- Tell me the main functions of the payroll specialist work?
In this question, the candidate will explain about the main functions like reconciling, reviewing, processing and validating the employee records.
- Tell us what are the common mistakes happen during Payroll process?
Common mistakes happen during Payroll process,
☛ Setting up Payroll Incorrectly
☛ Paying or deducting more money to employees account
☛ Forgetting to Record Paper Checks
☛ Submitting Deposits Late or Incorrectly
☛ Ignoring to run payroll on time.
- Tell me what are your strengths as a payroll specialist?
I believe in hard-work through attention to detail. Also, I have good numeracy skills, and computer and data entry proficient.
- Tell me what is a Payroll System? Give an example?
A payroll system is a software which organizes all the tasks of employee payment and the filing of employee taxes. These tasks can include,
☛ Tracking employees working hours
☛ Calculating wages
☛ Withholding taxes and deductions
☛ Printing and delivering checks
☛ Paying employment taxes to the government
- Please explain what is the main purpose of w2 and w4 IRS forms?
This contains the useful data regarding the withholding of tax and eligibility ratio calculations. This is needed by the employee while processing and forwarding tax information.
- Explain what is Payroll?
Payroll is the term used for the compensation a business must pay to its employees for a set period of time or on a given date.
- Explain me the kinds of payroll reporting you are aware about?
This will include the making of various reports like deduction reports, wage type, leave or absentee reports, new hire reports, LWAP reports and many others.
- Explain what are the methods to manage Payroll?
The methods to manage Payroll includes,
☛ Doing it yourself by hand
☛ Using employee payroll software
☛ Outsourcing payroll
☛ Assisted payroll
- Explain me about anyone proud achievement of yours in your previous job?
The good work done by you in your previous job will be explained in this question by the interviewee. This could include the initiation of other useful forms like promotion, expenditure, incentive forms, reimbursement forms and so on.
- Do you know what is FLSA?
FLSA stands for the Fair Labor Standards Act and it contains constitutional guidelines regarding minimal wages, overtime, absentee record keeping protocols and the like.
- Tell me how to avoid Payroll errors?
To avoid Payroll errors, try following things
☛ Ensure that all employees details are correct
☛ Track leave start and end dates. calculate at the end of employment for holidays accrued
☛ Review your reporting process- for instance filling up your annual reconciliation form
☛ Remain updated with changes and new rule in payroll tax rules
☛ Don’t ignore payroll requirement deadlines- for instance paying withholding, payment summaries to the employee, etc.
☛ Make sure the correct employer premiums are taken out if insurance is covered.
- Tell me about your strength and weakness as a payroll worker?
Here one can explain about the hard work, numerical skills, data entry etc as your skills and strengths to the person interviewing you.
- Tell me what is withholding tax?
Withholding tax also known as retention tax is the income withheld from employee’s wages and paid directly to the government by the employer.
- Tell us what kind of salary are you expecting from the company?
This is one of the tough and good interview question. Make sure not to answer it first else you are likely to lose. Just say something like according to the range for this position and also depends on the details of the job. This question is meant for knowing how much salary a person needs or what kind of expectations a person has from the company.
- Tell me what experience do you have processing special pay items?
Bonuses and incentives cannot be processed in the same manner as regular payrolls. Special forms need to filled out and extra calculations need to be made before a special pay item can be processed.
- Explain me about one proud achievement as a payroll specialist?
When I joined EZ enterprises they had no payroll processing forms in use other than the basic personal data, absence and travel approval forms. I designed, formatted and initiated several other useful forms including expenditure reimbursement, promotion, incentive forms and the like which are in use at the organization till date.
- Explain me what kinds of payroll reporting you know about?
I am well practiced in making and issuing new hire reports, promotion reports, leave/absentee reports, deduction reports, LWAP reports, wage type and deduction reports.
- Explain me what is CTC?
CTC stands for Cost to Company. It includes all the costs related to an employment contract and covers all compulsory deductibles including deductions for provident fund, medical insurance, etc. These deductibles form a part of your compensation structure, but you do not get them as a part of the in-hand salary.
- Tell me what comes under Non-taxable wages?
Health or retirement benefits that are paid before taxes known as Non-taxable wages.
- Do you have any query?
This question gives the candidate a golden chance to clear the doubts regarding the working, methods, rules and regulations, about the company, about the post, salary, incentives, bonus and so on. This will help the interviewer also to know what extra does the candidate has in his or her mind regarding the company.
- Explain me a time when your work was criticized? How did you handle it?
Back in 2011 when it was my first year of work at Harvey’s, I kept all data in compiled forms. When the date for tax filing neared I felt that there was not enough time to sort each employee’s tax information. My audit officer criticized usage of compilation forms and I took the criticism positively. After sorting the tax information with great difficulty that year, I immediately implemented separate income tax IRS forms in the department.
- How do you handle an employee who does not report their time prior to the deadline?
This answer will provide you with an insight into the communication skills of your potential employee and how they handle difficult situations.
- Explain what all people involve in Payroll Processing?
☛ Timekeeper: Responsible for ensuring that attendance and time is submitted by the reporting deadline. The employee acts as the timekeeper in the case of web time entry
☛ Approver: Responsible for ensuring that time and attendance are approved and submitted by the reporting deadline.
☛ Proxy: In the absence of approver’s, authorized time and attendance
☛ Department Administrator: Responsible for certifying that the process for gathering and maintaining the data needed, along with completing and reviewing the payroll report.
