Payroll administrator vs payroll technician

The differences between payroll administrators and payroll technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a payroll administrator and a payroll technician. Additionally, a payroll administrator has an average salary of $46,596, which is higher than the $44,971 average annual salary of a payroll technician.

The top three skills for a payroll administrator include customer service, data entry and payroll system. The most important skills for a payroll technician are payroll system, human resources, and data entry.

Payroll administrator vs payroll technician overview

	Payroll Administrator	Payroll Technician
Yearly salary	$46,596	$44,971
Hourly rate	$22.40	$21.62
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	55,490	11,297
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

What does a payroll administrator do?

A payroll administrator is responsible for processing the wages of employees in a company or organization. Aside from issuing payments, it is also the payroll administrator's task to audit, process taxes and other deductions, keep and maintain an organized record of data, respond to inquiries and resolve issues, and tally employee work hours. Furthermore, a payroll administrator needs to have efficient attention to detail as most of the tasks require accuracy and speed. It is also essential to communicate and coordinate with team members at all times.

What does a payroll technician do?

A payroll technician may work in the finance or human resource department of an organization or with a payroll service. They are responsible for the collation and recording of employee payment data. As a payroll technician, you will apply organization systems, relevant laws, and other employment and labour regulations to process employees' payments. Depending on the payroll cycle, as a payroll technician, you will be expected to maintain accurate and up to date detailed information of staff for payroll purposes.

Payroll administrator vs payroll technician salary

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

	Payroll Administrator	Payroll Technician
Average salary	$46,596	$44,971
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $64,000	Between $30,000 And $66,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Maine	New Jersey
Best paying company	Northern Trust	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Construction	Finance

Differences between payroll administrator and payroll technician education

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

	Payroll Administrator	Payroll Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Payroll administrator vs payroll technician demographics

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

	Payroll Administrator	Payroll Technician
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 16.0% Female, 84.0%	Male, 19.1% Female, 80.9%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.9% Asian, 6.1% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between payroll administrator and payroll technician duties and responsibilities

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.

Payroll technician example responsibilities.

Provide Kronos and Lawson support to management concerning departmental payroll and timekeeping.
Evaluate time cards through KRONOS for accuracy.
Transmit and process payroll for hourly/shift employees on a bi-weekly basis with the use of ADP software.
Process payroll from the loading of time and attendance files to submitting payment data to ADP for check printing.
Provide payroll calculation and leave posting input for computer processing.
Participate in the successful implementation of PeopleSoft from an in-house system.

Payroll administrator vs payroll technician skills

Common payroll administrator skills

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

Common payroll technician skills

Payroll System, 9%
Human Resources, 7%
Data Entry, 6%
Life Insurance, 5%
Kronos, 4%
Payroll Data, 4%

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Payroll Administrator
Payroll Administrator vs Payroll Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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