Payroll Manager
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Payroll Manager manages payroll department operations and staff at a company or organization. Ensures that employee wages, salaries, benefits and deductions are calculated correctly, and that paychecks are distributed on time. Coordinates with human resources staff with regard to staff promotions and pay grades.
Job Outlook
There were 294 Payroll Manager job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 9639 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Payroll Manager industry, which includes the Payroll Manager career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Payroll Manager jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $108,736.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $102,803.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Payroll Manager postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $87,255.
Education and Experience
Posted Payroll Manager jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 65.92% |
| Master's Degree | 7.13% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0.45% |
| Other | 8.76% |
Posted Payroll Manager jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 9.51% |
| 3 to 5 years | 57.57% |
| 6 to 8 years | 19.71% |
| 9+ years | 13.21% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Payroll Manager positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (49.54%)
- Management (44.96%)
- Operations (37.85%)
- Detail Oriented (36.81%)
- Leadership (35.69%)
- Problem Solving (31.58%)
- Microsoft Excel (25.22%)
- Customer Service (22.89%)
- Microsoft Office (20.52%)
- Organizational Skills (16.81%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Payroll Regulations (20.99%)
- Multi-State Payroll (14.71%)
- Payroll Systems (47.06%)
- Payroll Processing (64.76%)
- Payroll Tax (29.33%)
- Auditing (51.46%)
- Accounting (61.65%)
- Finance (47.96%)
- Payroll Policies and Processes (34.8%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Dayforce (HCM Software) (3.99%)
- Payroll Reporting (20.22%)
- Workflow Management (10.2%)
- Workday (Software) (15.13%)
- Benefits Administration (5.65%)
- Internal Controls (15.34%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (11.35%)
- Human Resources Information System (HRIS) (17.77%)
- Automation (8.79%)
- Reconciliation (12.37%)
- Tax Laws (10.24%)
- External Auditing (11.75%)
- General Ledger (12.14%)
- Tax Preparation (7.86%)
- Payroll Administration (22.25%)
- Labor Law (7.63%)
- Financial Statements (7.93%)
- Project Management (13.28%)
- SAP Applications (4.43%)
- Process Improvement (21.44%)
- Balancing (Ledger/Billing) (8.06%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Payroll Computation (2.36%)
- Automatic Data Processing Software (ADP) (1.54%)
- Payroll Practices (5.27%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Payroll Regulations (27.9%)
- Payroll Computation (3.14%)
- Accounting (81.97%)
- Finance (63.77%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Payroll Manager skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Payroll Supervisor
- Payroll and Benefits Manager
- Global Payroll Manager
- Global Payroll Director
- Director of Payroll
- Workday Payroll Consultant
- Payroll Operations Manager
- Human Resources and Payroll Manager
- Assistant Payroll Manager
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Accounting Analyst
- Accounting Supervisor
- Financial Operations Specialist
- Accountant (General)
- Accounting Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Payroll Manager jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Robert Half (443)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (173)
- Amentum (157)
- Vaco (137)
- Aston Carter (83)
- Engine Room (80)
- Creative Financial Staffing (76)
- KPMG (71)
- Marriott International (64)
- Waste Management (63)
North Carolina
- Vaco (21)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (7)
- Compass Group (7)
- Engine Room (6)
- Marriott International (5)
- Adecco (5)
- North Carolina State University (5)
- KPMG (5)
- Robert Half (5)
- Ledgent (4)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.