A lot of people who are looking for payroll salary information are looking for different items. Some people are looking for information about the salary of someone who has just begun working in the payroll department, while others are looking for information about someone who has worked in payroll for a long time. This article will try to offer some information about both.
We’ll start from the bottom of the totem pole by talking about an average payroll clerk salary. Pay will vary slightly depending on cost of living, but the average in the United States is around $37,000. This isn’t a lot of money unless you’re living in the Midwest. A payroll specialist salary is similar to a payroll clerk’s salary as they are basically the same function with two different names.
A payroll manager salary is usually quite a bit higher. The average is somewhere around $55,000. However it is important to keep in mind that factors like years of experience, educational degree, and location will make these numbers vary quite a bit. We also often get asked about payroll administrator salary averages. We assume an administrator is similar to a manager and gets paid similarly.
What about a payroll accountant salary? The amount of pay received by this type of payroll employee really depends on how much other work the accountant is doing. In a small business an accountant might be performing several different roles including payroll, bookkeeping, and internal auditing. Usually such accountants are making a little bit more money than your average payroll accountant because of all the different tasks they are performing. The average payroll accounting is making around $48,000 a year. However, some accountants with more experience are making closer to $80,000 a year in the payroll function. Again, it is important to consider business size, location, experience, and education.
Sources: indeed.com, payrollscale.com
Our overall feel for the payroll job market is that you’re probably not going to become extremely wealthy by working in a payroll department. However, if you work your way up to the management positions you can make a decent living. Usually when a job doesn’t pay as much, it is because it is not as demanding. This may be a good indicator that working in the payroll department provides a nice work life balance. At the end of the day, it really isn’t that hard to know how to make a lot of money. You simply need to find a demanding job that requires you to work a lot of hours. While those jobs are not fun, they usually provide the most pay.
Any people who have worked in the payroll department that want to sound off about payroll salary, please do so below.
I believe Payroll Managers are vastly undervalued. You have to be aware of all Federal and State withholding regulations. Know how to file tax returns. Know how employee benefits are tied to the payroll process. Know how Human Resources systems are tied to payroll along with being a Systems Analyst of the software.
You listen to employees who may have been paid wrong because of mis-information given to the payroll dept., demands from senior managers to stop what you are doing because they “want” something while you are on deadline to get the payroll completed. In other words, the position can be rewarding, but some days it sucks.
Hey Don,
Thanks for sharing that. I couldn’t agree with you more. Payroll managers aren’t given the amount of respect they deserve. Thanks for sharing.