Payroll Manager Job Description

Salary Range

Varies by employer

Experience

Senior, 5 years or more

Work Environment

Payroll or finance office

What Does a Payroll Manager Do?

Few things test staff goodwill faster than a late or wrong paycheck, and that is where a payroll manager comes in. The job covers every pay run at a company, hospital or university, from timekeeping data and deductions to tax deposits, year-end W-2s and the team that processes them.

Also known as: Director of Payroll and Payables

Other Job Titles for This Work

Workers in this occupation report titles such as Accounting Supervisor, Banking Center Manager (BCM), Branch Manager, Business Banking Manager, Credit Administration Manager, Credit Manager, Financial Center Manager, Financial Planning Manager.

Payroll Manager Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of a payroll manager include:

• Approve each payroll run after checking totals, exceptions and large changes against the previous cycle.
• File federal, state and local payroll tax deposits and quarterly returns such as Form 941.
• Oversee year-end W-2 production and corrections, and answer employee questions about them.
• Keep pay practices compliant with FLSA overtime rules and state wage-payment laws.
• Manage garnishments, child support orders and tax levies within their legal deadlines.
• Reconcile payroll registers and benefit deductions to the general ledger each month.
• Lead the payroll and payables staff, set deadlines and cover critical tasks during absences.
• Work with HR and IT on system changes, new pay codes and interface testing.
• Set controls over direct deposit changes to block payroll diversion fraud.
• Answer auditors' requests and fix any control gaps their findings raise.

Required Skills and Qualifications

To succeed as a payroll manager, you will need the following skills and qualifications:

• Payroll systems such as ADP, UKG, Workday or Paylocity
• FLSA, multi-state tax and garnishment rules
• CPP certification from PayrollOrg, or progress toward it
• Excel for reconciliations and audit trails
• Leading a team through fixed deadlines
• Confidentiality with salary and personal data
• Clear answers for anxious employees
• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance or business

Education and Training

Once you have processed payroll for a few years you will need to show supervisory experience for any manager post for which you apply. A CPP certification from PayrollOrg adds weight. Many employers ask for a bachelor's degree, in line with the bachelor's-plus-experience profile BLS gives for financial managers.

Salary and Job Outlook

BLS projects employment of financial managers to grow about 10 percent from 2025 to 2035. Payroll managers sit inside that wider group, which also covers controllers and treasurers, and BLS expects roughly 65,600 openings a year across all of it. And, as long as tax and overtime rules differ from state to state, payroll managers will be needed to make sure each paycheck is right.

Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Financial managers.

Payroll Manager Pay Range

Highest-Paying States for Payroll Managers

The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are New York ($219,880), Massachusetts ($206,760), New Jersey ($199,110), District of Columbia ($188,880), Virginia ($185,220). Pay is lowest in Arkansas ($116,570), West Virginia ($113,140), Mississippi ($111,390).

What the Work Is Like

O*NET surveys people who work as financial managers about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:

• 100% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
• 99% use email every day
• 95% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
• 93% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
• 85% spend more than half the workday sitting
• 73% usually work more than 40 hours a week
• 58% are on the phone every day

Education Workers Say the Job Needs

Tools and Software Payroll Managers Use

Tools and equipment

• 10-key calculators
• Desktop computers
• Notebook computers
• Personal computers
• Personal digital assistants PDA
• Scanners
• Tablet computers

Software

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office software
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• SAP software
• Adobe Acrobat
• Alteryx software
• IBM SPSS Statistics
• Intuit QuickBooks
• Marketo Marketing Automation
• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft Project

Is This Job a Good Fit for You?

People who do well in this job tend to enjoy leading, persuading and making business decisions as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.

Skills O*NET rates most important: Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Writing, Monitoring.

Knowledge areas used most: Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management, Economics and Accounting, Mathematics, Administrative.

Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 4 of 5, which means considerable preparation.

Related Careers

These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:

• Chief Financial Officer job description
• Bank Manager job description
• Accounting Manager job description
• Accounts Payable Manager job description
• Accounts Receivable Manager job description
• Budget Director job description
• Bursar job description
• Controller job description

Applying for a Payroll Manager Job

• Business cover letter sample
• Resume or CV: which to send
• How to describe your work experience
• Job interview tips
• Interview thank-you note

The Job Explorer never charges candidates any money. If someone asks you to pay to apply for a payroll manager job or to get hired, treat it as a warning sign.