Payroll Specialist Interview Preparation Guide

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In this question, the candidate will explain about the main functions like reconciling, reviewing, processing and validating the employee records.

Common mistakes happen during Payroll process,

☛ Setting up Payroll Incorrectly
☛ Paying or deducting more money to employees account
☛ Forgetting to Record Paper Checks
☛ Submitting Deposits Late or Incorrectly
☛ Ignoring to run payroll on time.

I believe in hard-work through attention to detail. Also, I have good numeracy skills, and computer and data entry proficient.

A payroll system is a software which organizes all the tasks of employee payment and the filing of employee taxes. These tasks can include,

☛ Tracking employees working hours
☛ Calculating wages
☛ Withholding taxes and deductions
☛ Printing and delivering checks
☛ Paying employment taxes to the government

This contains the useful data regarding the withholding of tax and eligibility ratio calculations. This is needed by the employee while processing and forwarding tax information.

Payroll is the term used for the compensation a business must pay to its employees for a set period of time or on a given date.

This will include the making of various reports like deduction reports, wage type, leave or absentee reports, new hire reports, LWAP reports and many others.

The methods to manage Payroll includes,

☛ Doing it yourself by hand
☛ Using employee payroll software
☛ Outsourcing payroll
☛ Assisted payroll

The good work done by you in your previous job will be explained in this question by the interviewee. This could include the initiation of other useful forms like promotion, expenditure, incentive forms, reimbursement forms and so on.

FLSA stands for the Fair Labor Standards Act and it contains constitutional guidelines regarding minimal wages, overtime, absentee record keeping protocols and the like.

To avoid Payroll errors, try following things

☛ Ensure that all employees details are correct
☛ Track leave start and end dates. calculate at the end of employment for holidays accrued
☛ Review your reporting process- for instance filling up your annual reconciliation form
☛ Remain updated with changes and new rule in payroll tax rules
☛ Don’t ignore payroll requirement deadlines- for instance paying withholding, payment summaries to the employee, etc.
☛ Make sure the correct employer premiums are taken out if insurance is covered.

Here one can explain about the hard work, numerical skills, data entry etc as your skills and strengths to the person interviewing you.

Withholding tax also known as retention tax is the income withheld from employee’s wages and paid directly to the government by the employer.

This is one of the tough and good interview question. Make sure not to answer it first else you are likely to lose. Just say something like according to the range for this position and also depends on the details of the job. This question is meant for knowing how much salary a person needs or what kind of expectations a person has from the company.

Bonuses and incentives cannot be processed in the same manner as regular payrolls. Special forms need to filled out and extra calculations need to be made before a special pay item can be processed.

When I joined EZ enterprises they had no payroll processing forms in use other than the basic personal data, absence and travel approval forms. I designed, formatted and initiated several other useful forms including expenditure reimbursement, promotion, incentive forms and the like which are in use at the organization till date.

I am well practiced in making and issuing new hire reports, promotion reports, leave/absentee reports, deduction reports, LWAP reports, wage type and deduction reports.

CTC stands for Cost to Company. It includes all the costs related to an employment contract and covers all compulsory deductibles including deductions for provident fund, medical insurance, etc. These deductibles form a part of your compensation structure, but you do not get them as a part of the in-hand salary.

Health or retirement benefits that are paid before taxes known as Non-taxable wages.

This question gives the candidate a golden chance to clear the doubts regarding the working, methods, rules and regulations, about the company, about the post, salary, incentives, bonus and so on. This will help the interviewer also to know what extra does the candidate has in his or her mind regarding the company.

Back in 2011 when it was my first year of work at Harvey’s, I kept all data in compiled forms. When the date for tax filing neared I felt that there was not enough time to sort each employee’s tax information. My audit officer criticized usage of compilation forms and I took the criticism positively. After sorting the tax information with great difficulty that year, I immediately implemented separate income tax IRS forms in the department.

This answer will provide you with an insight into the communication skills of your potential employee and how they handle difficult situations.

☛ Timekeeper: Responsible for ensuring that attendance and time is submitted by the reporting deadline. The employee acts as the timekeeper in the case of web time entry
☛ Approver: Responsible for ensuring that time and attendance are approved and submitted by the reporting deadline.
☛ Proxy: In the absence of approver’s, authorized time and attendance
☛ Department Administrator: Responsible for certifying that the process for gathering and maintaining the data needed, along with completing and reviewing the payroll report.
☛ Financial Manager: Responsible for monitoring and verifying the accuracy of the payroll.

This question will assist the person in knowing the abilities of a person in handling the strict and serious situations and the time-dependent problems performing strict follow-up duties.

This query will highlight your strengths and the best points as they relate to the positions being discussed. This will make you more positive towards your thoughts and will also tell the interviewers about your capabilities that would differ you from others. These queries will help the company find the potential and capable candidate for the company who will contribute to the best output for your organization.