Payroll clerk vs senior payroll specialist

The differences between payroll clerks and senior payroll specialists 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 senior payroll specialist. Additionally, a senior payroll specialist has an average salary of $59,503, 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 senior payroll specialist are peoplesoft, payroll data, and reconciliations.

Payroll clerk vs senior payroll specialist overview

	Payroll Clerk	Senior Payroll Specialist
Yearly salary	$41,602	$59,503
Hourly rate	$20.00	$28.61
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	71,944	6,310
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
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 senior payroll specialist do?

Senior payroll specialists are professionals who are responsible for calculating the wages of employees of an organization accurately. These specialists are required to analyze and verify payroll reports and documents for accuracy while making the necessary corrections through journal entries or other established procedures. They must authorize and review payroll transactions as well as complete appropriate forms to adjust salary account funds. Senior payroll specialists must also conduct training sessions for other payroll professionals to explain information regarding payroll policies and procedures.

Payroll clerk vs senior payroll specialist salary

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

	Payroll Clerk	Senior Payroll Specialist
Average salary	$41,602	$59,503
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $55,000	Between $42,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	New Jersey
Best paying company	MDU Resources	MongoDB
Best paying industry	Government	Technology

Differences between payroll clerk and senior payroll specialist education

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

	Payroll Clerk	Senior Payroll Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Payroll clerk vs senior payroll specialist demographics

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

	Payroll Clerk	Senior Payroll Specialist
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6%	Male, 23.2% Female, 76.8%
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, 9.8% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 6.0% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between payroll clerk and senior payroll specialist 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.

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 clerk vs senior payroll specialist skills

Common payroll clerk skills

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

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 Clerk vs Senior Payroll Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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