interview questions and answers for payroll

Payroll administrators record and post time and payroll data for employees. Administrators ensure payroll information is accurate and employees are paid on time. Payroll administrators review time sheets, calculate wages, reconcile discrepancies and process information into the payroll system.
  
Tips payroll  interview

For a payroll position, they will probably want to know if you have experience with the software program they use to run payroll. If you don't, tell them about a time that you trained quickly on a new piece of software. They might ask you some questions about how you handle tough customers or tight deadlines.

I think the best way to answer any interview question is telling a story about something that has already happened to you. That way, instead of saying "I WOULD do it this way" you are giving them an example of how you act in the real world. So try to think of some examples of tough situations you have been in and what you did and what you learned from them.

The best question to ask is if the company promotes from within or just hires out? This way you know if you have any chance of moving up or getting better pay later another good one is always where is this company going or growing to will they be around in 5years or not

Sample Payroll interview questions

• Tell me about yourself?
• Why did you leave your last job?
• What is your greatest weakness?
• Which are the reports that the accounts department must be provided with at the time of payroll?
• What are methods that are used to manage Payroll?
• What do you know about the regulatory standards, policies and procedures of Payroll?
• Define the term “payroll” with respect to accounting.
• What does variance report in terms of payroll stand for?
• What kind of training and certification, do you have related to payroll?
• What are key tasks for Payroll…position?
• What made you choose to apply to Payroll…position?
• Describe steps to manage Payroll?
• Is the exact date of the payroll period for an employee determined by the payroll area or the payroll control record?
• What activities are possible when the payroll control record is set to “Released for Payroll”?
• What is meant by W2 in terms of payroll?
• What experience do you have in Payroll field?
• What are key tasks for Payroll…position?
• What are top 3 knowledge/top 3 skills for Payroll…position?
• What are KRAs/output of Payroll…position?
• How to measure/appraise your Payroll…position?
• What do you know about this company?
• Describe two or three major trends in your Payroll field?
• Did you choose this profession/field?
• What tertiary qualifications have you attained that related to Payroll…position?
• What is the most recent skill you have learned that related to Payroll…position?
• What do you do to stay current with provincial, federal, state, municipal regulations?
• A payroll clerk often has to face employees’ ire due to a payroll error. How would you handle such a situation
• Define payroll. Mention the various payroll procedures conducted regularly for updating the payroll database?
• What are monitoring methods for Payroll activities?
• Describe ISO 9001 for Payroll?
• What made you choose to apply to Payroll…position?
• Tell me about your last position and what you did?
• What do you know about the Payroll…position?
• What have you done to improve your Payroll knowledge in the last year?
• What have you learned from mistakes on the Payroll job?
• What was the most complicated payroll you are responsible for?
• State the payroll principles and standards defined to work and maintain an organization’s payroll system.
• Name the payroll software you can access? Do you have knowledge of some accounting software as well?
• What’s your experience level with Microsoft Excel and access?
• Tell me about the most complicated report you have to prepare related to personnel. For example, over time, these, headcount, retirement contribution and so on.
• Payroll is run every two weeks, which means a lot of pressure to meet the deadline. When have you had to work under pressure?
• What are some of the most important reports you have written? How difficult were they to write? Why? What reactions did they get?
• Describe the employment laws that affect your work?
• Please tell us something about payroll tracking, reconciliation and reporting.
• Please rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 on your data entry skills and general math and book keeping skills.
• Are you willing to work overtime or off-shift during emergency or special situations like auditing, financial year-end etc?
• What were the challenges you faced in payroll operations while following either company or government policies?
• What kind of training and certification, do you have related to payroll?
• Tell me about a time when you took disciplinary action against an employee. How did you decide what to do?
• How do you monitor your department’s productivity or performance as a Payroll Administrator? Give some examples.
• What training or certification program have you gone through in this field?
• Do you have adequate technical knowledge of the computer software programmes and applications that will be required in your work?
• What do you know about the regulatory standards, policies and procedures of payroll?
• What are methods that are used to manage Payroll?
• How to maintain Payroll activities?
• What are common risks for Payroll? And how to face?
• Describe steps to manage Payroll?
• How to measure performance of Payroll activities?
• Describe your experience with the administration of electronic timekeeping.
• Do you have experience of handling typical payroll issues raised by the employees? If yes, tell us about your strategy to deal with such a situation?
• Explain your role with payroll administration. Discuss the nature of problems generally occurred during the payroll record submission?
• What do you understand from employer’s social security, compensation payments and payroll liabilities? Discuss the relationship between these three entities.
• Tell us the formula for calculating provincial income and social security taxes.
• How do you make sure that employee records are entered and accurately and on time?