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Payroll isn’t just about making sure people get paid on time—it’s about building and maintaining systems for paying taxes, meeting compliance requirements, and supporting cash flow, among many others. Weak payroll systems lead to pay errors, which can cause a host of problems, starting with unhappy employees and, eventually, unhappy customers.

 

Naturally, companies looking to fill these positions want people with specific payroll skills and abilities. Here’s a look at the top five.

 

Strong Math Skills

 

Obviously, any payroll position will likely involve complex numerical data and frequent calculations. So, you need to show a strong aptitude for math and accounting, which will come into play when providing net-pay to workers, making deductions and submitting tax reports to the IRS.

 

Compliance Knowledge

 

One of the most important responsibilities of payroll personnel is to ensure their work abides by state and federal compliance requirements. For instance, your state will have an established minimum wage, which can be higher than the federal baseline. If your company has employees in other states, you also need to consider their local minimum wage laws. Payroll administrators must be cognizant of all these rules.

 

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

 

Payroll administrators are expected to work with employees in other departments. So, you will have to interact with individuals at all levels of the organization, explaining your work in clear layman’s terms. When disruptions affect the payroll system, you are also expected to communicate what happened and what payroll is doing to fix the issue to management.

 

You can also expect to talk to clients and other external organizations about a wide range of pay-related topics, from taxes and social security to deductions and retirement accounts. You should be able to establish rapport with people and deliver top-notch customer service.

 

Organization Skills

 

Every pay cycle involves a long checklist of tasks that need to be accomplished by urgency, which can quickly change depending on the situation. Part of your job is keeping up with pay and tax deadlines, along with identifying discrepancies quickly before being hit with penalties. Along with your specific payroll skills, you need to possess the organizational skills to stay on top of these tasks and their corresponding deadlines.

 

Problem-Solving Skills

 

Problems caused by compliance issues, tax discrepancies and pay mistakes are all part and parcel for any payroll job. You need to have the ability and composure to deal with these problems efficiently and anticipate challenges that may complicate matters further.

Looking For the Best Payroll Jobs in the Antelope Valley?

Payroll employees and administrators have their work cut out for them, which is why it’s important to have a particular skill set to attract employers. If you need help looking for payroll jobs, talk to the staffing experts of Sage Staffing in the Antelope Valley. Contact us to learn more about our staffing solutions.

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