A payroll assistant works in a company’s payroll department, providing assistant services to the employees in that department. Typically, the duties of a payroll assistant would include calculating employee wages, estimating various figures related to payroll expenditures, as well as providing communication between the different areas of the payroll department. A payroll assistant may also be required to help out employees in cases of problems related to their payroll calculation, and be able to provide some basic maintenance on the company’s payroll systems as well.
Becoming a payroll assistant takes a high school diploma in most cases, as the job isn’t very demanding in terms of education. Most of the skills required to perform it properly can be learned in the course of employment, and some companies offer specialized training courses aimed at offering the most important knowledge related to the position as well. Many payroll assistants only take up the job as a temporary solution to secure some income.
As a payroll assistant, one can earn between $28,000 – $36,000 a year. The job isn’t that highly-paying for the workload involved in practicing it, though it does have some benefits which aren’t offered in other clerk-related positions, such as good prospects for future development in the same company. Even though it’s mostly seen as a temporary job by most people, it can still be used as a good stepping stone towards better employment if one does it right.