A payroll officer is typically part of a bookkeeping, accounting or finance department or business and handles the payment of employees’ salaries. If you’re interested in becoming a payroll officer, but you’re not entirely sure if the role will suit you or how it could help your current position, read on.
We’re looking at what a payroll officer does, the skills you’ll need to succeed, and the industry-standard accounting qualification that will allow you to step into this important role.
Duties of a Payroll Specialist
A person who specialises in payroll practices, either in a dedicated payroll position, as a bookkeeper, senior bookkeeper, firm owner or involved in the accounting industry, you will be responsible for a wide range of accounting tasks. These are some of the duties you’ll carry out:
- Identify business compliance and other requirements
- Analyse and apply industry codes of conduct associated with work activities
- Review and apply goods and services tax (GST) implications and code transactions
- Report on payroll activities and amounts withheld
- Reconcile and prepare activity statements
- Lodge activity statements
- Establish and maintain payroll requirements
- Prepare and record payroll data
- Prepare and process payroll and handle and maintain payroll enquiries
- Authorise payment of salaries and administer salary records
- Process salary packaging arrangements and additional allowances in payroll
- Process superannuation payments in payroll
- Analyse taxation systems relevant to payroll and evaluate the impact of taxation systems on payroll services
- Ensure payroll services comply with taxation systems and maintain compliance with taxation systems
- Identifying any errors in payment and financial information and resolve any payment discrepancies
- Sending payment information to employees
Top 3 skills to help you succeed
While payroll specialists have varying personalities and come from many different walks of life, here are some of the skills that will help you advance your career over time.
1. Payroll software
Technology reduces time spent on simple tasks and allows payroll officers to optimise their efficiency. Knowing how to use payroll software is an essential hard skill for payroll officers. Taking an online course will allow you to start whenever it suits you, and with flexible learning hours and fully remote-enabled modules, you can complete the Certificate in Xero Payroll, Certificate in QuickBooks Payroll, or the Certificate in MYOB Essentials Payroll in just a few hours.
2. Critical thinking
Critical thinking is a mindset that combines an eye for detail and problem-solving abilities. When applied to your payroll duties, this essential skill will help you to spot errors or payment discrepancies which you’ll be able to fix, potentially helping your firm avoid financial loss or compliance issues.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report lists the top 10 job skills of tomorrow, and critical thinking and problem-solving are rated the number one skill employers will look for in the next five years.
If you’re concerned that your skills are not up to scratch, this can be easily remedied with a short success skills course in Critical Thinking that will help you to effectively analyse and assess information, take control of any situation regardless of complexity or pressure, and create solutions that really work.
3. Communication
Solid communications skills, both written and verbal, will have an impact on the success of your career as a payroll officer. You will be called on to write reports as well as meet with your line manager and colleagues to discuss performance, work tasks and the status of payment systems.
Developing the skills of effective listening and communication will also help you to advance to leadership positions and will undoubtedly help you stand out from the crowd in job interviews. For more interview tips, read 5 top tips to ace your accounting job interview.
Are you sure your communications skills are enough to advance your career? You can quickly develop your abilities by taking a Communicating with Influence course, which will help you achieve your personal and professional goals with confidence.
How to become a payroll specialist or take your skills to the next level
FNS50417 Diploma of Payroll Services
This industy-recognised diploma was introduced after a PricewaterhouseCoopers review identified a gap in the availability of financial services training that covered Australian industrial law and the related HR issues.
On completion of the Diploma of Payroll Services FNS50417, you will be able to confidently establish payroll systems, prepare salary packaging arrangements and additional allowances, and process superannuation payments and employee terminations.
Taken part-time, you will need to complete about 10 to 15 hours a week of study over six to 12 months to gain accreditation as a payroll services practitioner and be ready to apply your new skills.
When you sign up for this exciting accounting course, you’ll automatically become a student member of the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), which opens up plenty of benefits and resources to give you an extra edge in the marketplace.
According to the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), the FNS50417 Diploma of Payroll Services is also an excellent Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunity for practicing BAS agents, since an increasing number of employers expect BAS agents to be proficient in calculating and processing payment summaries, employee termination payments, gross wages and other payroll tasks.
Choosing a career growth partner
Deciding the best accounting courses to take, that will set you on the right career path, is an important first step and we’re here to help. Winner of LearnX awards in seven categories, the Ab2 Institute of Accounting was created to serve those who want to get ahead in the accounting and financial industries by offering the latest professional and online accounting courses developed by industry experts to help you move forward and stay relevant every step of the way.
Contact us today to find out how we can partner with you as you walk the exciting path ahead.
