Description of Payroll Duties

The goal of payroll is to ensure employees are properly paid.check in macro image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com

Employees expect to be paid accurately and on time for the work they perform. Consequently, payroll duties are an integral and necessary part of an organization's structure. Processing payroll includes every step required to meet the company payroll, the calculation and payment of payroll taxes, and all related bookkeeping functions.

Timekeeping

Employers are not required to abide by a particular timekeeping method, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Any chosen timekeeping method is acceptable as long as it is correct and complete. Frequently, employers use time clocks to track hourly employees' time or they require their employees to complete time sheets, which supervisors must approve.

Payroll involves calculating the time displayed on the timecard or time sheet, making any pertinent adjustments, and ensuring the employees are paid accordingly. If the employee or his supervisor has already calculated the time, the payroll clerk must still check the hours to guarantee accuracy. If the employee or his supervisor fails to sign the timecard, the payroll clerk returns it for appropriate signatures. Typically, salaried employees do not complete time sheets and are paid a fixed wage each payday. Still, the payroll clerk has to ensure that the salaried worker is properly compensated.

Payroll processing duties include making changes to employees' payroll data, which includes form W-4 changes and pay adjustments from a prior pay period. It involves adjusting pay rates upon approval; processing new hires and terminations; setting up direct deposits; paying benefit days, including vacation, sick, and personal time and holidays; figuring overtime pay; and ensuring statutory and voluntary deductions are properly deducted.

The payroll clerk verifies the payroll via payroll reports before printing the paychecks or sending the direct deposit file to the bank. Once she sends the latter, she verifies the bank receives it appropriately. For wage reporting and payroll tax payment purposes, she forwards payroll tax documents and related files to the appropriate department.

Payroll accounting may be the responsibility of the payroll clerk, or of a payroll accountant or administrator who maintains the payroll accounts and decides if new accounts are necessary. He enters payroll transactions, such as salaries and taxes paid for each pay period into the payroll journal and ensures the company complies with the various payroll tax laws. He guides the payroll staff on how to handle complex payroll tasks within the accounting structure. Preparing for internal and external audits are critical aspects of payroll accounting.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employers are required to keep payroll records for at least three years. Records that determine wage amounts, such as time cards, must be kept for at least two years and should be open for inspection by the government. Payroll duties include meeting these criteria.