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

What is a senior payroll specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A senior payroll specialist manages and processes employee payrolls. They oversee the payroll process, ensuring that employees receive their payment accurately and on time. A senior payroll specialist also maintains records, calculates tax deductions, and resolves payroll-related issues. They stay up-to-date with tax laws and regulations to ensure compliance. Additionally, they may supervise and train junior payroll staff. A senior payroll specialist manages payroll operations to promote employee satisfaction and business success.

ScoreSenior Payroll SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,503

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.52%

Asian 6.00%

Black or African American 9.79%

Hispanic or Latino 18.12%

Unknown 6.06%

White 58.51%

Gender

female 76.76%

male 23.24%

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

What are the pros and cons of being a senior payroll specialist?

Pros

High demand for payroll specialists
Good salary and benefits package
Exposure to HR functions and employee relations
Daily tasks are predictable and routine
Opportunity to work with various software and technology

Cons

Risk of making errors that could lead to costly consequences
Need to manage multiple deadlines and priorities
Difficulties with handling sensitive financial information
Challenging communication with employees, managers, and other stakeholders
May require long working hours during month-end or year-end processing

Key steps to become a senior payroll specialist

Explore senior payroll specialist education requirements

Most common senior payroll specialist degrees

Bachelor's

57.7 %

Associate

25.7 %

High School Diploma

7.4 %

Start to develop specific senior payroll specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
PeopleSoft	14.95%
Payroll Data	4.81%
Reconciliations	3.88%
HRIS	3.52%
ADP Workforce	3.44%

Complete relevant senior payroll specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior payroll specialists 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 senior payroll specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior payroll specialist resumes.

Research senior payroll specialist duties and 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.

Get senior payroll specialist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior payroll specialist. The most common roles before becoming a senior payroll specialist include payroll specialist, payroll administrator team lead and payroll manager.

Prepare your senior payroll specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior payroll specialist 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 senior payroll specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior payroll specialist resume templates

Build a professional senior payroll specialist 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 senior payroll specialist resume.