Senior payroll specialist vs payroll technician

The differences between senior payroll specialists 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 senior payroll specialist and a payroll technician. Additionally, a senior payroll specialist has an average salary of $59,503, which is higher than the $44,971 average annual salary of a payroll technician.

The top three skills for a senior payroll specialist include peoplesoft, payroll data and reconciliations. The most important skills for a payroll technician are payroll system, human resources, and data entry.

Senior payroll specialist vs payroll technician overview

	Senior Payroll Specialist	Payroll Technician
Yearly salary	$59,503	$44,971
Hourly rate	$28.61	$21.62
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	6,310	11,297
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

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.

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.

Senior payroll specialist vs payroll technician salary

Senior payroll specialists and payroll technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Payroll Specialist	Payroll Technician
Average salary	$59,503	$44,971
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $82,000	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	MongoDB	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between senior payroll specialist and payroll technician education

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

	Senior Payroll Specialist	Payroll Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Senior payroll specialist vs payroll technician demographics

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

	Senior Payroll Specialist	Payroll Technician
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 23.2% Female, 76.8%	Male, 19.1% Female, 80.9%
Race ratio	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%	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 senior payroll specialist and payroll technician duties and responsibilities

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 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.

Senior payroll specialist vs payroll technician skills

Common senior payroll specialist skills

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

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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Senior Payroll Specialist
Senior Payroll Specialist vs Payroll Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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