Payroll Specialist Resume Guide + Tips + Example
Advance your payroll specialist career with a strong resume. We have the perfect guide to help you, with tips on what to add, skills to include, and how using a Resume Builder will save you time.
Start by editing this payroll specialist resume template or explore our 40+ resume templates to find the best one for you.
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Payroll specialist resume (text version)
Alyssa Krause
West Des Moines, IA 50265
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Seasoned payroll specialist bringing seven years of experience in accounting operations. Highly adept with key strengths in payroll administration functions, including discrepancy research, regulatory guidelines adherence, complex processing procedures and program management. Able to resolve issues quickly and identify mistakes on time sheets.
Skills
- Payroll administration
- New hire processing
- Time sheet review
- ADP
- Processing garnishments
- Attention to detail
- Communication
- Organization
Education
May 2012
Drake University Des Moines, IA
Bachelor of Science Accounting
Work History
September 2017 – Current
Iowa State Job Bank – West Des Moines, IA
Payroll Specialist
- Run bi-weekly payroll for over 2,000 employees, including set-up of warrant number for payroll date.
- Research payroll errors and process payments for federal and state taxes, social security, Medicare and various employee deductions, annuity contributions and retirement plan withholdings.
- Build and maintain 30 different contract calendars and manage the setup for all new banks for direct deposit and accrual year-end processes.
April 2015 – August 2017
Weitz – Des Moines, IA
Payroll Clerk
- Oversaw day-to-day processing of payroll for 850 employees, including review of timesheets and computing pay in accordance with FLSA.
- Performed calculations in overtime, vacation and sick hours to provide accurate data to payroll processing database.
- Applied knowledge of regulations, employment law and tax code to keep operations in compliance with applicable standards.
October 2012 – March 2015
Pearson – Des Moines, IA
Payroll Assistant
- Processed payrolls on both a bi-weekly and monthly basis for more than 600 employees nationally.
- Maintained payroll information by calculating, collecting and entering data.
- Accurately calculated bonuses, salary increases and overtime.
5 essentials of a payroll specialist resume
Contact details
Include your full name, city, state and ZIP code. In a different line, add your phone number, email address and link to your LinkedIn profile. Include any other professional website or networking website profile in this section.
Personal statement
This section is your introduction to the hiring manager. Also called a professional summary, this is where you present your best skills and your related work experience. In no more than five sentences, you will let the recruiter know: how long you have been in the industry, one or two professional accomplishments and your job-relevant skills. Pick your best to grab the hiring manager’s attention.
Skills
The payroll specialist resume skills tell recruiters what they know, and how they will work. Use bullet points to add a balanced list of hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are all about the job, like compliance, legal knowledge and administrative skills. Soft skills refer to your work habits and how you work with others, like ability to multitask, customer service mindset and teamwork.
If you have no experience, include transferable skills from other employment opportunities, particularly skills that show your leadership and management skills.
Work history
Your work history tells recruiters how much experience you have in the field. List it in reverse-chronological order and add the company names, locations and dates of employment. For every job, include a bulleted list of three measurable accomplishments, like how many reports you completed, any audit you participated in, how many requests were fulfilled and so on.
If this is your first job, you can include other relevant work experience, like volunteer experiences, community services, professional projects and more.
Education
Use bullet points to present your education. Include the school name, degree and graduation years but skip the graduation year if it has been more than 10 years. Include academic accomplishments, like projects, research, scholarships or other important memberships.
See why My Perfect Resume is a 5-star resume builder
Action words for a stand-out payroll specialist resume
Add assertiveness and expertise to your resume with action words. It helps demonstrate your accomplishments and career history with confidence. Stand out from the other applicants by using them in your resume.
Here’s a list of possible action words for a payroll specialist resume:
- Analyzed
- Administered
- Prepared
- Estimated
- Projected
- Assessed
- Reconciled
- Corrected
- Calculated
- Reduced
- Budgeted
- Retrieved
- Managed
- Collected
- Identified
Using these verbs will help you build a strong payroll specialist resume. Make the process easier for you by using our resume builder to write a great payroll specialist resume. We’ll help you with expert suggestions and step-by-step guidance. Plus, you’ll be able to download it in multiple formats.
