How To Become A Payroll Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a payroll analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A payroll analyst maintains accounts and also processes accounting paperwork. The job duties of a payroll analyst include coordinating with other departments like human resources and finance, completing new employment verification, and communicating any change in payroll to employees. They oversee payroll procedures, ensure compliance with all compensation and regulations, review payroll data and documents or errors. They also prepare all paperwork for the tax deduction, benefits, garnishments, and processes benefit costs, like insurance and sick leaves. A payroll analyst conducts regular audits on payroll procedures and records and manages the payment calendars for the fiscal year.

Skills required as a payroll analyst are deep knowledge of state and federal payroll and tax regulations, excellent analytical skills, coupled with the ability to work under pressure. You must also be familiar with the use of excel spreadsheets and payroll software like oracle and Kronos. The educational requirement of a payroll analyst is a bachelor's degree in resources management, accounting, or other relevant fields. A payroll analyst makes an average of $51,064 per year.

ScorePayroll AnalystUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,217

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.52%

Asian 6.08%

Black or African American 10.07%

Hispanic or Latino 18.61%

Unknown 6.07%

White 57.64%

Gender

female 75.81%

male 24.19%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a payroll analyst

Explore payroll analyst education requirements

Most common payroll analyst degrees

Bachelor's

60.5 %

Associate

22.1 %

Master's

8.3 %

Start to develop specific payroll analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	10.52%
Payroll System	5.93%
Payroll Data	4.37%
Human Resources	4.23%
Reconciliations	3.90%

Complete relevant payroll analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New payroll analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a payroll analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real payroll analyst resumes.

Research payroll analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage all activities relate to base pay, overtime, PTO, garnishments and payroll tax.
Perform monthly accounting functions including journal entries, general ledger account reconciliations, benefit and salary accruals, and headcount reconciliations.
Create PowerPoint slides to train new timekeepers and managers in KRONOS.
Lead functional tester in support of timekeeping, payroll and labor upgrades and conversion projects.

Prepare your payroll analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your payroll analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a payroll analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable payroll analyst resume templates

Build a professional payroll analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your payroll analyst resume.