Payroll clerks and administrators are in charge of paying employees, deducting taxes from paychecks, and transferring funds from paychecks to retirement and insurance accounts. Many businesses do not require clerks to have completed any formal training. Nonetheless, many colleges offer payroll processing courses, and some employers require clerks to have these payroll qualifications or a college diploma. Accounting licenses and various types of human resources credentials are other types of payroll qualifications that employers prefer.
Employers typically require payroll department employees to have completed high school. Many colleges offer short-term non-degree courses in payroll processing or bookkeeping, and employers frequently seek these types of payroll qualifications. Although some bookkeeping courses cover accounting practices in general rather than payroll accounting, the concepts learned during these sessions can be applied to payroll as well as other administrative tasks.
Large corporations employ a large number of clerks, and some companies prefer senior clerks to have a broad understanding of accounting, as payroll processing can be quite complicated when large numbers of employees and large sums of money are involved. Accounting exams are administered regulatory authorities or accounting associations in many countries, and successful candidates are awarded licenses or certificates. These accounting credentials are among the payroll credentials that are frequently listed as job requirements on job postings. Some colleges offer accounting classes that teach basic accounting principles in addition to formal accounting courses. Attendees of these classes are frequently able to find work as payroll clerks.
Human resources (HR) personnel in some companies are in charge of negotiating employee wages and processing payroll. As a result, those seeking employment in the payroll department are usually required to have prior HR experience. Some colleges offer HR management vocational classes, which often include a section on payroll processing. Furthermore, some employers prefer to hire clerks with college degrees in accounting-related subjects such as math or finance, whereas others prefer candidates with bachelor’s degrees in human resource management.
Certain types of payroll software programs are sold to businesses of all sizes information technology (IT) companies. On-the-job training is provided some IT companies, who send corporate trainers to teach clerks how to use the software. Other businesses create online training modules or send out training materials along with software. Because many software programs are used across industries, some employers require job applicants to have completed some kind of software training, and in some cases, these firms’ payroll qualifications may include a certificate of completion.