50 Payroll Clerk Interview Questions 2019

Payroll Clerk Interview Questions – A payroll clerk is primarily someone whose responsibility is focused on payroll processing and paying employees within the organization you work for. This would include managing tax calculations and other deductions such as HECS repayments or any salary sacrificing options that may be available.

A payroll clerk usually sits between the finance and HR department of business and undertakes administrative tasks to achieve departmental goals.

Task and Responsibilities of a Payroll Clerk

• creating files for new employees to record payroll data
• maintaining and updating files for existing employees to record information such as employee contact details, leave taken, overtime, promotions, transfers, tax deductions, health insurance payments and superannuation
• preparing payroll data from time sheets and other payroll and personnel records
• processing payment of wages and salaries
• issuing and recording adjustments to employees’ pay
• interpreting industrial awards
• providing information to employees and managers about payroll matters such as tax issues, benefits and deductions
• finalising files and arrangements when employees retire, resign or transfer
• may be in involved in maintaining superannuation and other deduction and contribution records

Required Qualifications for Payroll Clerk Jobs

To successfully become, there are certain quality and kill that is required. for instance, Some candidates go through formal training such as a Certificate of Accounts Administration or even undertake tertiary qualifications such as a Bachelor of Finance. Some will learn the qualification of the role on-the-job, through hard training and guidance.

Whether trained at an academic institution, online or on-the-job, these key skills and qualities are essential to becoming a successful payroll clerk:

• Willingness to learn

This is very important, all work and transactions undertaken by a payroll clerk must be in accordance with government law and other Office regulations. An established understanding of such laws and regulations or a willingness to learn them are a must if you’re hoping to become a payroll clerk.

• Attention to detail

This will ensure the procedure is been followed and payments are always accurate. Having solid attention to detail also helps you to pinpoint discrepancies or mistakes in records and correct them quickly. Any answer to “what does a payroll clerk do?” would be incomplete without mentioning the importance of this skill.

• Technical skills

Knowledge of the necessary accounting programs used by payroll clerks such as ADP, MicrOpay Merdian, Chris21 or MYOB will be crucial if you want to get the role and succeed in it. These are the programs you’ll use on a daily basis to lodge, record and store information about past and future transactions.

• Problem-solving ability

As a payroll clerk, discovering occasional discrepancies in payments or reporting is inevitable. When this happens, you’ll need to employ quick and effective problem-solving skills to rectify them. Keeping a record of the steps or methods used to fix issues will be valuable for account reconciling and future problem resolution.

While a payroll clerk is a wholly administrative job, that doesn’t mean it’s without variety and action.

Now when you wonder “what does a payroll clerk do?” you’ll know they’re vital to the successful operation of any business, regardless of industry. Dedication to this junior role will set you up for a secure and exciting career in finance and accounting.

50 Payroll Clerk Interview Questions

Functional questions

• 1. Which payroll systems have you worked with?

• 2. What are some differences between an employee and a contractor?

• 3. Can you describe Fair Labor Standards?

• 4. What is FICA, and how is it calculated?

• 5. What are some examples of voluntary deductions?

• 6. What are some examples of involuntary deductions?

• 7. What benefits are taxable?

• 8. What Excel skills do you use as part of your payroll duties?

Behavioral questions

• 9. Have you ever had to deliver bad news to someone? How did you approach it?

• 10. When have you make a mistake on the job, and how did you resolve it?

• 11. How do you manage your time so that you meet payroll-related deadlines?

• 12. Can you describe a time when your ethics felt challenged?

• 13. How do you stay current on regulatory and compliance changes?

Situational questions

• 14. An employee is angry because payroll made a withholding error. What are your next steps?

• 15. An employee asks for reimbursement for a questionable business expense. How do you handle it?

• 16. What would you do if you discovered a mistake on a coworker’s year-end report?

• 17. Due to something that is not your fault, payroll will be late this pay period. How do you deliver this news company-wide?

Questions about workplace fit

• 18. How would your colleagues describe you?

• 19. Do you prefer to work alone or as part of a team?

• 20. What is your pet peeve at work?

• 21. What do you do to beat stress in the payroll department?

• 22. How do you prefer to communicate with colleagues? With management?

Curveball questions

• 23. Which Hogwarts house would the Sorting Hat place you in?

• 24. How many Peeps are made each year?

• 25. If you could be any animal for a day, what would you choose and why?

• 26. How much do you hope to make in this position?

Informational questions

• 27. What can you tell me about yourself?

• 28. Why did you choose payroll as a career?

• 29. What interests you about this position?

• 30. Why do you want to work for this company?

• 31. Mention how to set up Payroll for small business?

• 32.  Mention what you need to do in order to pay a new employee?

• 33. Mention what is CTC?

• 34. Mention what are the common mistakes happen during Payroll process?

• 35.  Mention what is withholding tax?

• 36. Mention what all people involved in Payroll Processing?

• 37.  Mention what is Payroll source documents?

• 38.  Mention what all detail must be checked before vouching of wages?

• 40.  How to avoid Payroll errors?

• 41.  Mention what to look for when selecting a Payroll Service Software?

• 42.  Mention what comes under Non-taxable wages?

• 43.  When to Outsource Payroll?

• 44. What do you consider the biggest mistake you have ever made in your job?

• 45.  Why should we hire you?

• 46.  What is your greatest accomplishment? T

• 47. What can we expect from you in your first 90 days?

• 48. What are your salary expectations?

• 49. When to Outsource Payroll?

• 50. Do you have any questions?

Benefits of Being a Payroll Clerk

1. Industry flexibility

whichever organization it is, whether large or small, private or public, in the IT sector or in the banking industry needs able and eligible payroll workers to operate their business.

what this entails is that payroll staff have the amazing ability to work across different industries and develop their experience significantly, in ways many other roles aren’t able to.

2. Communication is key

It’s a general belief that payroll clerks spend their time alone, occupied paperwork and calculators, but this is not true,  the role bears a firm customer service element that will test and improve your communication and interpersonal skills.

Payroll clerks service the whole organization they work for, managing the payment process for full-time, part-time and casually contracted staff. That means you need to be an excellent written and verbal communicator.

All payroll related queries will be serviced by you and your department, so being able to interpret and explain various pay and award systems in easy-to-understand language will be essential.

3. Constant testing and learning

Little people know that being a payroll clerk most time comes with chances to test new software and processes that can have a good impact on the entire business.

Furthermore, when state and national taxation or wage laws change, payroll clerks and accounting departments must make sure they are well enlightened on how the changes will affect all staff at the organization.

This opportunity to frequently adapt and learn will provide challenge and excitement all through your tenure as a payroll clerk, no matter what industry or organization you work for.