Insight into the Payroll Administrator profession

Are you thinking of venturing into the finance field? Payroll is definitely an aspect of this field that you should investigate then. Wikipedia defines payroll as the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions. In accounting terms, the payroll term refers to the amount paid to employees for services rendered during a certain period of time. Needless to say, payroll is an essential part of a company’s structure.

There are different kinds of payroll jobs that you do, but for now we’re focusing on the payroll administrator profession. Companies employ payroll administrators to ensure that the employees of their organisation are paid the right amount of money on time every month (or every week).

Payroll administrators usually perform tasks such as processing time sheets, calculating hours worked, calculating overtime and bonuses, calculating tax liability, calculating benefits such as pension fund and medical aid contributions and making payments to the UIF (the Unemployment Insurance Fund) and to SARS (the South African Revenue Service).

Some companies incorporate payroll administrator responsibilities into the responsibilities of their human resources department (depending on the size of the organization). In larger companies payroll administrators are more likely to have payroll clerks and other clerical staff assisting them with their duties, especially if they are responsible for hundreds of employees.

Payroll administrators should be good at working with numbers, have good computer skills and be familiar with payroll software. They should also have good communication skills, have a keen eye for detail, be familiar with tax legislation (and other relevant legalities) and be able to work quickly and accurately.

You don’t need a degree to become a payroll administrator but if you’re thinking of moving into this field it’s advisable that you do one or more of the payroll courses offered at colleges around the country. Payroll administrator positions are also likely to require 1-5 years experience, so if you’ve done the courses, consider working as a payroll clerk to build up your experience. According to the PayScale website, payroll administrators earn an average of about R12,800 per month in South Africa.

Looking for payroll jobs or other finance jobs? Visit Job Mail today, there are currently over 700 positions listed in the Finance / Accounting field.