Top skills for a payroll specialist resume
Use the skills section to highlight your expertise. Using a bulleted list, write a balanced mix of soft and hard skills. Remember to always tailor to the position you’re applying to by including skills from the job description.
This list has a few payroll specialist resume skills:
- Analytical skills
- Data analysis skills
- Problem solving
- Critical thinking
- Communication skills
- Compliance
- Microsoft Excel Knowledge
- Time management
- Attention to detail
- Customer service
- Mathematical skills
- Detail oriented
- Tax and wage law knowledge
- Reconciling
- Payroll processing
Certifications for a payroll specialist resume
If you’ve continued education for your field and have certifications, add them to your resume. Certifications reinforce knowledge and add more skills for a payroll specialist resume.
A few examples of certification to add are:
- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP)
- ADP Certified Payroll Specialist
- Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC)
Remember to also include any certification required by your industry.
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
Payroll specialist resume FAQ
1. How much does a payroll specialist make?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary is $44,760 per year. If you want to start a career as a payroll specialist, start with the right resume for a payroll specialist. Follow this guide and use our resume builder to create a great resume. Remember to check out resume samples for payroll specialists and other billing careers and be inspired to create your own.
2. How to write an effective summary for a payroll specialist?
To write an effective and professional payroll specialist resume summary, you must include your years of experience, strongest skills and a great achievement. Our resume summary examples work for payroll specialists and other billing professionals. Remember to always tailor this section to the job posting for an eye-catching resume.
3. What should a payroll specialist resume look like?
A resume should look clean and professional, not too crowded, and with the right, factual information. Choose a template from our extensive resume template collections with styles, like modern, creative, professional, basic and more. Find an ATS-friendly template to pass the applicant tracking software test.
Build your resume in our resume builder for an even easier experience. Simply choose a template, add your information and you’re done! If you change your mind, you can change the template, and the builder will automatically add all your information again.
If you want to see a finished product before you start writing, check out our resume examples. We have examples for all levels in different industries, like Billings and Collection.
Do’s and don’ts for building a payroll specialist resume
- Use measurable achievements to describe your payroll specialist skills and experience.
- Use action words to make an impact on your payroll specialist CV.
- Tailor your CV to your target payroll specialist job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your payroll specialist CV.
- Format your payroll specialist CV so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your payroll specialist experience and skills.
- Boast about your “incomparable” payroll specialist abilities.
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience not pertaining to a payroll specialist.
- Forget to proofread. A payroll specialist CV with errors is unprofessional.
Top 4 tips for acing a payroll specialist interview
Research the company or institution before your interview.
Learn from the website and social media profile. Take the time to learn about the company’s history, goals, values and people before the interview. Being able to show that you have in-depth knowledge about your potential employer shows real interest, dedication and commitment — traits that hiring managers look for every job candidate they talk to. Plus, having a glimpse of the company culture before you arrive will give you an idea of what to expect on arrival so that you can feel confident.
Practice at home.
It is almost guaranteed you will hear one of the most common interview questions. Be prepared for the expected. Take a look at some of these questions, for example:
- What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
- What attracted you to this company?
- What is the biggest mistake you’ve made?
You can also practice a mock interview. Ask a friend to ask you the questions, and then provide feedback on your answers, tone, and body language. Write down your best answers and continue to practice in front of a mirror on the days leading to your interview. This practice will help build your confidence for this and other interviews.
Prepare questions for your interview.
Stay one step ahead and prepare questions for the end of your interview. This process goes both ways: you’re also getting to know the employer. Have at least three questions ready for the interviewer.
Here are a few examples of questions to get you started:
- What are the day-to-day duties?
- What’s the company culture like?
- I read about the company’s accomplishments, how did you get the results?
- What made you decide to work for this company?
- What changes have you established since Covid-19?
Round up your references.
Once you are ready to start sending in applications, contact former managers and colleagues to be potential references. They should be able to vouch for you, your work ethics and your skills. Explain to them where you are in the process and let them know they could receive a phone call or email. Ask if they could prepare a letter of recommendation for you. This will depend on what the hiring manager requests.
Cover letter examples for the next step in your billing collections career
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Nilda Melissa Diaz
Career Advice Contributor
Nilda Melissa Díaz is a Career Advice Writer. She has worked for the Washington Post, Stringr, and Latina Style Magazine. She has a master's in journalism from Columbia University and is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
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