Payroll clerk vs payroll technician

The differences between payroll clerks 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 clerk and a payroll technician. Additionally, a payroll technician has an average salary of $44,971, which is higher than the $41,602 average annual salary of a payroll clerk.

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

Payroll clerk vs payroll technician overview

	Payroll Clerk	Payroll Technician
Yearly salary	$41,602	$44,971
Hourly rate	$20.00	$21.62
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	71,944	11,297
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

What does a payroll clerk do?

A payroll clerk is responsible for managing the payroll process by collecting the necessary information needed to release payments. Payroll clerks' duties include verifying timesheets, calculating necessary deductions, issuing paychecks timely, managing payment discrepancies and disputes, updating employee's payment information in the database, and creating payroll reports. A payroll clerk must have strong analytical and organization skills, as well as a clear understanding of the organization's payroll policies, ensuring that the process follows regulatory procedures.

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 clerk vs payroll technician salary

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

	Payroll Clerk	Payroll Technician
Average salary	$41,602	$44,971
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $55,000	Between $30,000 And $66,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	New Jersey
Best paying company	MDU Resources	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Government	Finance

Differences between payroll clerk and payroll technician education

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

	Payroll Clerk	Payroll Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Payroll clerk vs payroll technician demographics

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

	Payroll Clerk	Payroll Technician
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6%	Male, 19.1% Female, 80.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 6.0% White, 58.0% 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 clerk and payroll technician duties and responsibilities

Payroll clerk example responsibilities.

Manage all worker compensation and cobra benefit issues and filings.
Manage employee drug and background screenings, train new hires and verify I9 information.
Process payroll; assist in establishing new time and attendance (KRONOS) computer system; balance insurance billings.
View, key, post and monitor time and labor, absences and leave balances in PeopleSoft HRIS system.
Compile data and enter information into ADP payroll processing system.
Process payroll and transmit electronically to outside computer service for preparation of payroll checks and reports.

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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.

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Payroll clerk vs payroll technician skills

Common payroll clerk skills

Data Entry, 19%
Payroll System, 10%
Photocopying, 7%
Excellent Organizational, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
ADP, 5%

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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Updated January 8, 2025

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