Payroll supervisor vs payroll technician

The differences between payroll supervisors 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 supervisor and a payroll technician. Additionally, a payroll supervisor has an average salary of $64,422, which is higher than the $44,971 average annual salary of a payroll technician.

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

Payroll supervisor vs payroll technician overview

	Payroll Supervisor	Payroll Technician
Yearly salary	$64,422	$44,971
Hourly rate	$30.97	$21.62
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	6,668	11,297
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

What does a payroll supervisor do?

A payroll supervisor ensures employee salaries are released in a timely manner and accounts for all payrolls and cash released by the company. The payroll supervisor organizes all financial transactions and generates reports for accounting. This position ensures employees are paid accurately and calculates all deductibles such as insurance, child support, taxes, and payroll adjustments. The payroll supervisor must have accounting and bookkeeping skills and has pertinent experience in relevant fields of study.

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 supervisor vs payroll technician salary

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

	Payroll Supervisor	Payroll Technician
Average salary	$64,422	$44,971
Salary range	Between $46,000 And $89,000	Between $30,000 And $66,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	eBay	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between payroll supervisor and payroll technician education

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

	Payroll Supervisor	Payroll Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Payroll supervisor vs payroll technician demographics

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

	Payroll Supervisor	Payroll Technician
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 21.3% Female, 78.7%	Male, 19.1% Female, 80.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 6.0% White, 58.2% 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 supervisor and payroll technician duties and responsibilities

Payroll supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage the administration and processing of KRONOS time reporting system.
Manage installation of automate timekeeping systems in facilities, ensuring accurate, timely processing of time and attendance information.
Act as the HRIS backup running queries and reports as scheduled and upon request via PeopleSoft for management and key stakeholders.
Create journal entries and account reconciliations for key benefit programs and maintain account reconciliations of liability accounts.
Assist in implementing new PTO plan, work with ADP to interface system.
Check all new hire information, ensuring accuracy of information complete in KRONOS system.

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 supervisor vs payroll technician skills

Common payroll supervisor skills

Customer Service, 9%
Payroll System, 6%
Payroll Tax, 5%
Reconciliations, 5%
Human Resources, 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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Office and Administrative Industry
Payroll Supervisor
Payroll Supervisor vs Payroll Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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