Paymaster vs payroll administrator

The differences between paymasters and payroll administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a paymaster and a payroll administrator. Additionally, a paymaster has an average salary of $69,234, which is higher than the $46,596 average annual salary of a payroll administrator.

The top three skills for a paymaster include ADP, payroll processing and payroll system. The most important skills for a payroll administrator are customer service, data entry, and payroll system.

Paymaster vs payroll administrator overview

	Paymaster	Payroll Administrator
Yearly salary	$69,234	$46,596
Hourly rate	$33.29	$22.40
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	668	55,490
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

Paymaster vs payroll administrator salary

Paymasters and payroll administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Paymaster	Payroll Administrator
Average salary	$69,234	$46,596
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $115,000	Between $33,000 And $64,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	Maine
Best paying company	-	Northern Trust
Best paying industry	-	Construction

Differences between paymaster and payroll administrator education

There are a few differences between a paymaster and a payroll administrator in terms of educational background:

	Paymaster	Payroll Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Paymaster vs payroll administrator demographics

Here are the differences between paymasters' and payroll administrators' demographics:

	Paymaster	Payroll Administrator
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 27.8% Female, 72.2%	Male, 16.0% Female, 84.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.9% Asian, 6.1% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 6.2% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between paymaster and payroll administrator duties and responsibilities

Paymaster example responsibilities.

Manage annual professional liability in PeopleSoft for faculty and fellows.
Assist in month end process including accruals and payroll journals.
Create and maintain record of expenses and payments, assisting in the preparation of various reports and reconciliations.
Perform monthly balance sheet account reconciliations including bank and payroll reconciliations.
Maintain detailed records of employment, and provide spreadsheets/data of all payroll functions-for audit purposes in accordance with statutory requirements.
Create new inventory/non-inventory items in QuickBooks accounting system and tracks supplies accurately.

Payroll administrator example responsibilities.

Manage year-end W2 audit/corrections and distribution.
Manage employee direct deposit accounts and initiate ACH reversals when necessary.
Manage all requisitions using PeopleSoft for the administrator and all assign departments.
Maintain KRONOS timekeeping system, review, sort and distribute employee upload file and multiple misc.
Maintain and monitor PTO balances and provide executive reports relate to vacation accruals.
Assist in implementing and training of MyTime and Lawson systems.

Paymaster vs payroll administrator skills

Common paymaster skills

ADP, 11%
Payroll Processing, 11%
Payroll System, 10%
Accruals, 9%
Reconciliations, 8%
W-2, 8%

Common payroll administrator skills

Customer Service, 9%
Data Entry, 7%
Payroll System, 6%
Human Resources, 5%
Payroll Data, 4%
Process Payroll, 4%