Payroll auditor vs senior payroll specialist

The differences between payroll auditors and senior payroll specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior payroll specialist has an average salary of $59,503, which is higher than the $45,159 average annual salary of a payroll auditor.

The top three skills for a payroll auditor include audit payroll, payroll data and payroll processing. The most important skills for a senior payroll specialist are peoplesoft, payroll data, and reconciliations.

Payroll auditor vs senior payroll specialist overview

	Payroll Auditor	Senior Payroll Specialist
Yearly salary	$45,159	$59,503
Hourly rate	$21.71	$28.61
Growth rate	6%	-3%
Number of jobs	23,534	6,310
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	44	48
Years of experience	-	4

Payroll auditor vs senior payroll specialist salary

Payroll auditors and senior payroll specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Payroll Auditor	Senior Payroll Specialist
Average salary	$45,159	$59,503
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $60,000	Between $42,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	MongoDB
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between payroll auditor and senior payroll specialist education

There are a few differences between a payroll auditor and a senior payroll specialist in terms of educational background:

	Payroll Auditor	Senior Payroll Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Pennsylvania

Payroll auditor vs senior payroll specialist demographics

Here are the differences between payroll auditors' and senior payroll specialists' demographics:

	Payroll Auditor	Senior Payroll Specialist
Average age	44	48
Gender ratio	Male, 33.8% Female, 66.2%	Male, 23.2% Female, 76.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 6.0% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	10%

Differences between payroll auditor and senior payroll specialist duties and responsibilities

Payroll auditor example responsibilities.

Manage PTO and cafeteria benefits program.
Work with Kronos then go to eTime.
Utilize ADP contacts to ensure that proper tax and government data is up to date.
Audit pay information and import into ADP, resolving payroll discrepancies by collecting and analyzing information.
Work closely with internal and external auditors to assess and improve existing audit procedures and SOX compliance.
Reconcile managers and timekeepers entries within Kronos.

Senior payroll specialist example responsibilities.

Manage payroll imports into and out of HRIS, including master file and pay data additions and changes.
Update the maintenance of all job-relate records in the KRONOS timekeeping system, for all employees.
Perform thorough analysis of UltiPro timekeeping system prior to uploading to the payroll system on a biweekly basis.
Process payroll using ADP/ KRONOS for multiple companies.
Load pay changes for pay period into UltiPro.
Process regular wages, overtime wages, PTO, tips and toke incomes, etc.

Payroll auditor vs senior payroll specialist skills

Common payroll auditor skills

Audit Payroll, 29%
Payroll Data, 8%
Payroll Processing, 5%
Financial Statements, 4%
Audit Reports, 4%
Payroll System, 4%

Common senior payroll specialist skills

PeopleSoft, 15%
Payroll Data, 5%
Reconciliations, 4%
HRIS, 4%
ADP Workforce, 3%
Data Entry, 3%

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Payroll Auditor vs Senior Payroll Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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