7 Things about Professional Payroll Accounting Your Boss Wants to Know

by Amelia Jackson Content Strategist

Candidates that apply for payroll positions come with a set of varied skills and expertise as well as work history. They will also work in different roles that range from entry level to payroll clerk to administrator and even supervisor. But did you know that your boss will definitely look for certain qualities in you? Here is what your boss won’t tell you, but you should know about anyway.

Payroll certifications

For one thing, you need to know about the payroll certifications that you need. You can even enrol on payroll certification courses online, especially ones like sage payroll online training so that it gives you a competitive edge over other candidates. The more payroll qualifications that you have, the better it will be for your career prospects.

Experience with payroll software

Like we said before studying something like sage payroll online training is important. Most payroll platforms are complex and there can be a lot of variation from one system to another, which means that skills may not always be transferable. But studying something that is globally used such as sage will always come in handy for you. In an ideal world, your boss will look for candidates with direct experience in their department's particular software rather than those who might need in-depth training to get up to speed. But because hiring in this field is highly competitive, it pays to consider candidates who haven't worked with that specific platform but show an aptitude for learning new software, so having taken on a few payroll courses online may just display that quality to your boss.

Other software skills

Beyond having payroll software experience you should also be savvy when it comes to certain other software types for example, like, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel in that especially, as well as Word and Outlook. Some payroll experts' roles overlap with accounting, especially in smaller businesses, making proficiency in QuickBooks or Quicken an asset. And of course, because so much of reporting and payment processing has moved online, that you should be comfortable with working in the cloud.

Knowing compliance

While you are looking for payroll certification online, you should also brush up on your knowledge with compliance. While payroll software platforms can help you stay compliant, they're not foolproof. The best protection is to have staff who understand the rules and know how to put them into practice. At the interview stage, you will be asked questions about compliance to gauge your level of familiarity with the recent legislation.

Attention to detail

One key factor that will be stressed in all of your payroll training courses online or offline, is the need for attention to detail. Why? Because if you are in payroll, you cannot afford to make mistakes. For certain roles in a company, you may be able to overlook minor errors like typos in a resume or the failure to follow the instructions of applications. But when you're applying for payroll, your attention to detail is paramount. Make this a non-negotiable attribute.

Your customer service skills

Another component that you need to be excellent in is customer service skills. Therefore when you look for payroll certification courses online, you should make sure that they cover this component as well. Your clients may be internal but your team will need a fine tuned customer service mindset. As a payroll specialist you should be able to provide prompt and cordial responses that are accurate and professional to any phone or email inquiry. You should be able to help employees with navigating the portals in the company and you should know about confidentiality, diplomacy and problem solving as well.

Your data and analysis skills

For most finance teams, software can handle the functional and routine work which means that it frees up the time for you to invest in data analysis and business strategy. Today's accounting and finnace teams are actively involved researching and evaluating new systems and software, collaborating with IT on final purchases, and implementation. This is true for payroll too and that is why your boss will look for your skills and expertise in payroll and technology. They will want to have somebody who is good at working with data.