How to Become a Payroll Administrator: Career Guide, Courses, After 12th, Jobs, Scope, Salary

Types of Payroll Administrator 

Scope of work of a payroll administrator covers a wide range of roles based on their areas of interest, educational background & specific experience some of which are listed below:

Payroll Clerk

• The primary responsibility of a payroll clerk popularly called payroll assistants involves collection and organization of time sheets, data entry related to employees pay periods along with reviewing and processing payroll. 
• Apart from the usual job of payroll processing, a payroll clerk is involved in maintenance and verification of employee attendance, hours worked, leave and overtime for preparing employee payments and benefits including tax deductions and insurance and pension plans. 
• Average salary of a payroll clerk ranges from INR 1.8 LPA to 4 LPA depending upon qualification and experience.

Payroll Administrator

• These are experts dealing with processing, preparing and distribution of employee paychecks. 
• The scope of work of a payroll administrator includes recording employee work hours to calculate pay and taxes, incorporating variables viz. overtime, travelling allowances, maternity/paternity and sick pay, holiday expenses, bonuses into employee pay and implementing company policies about pay. 
• Average salary of a payroll administrator may range from INR 3.0- 8.0 LPA depending upon educational background and experience. 

• Higher pay packages are offered to candidates who are Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certified by some internationally-recognized bodies.

Payroll Data Analyst

• A payroll data analyst is not necessarily involved in data entry related to payroll of an employee of an organization but is involved in overseeing payroll procedures, preparing reports and forecasts for senior management, and analyzing compensation related data including wages and bonuses of employees.
• These professionals are expected to have deep knowledge and hands on experience for handling payroll softwares like Oracle, Kronos etc besides having familiarity with Excel spreadsheets. 
• Average salary of a payroll data analyst may range from INR 4- 8 LPA depending upon educational background, skill, experience, employer and many more factors.

Payroll Manager

• The primary duties of a payroll manager include overseeing payroll account transactions viz. salaries and benefits of employees, deductions and taxes of employees and third party vendors along with ensuring compliance with relevant laws and internal policies of a company.
• Liaising with auditors and managing payroll audit taxes and finally supervising the payroll team and providing training and guidance to payroll clerks and assistants. 
• A payroll manager is expected to have strong analytical and methodical skills besides the usual skills of integrity, team spirit and strong organizational skills. 
• Most payroll managers are paid an average salary of INR 7.0- 16.0 LPA depending upon educational background, skills, experience and employer.

Payroll Director

• These professionals are involved in overseeing all the payroll procedures of a company which includes approving transactions and reviewing exemptions. 
• The primary duties of a payroll director includes auditing the entire payroll process to avoid payroll discrepancies quickly and efficiently, approve exemptions and salary changes, ensuring compliance with all payroll and tax laws, streamlining document compensation procedures and coordinating with external audits. 
• Average salary of a payroll director may range from INR 6.0- 16.0 LPA depending upon educational background, skill, experience, employer and many more factors.

How to Become a Payroll Administrator in India? 

School level Preparation

To become a Payroll Administrator, students should pursue Commerce stream or Science stream from school level. Accounting, Mathematics, Business Studies etc should be the prime subjects that one should opt for at the school level. Students should be well versed with numbers and analytical skills to pursue the career as a Payroll Administrator. 

How to become a Payroll Administrator After 12th?

Students need to have a BSc./ BCom in accounting/ business degree to start the career as a Payroll Administrator. The preparation at different levels have been discussed below.

UG Level Preparation

A bachelor program in science or Commerce or a BBA course looks for candidates with 10+2 pass certificates. Preference is given to candidates having mathematics or accountancy as a compulsory subject in the 10+2 examination.

Some of the popular BBA entrance examinations are NPAT , IPMAT , UGAT , BHU UET. Admission into this course is based on marks secured in the entrance examination followed by group discussion and personal interview.

PG Level Preparation

Top institutes like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, FMS Delhi offer 2 year Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) or Post Graduate Program in Management (PGP) which is a two year full time course offering insights of business management in various domains. 

Admission in most of the institutes is based on CAT/ MAT entrance scores. Both these examinations are national level entrance examinations conducted online for admission into PGDM or MBA programs. IBS Hyderabad, ICFAI Business School, XLRI conduct their own entrance exams for admission.

How to become a Payroll Administrator abroad 

Candidates aiming better salary and job role should complete certifications in payroll from internationally-recognized bodies include the American Payroll Association (APA), the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA) , the Australian Payroll Association or Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) or the International Association of Book-keepers (IAB). 

USA 

• In the USA, both undergraduate and postgraduate programs are available in business, accounting and human resources.
• Most US universities prefer TOEFL score as a standard for English proficiency test for International candidates
• Duration of a bachelors course is usually 3 years while masters courses are of 2 years duration.

• The course fee is between INR 5.0 to INR 25.0 lakhs.

Top Colleges 

UK

In the UK, employers generally look for candidates having relevant working experience in payroll processing instead of formal education. But it is recommended to have qualification in a specific industry namely Payroll Theory Training Course or Sage Payroll Course.

