Payroll director
After several years of experience working as a payroll manager, you may have an opportunity to move up to a job as payroll director. Responsibilities for a payroll director include developing payroll procedures and overseeing their implementation, ensuring compliance with payroll laws and regulations, facilitating training and development for the payroll team, and generating payroll-related data to be used in budgeting and forecasting.
In addition to prior experience in a payroll manager role, payroll directors need to have deep knowledge of payroll processing, and a strong skill set when it comes to designing and managing complex payroll systems. Communication skills are extremely important in this role as it often involves collaboration with other departments. Solid leadership and management skills are essential, and a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or a related field is usually required.
Is the payroll career path for you?
A career specializing in payroll is about more than remunerating employees. It’s a multidisciplinary field that encompasses finance, HR, customer service, IT, data analysis, and compliance and risk management. If you’re willing to learn relevant skills and knowledge related to these disciplines throughout your career, you could make the payroll career path even more rewarding.
Also, to succeed in any role in this profession, you’ll need a sharp eye for detail, excellent mathematical and time management skills, plus the ability to juggle various tasks and work well under pressure. Effective communication, organizational and problem-solving skills are other must-have abilities. Honesty, trustworthiness and reliability are also key attributes most employers specifically look for in candidates for payroll jobs.