a payroll processing firm and since then there has been no looking back."
"That is a great answer! My initial career interests were in accounting and human resources. In my first role as a HR coordinator, I was responsible for the daily payroll management. I found it to be fascinating and a happy combination of the two areas of business that interested me. Since, I've continued my career in payroll and enjoy adding value through delivering a smooth process each cycle!"
Share with the interviewer that you realize timesheet mistakes will occasionally happen which is why you always edit them. Be sure to mention that most of them are one and done situations, so you simply work to correct them and move on. Other times, there are errors that seem to keep happening. In these cases, you work directly with the individual(s) who keep causing the errors to ensure the errors are eliminated in the future.
"Humans are always prone to errors and especially at tasks which they are not specialized in doing, so time sheet errors are something that happen quite often. Whether its an automated system or a manual one, this is one thing that never changes. Thus, I always check the time sheets for errors in advance, and if I find certain errors, I check with the concerned person if it was intentional or just by mistake and then correct it. Usually these are one time problems and by educating the defaulters it can be avoided in future. But, if it's a regular scenario, I try to work directly with the individuals and try to ensure it doesn't happen again in the future."
"This is a common occurrence in workplaces. Timekeeping is crucial to compliance so it is important errors are corrected in a timely fashion. If there are frequent errors from a specific place (common denominator) I will work with the team to ensure training at that source."
Payroll specialist handles a clients payroll needs, and can advise them on the best practices. When preparing for this interview, follow up on your states payroll rules and have a great knowledge of payroll.