• The duration of the courses ranges from 3 years to 1 year.
• Applications are to be submitted online.
• The average course fee is between INR 10 to INR 25.0 lakhs

Top Colleges 

Canada

Employers in Canada prefer candidates with Canadian Payroll Association's Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) and Certified Payroll Manager (CPM) certifications instead of formal education. Still it is recommended to complete a bachelor's degree in accounting or human resources.

• The duration of the courses span from 3 years to 2 years for the full-time degree program.
• Admission is done through the university websites.
• International students must be fluent in either English or French.
• Fill the application with relevant details along with scores of English proficiency tests.
• This should be accompanied with uploading of relevant personal and educational documents.
• Make final submission of application by making payment of application fee.
• Candidates desirous of availing scholarship must submit financial proof.

Top Colleges 

Australia 

There is no specific educational qualification to become a payroll administrator in Australia, but it is recommended to complete a bachelors or a post graduate program in accounting to start a career in payroll management. The average course fee ranges between INR 13.0 to INR 65.0 lakhs.

• Complete a full time bachelor degree in Accounting or Business or Mathematics or Economics after 10+2.
• Candidates planning a bachelors or postgraduate program from Australia must hold a valid IELTS score to qualify for the English Proficiency Test.
• Few institutes look for candidates having TOEFL iBT or PTE Academic scores or senior secondary studies equivalent to the NSW HSC.
• International applicants must submit one English fluency test score. Accepted tests are IELTS, TOEFL, CAE, PTE Academic, OET etc.

Benefits of Career as a Payroll Administrator

The work of payroll administrator is dynamic and demanding, requiring hard work and critical thinking. Your initial years of struggle can turn into a lucrative career in the long run. Some of such benefits are as follows.

• Flexible Work Schedule: The job of a payroll administrator demands long hours of work with no fixed schedule of work. They may be required to work on weekends along with the option of working from home. Thus this job attracts candidates who prefer working in a dynamic environment with no fixed time schedule of work and have the liberty of working from home as per situation demands. 
• Variety in the Workplace: Payroll Administrators are involved in a variety of work which includes recording employee work hours, calculating pay and taxes of employees based on hours of work, preparing and distributing employee paychecks, complying with labour standards and regulations and a host of other tasks as and when assigned by the management.
• Exponential Career Growth: The starting salary of a payroll administrator may start with a meagre package of INR 2.0 LPA but with 5-6 years of work experience in relevant field coupled with certification in payroll processing from internationally-recognized bodies can help shoot salaries upto 16 LPA. Add to this hands-on experience in handling payroll related software packages namely Oracle, Kronos and spreadsheet which help in exponential growth in career offering better job position and better pay package.
• Wide Scope of Work: The job of a payroll administrator offers a wide scope of work and is not limited to a single industry. From Corporate businesses to Public sector organizations, education and airline industry, the scope of work of a payroll administrator spans across diverse domains.

Skills Required to be a Payroll Administrator 

• Numeracy and Analytical Skills: Payroll administrator is expected to have analytical skills to analyze company’s balance sheet or payroll or audit reports and present summarized reports of payroll and other related matters coupled with identifying discrepancies in calculation of payroll, pension and other tax deductions.
• Organized, logical, methodical approaches: They are expected to be organized and follow a methodical approach to handle such things for easy settlement of payroll, pension and other tax related matters. 
• Business Acumen: The more a payroll administrator has a business acumen and keen interest in the business process flow of an organization, has deep knowledge on the labor standards and regulations, as well as government payroll remittance, the chances of gaining the position of payroll management increases.
• Flexibility: Payroll administrator must be flexible enough to diverse job like preparing ad hoc reports for higher management, training the junior employees and providing necessary guidance to get them accustomed with the payroll processing task of a company coupled with liasoning with external auditors to remove existing discrepancies in the book of accounts and supervise compliance of labour and tax related laws are abide in the organization.
• Compliance knowledge: A payroll administrator is expected to stay updated with the latest changes in taxes and benefits as introduced by the government and introduce the same in the existing payroll software packages and systems being used in the organization to be at par with local, state and federal regulations.
• Attention to Detail: An attention to detail coupled with the right accuracy plays a key role in handling all payroll processing and other allied activities. A little error in capturing the number of hours worked by an employee or a fractional change in the tax percentage can draw huge implications in the calculation of salary and other variable components of salary of an employee. 
• Remaining Calm Under Pressure: Payroll processing can be both laborious and stressful as it involves tedious calculations of number of hours worked by individual employees, leave availed, any outstanding dues along with calculation of tax components. Thus it is essential to remain calm in such pressure situations and handle such pressure effectively and deliver the right job in an efficient and time bound manner. 
• Good timekeeping and ability to meet strict deadlines: Effective and zero error processing of payroll data of employees in a time bound manner is what makes a good payroll administrator. Time Management skills have a huge impact on the payroll system and employee grievances as well.
• Excellent soft skills: Payroll administrator is expected to deal with and manage various people viz. their team, other directors, company employees, board members, vendors and government functionaries. Excellent written and communication skills, customer service and conflict resolution skills, self-starter and initiator pays a long way to survive in this competitive world.