☛ Financial Manager: Responsible for monitoring and verifying the accuracy of the payroll.
- Tell me how do you deal with the employees who do not report time records to the staff?
This question will assist the person in knowing the abilities of a person in handling the strict and serious situations and the time-dependent problems performing strict follow-up duties.
- Tell us how you will be an asset for our company?
This query will highlight your strengths and the best points as they relate to the positions being discussed. This will make you more positive towards your thoughts and will also tell the interviewers about your capabilities that would differ you from others. These queries will help the company find the potential and capable candidate for the company who will contribute to the best output for your organization.
- Explain what to look for when selecting a Payroll Service Software?
When selecting a Payroll Service Software check for following things,
☛ For security reason, the system should offer the necessary data encryption, disaster recovery plans, and back up
☛ Easy integration with other software like HR or Accounting Software
☛ Does system have notification provision where the error occurs?
☛ How long does it take to fix an error? Does system have notification provision when an error occurs?
☛ Is your Payroll Service Scalable- ( allow to adapt according to employees strength)
☛ Does your Payroll Service supports mobile as well as cloud technology
☛ Does your Payroll Service have built-in benefits management system?
☛ Support reporting functionality such as tax reports, deduction analysis, gross-to-net payroll register, compensation analysis, and so on.
- Explain how to set up Payroll for small business?
To set up Payroll for small business, follow below steps
☛ Identify your payroll responsibilities,
☛ Employees payment details
☛ Pay taxes
☛ File forms
☛ Choose the payroll system that suits your business
☛ Pay employees properly
☛ Pay payroll taxes and file tax forms
- Tell us some payroll processing software you are well versed in?
Being a tech savvy person I usually don’t find it difficult to operate any payroll processing software. I have worked with numerous payrolls processing software including UltiPro, BambooHR, Zenifits and APS Online.
- Tell me four of the most important of functions in a payroll specialist’s work?
All duties of a payroll specialist are important. However, these three cannot be overlooked:
• Processing and validating employee records
• Reviewing and verifying time cards
• Reconciling payroll data and
• Processing payroll reports
- We have different contracts with different entities, each with specific requirements regarding payroll. How will you make sure that everything is paid correctly and on time?
This question helps you determine a candidate’s ability to handle stress and also gives you insight into how he or she sets up processes.
- Best Payroll Specialist Job Interview Questions:
☛ This position with ADP requires strong research skills. What is the first resource you turn to when you need to research a person, business, or topic?
☛ At ADP we seek to hire those who can read between the lines in order to uncover our client’s potential needs. Give me an example of how you have successfully done this.
☛ In this role with ADP you will be required to make regular presentations to our clients. How comfortable are you with public speaking, and creating PowerPoint presentations?
☛ We have many strong competitors. What makes ADP stand out, and how could we improve?
☛ What do you know about our clients at ADP and the types of services we offer?
☛ We have a very specific personality type that fits well with the strong corporate culture at ADP. Describe your personality in 3 words.
☛ We have a healthy yet competitive culture at ADP. How do you track your personal successes and metrics? How often do you look at your KPI’s?
☛ At ADP we do everything to ensure that our clients are satisfied. What is your client service philosophy?
☛ Are you currently interviewing with any of our competitors? Why do you want to work for ADP over any of our competitors?
☛ This position requires a competitive yet collaborative individual. How do you plan to make an impact in your first 90 days with ADP while setting a strong groundwork of trust with your new team members?
☛ When have you had to change a major component of your project due to new information being presented?
☛ Tell me about a project you completed recently that was ahead of schedule.
☛ What is the most competitive work situation you have experienced? How did you handle it? What was the result?
☛ If you could start your career over again, what direction would you take?
☛ What type of manager brings out the best in you?
☛ How do you handle communicating bad news to a fellow worker or subordinate?
☛ How would you describe your relationship with your customers or clients?
☛ What would you do differently at your last job?
☛ Outside of work, what type of creative activities do you like to pursue?
☛ Tell me about a time when you took on a new course to study in order to improve your own work performance.
☛ Tell me about your most significant work experience that relates to this position.
☛ Have you ever broken a confidentiality agreement?
☛ Do you prefer to work in a team based position or individually?
☛ When do you feel your leadership skills are most effective?
☛ How do you evaluate success among your team members?
☛ How do you balance life and work?
☛ What steps do you take to define and understand the problem?
☛ How would you prefer to be compensated?
☛ What would you do if a client asked you about a product or service and you were unsure of the answer?
☛ How would you rate your performance in this interview so far?
☛ How do you motivate others on your team?
☛ Where do you see yourself in five years?
☛ How do you manage your time?
- Basic 100 Payroll Specialist Interview Questions:
1.How would you describe yourself?
2.What specific goals, including those related to your occupation, have you established for your life?
3.How has your college experience prepared you for a business career?
4.Please describe the ideal job for you following graduation.
5.What influenced you to choose this career?
6.At what point did you choose this career?
7.What specific goals have you established for your career?
8.What will it take to attain your goals, and what steps have you taken toward attaining them?
9.What do you think it takes to be successful in this career?
10.How do you determine or evaluate success? Give me an example of one of your successful accomplishments.
11.Do you have the qualifications and personal characteristics necessary for success in your chosen career?
12.What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?
13.If you could do so, how would you plan your college career differently?
14.Are you more energized by working with data or by collaborating with other individuals?
15.How would you describe yourself in terms of your ability to work as a member of a team?
16.What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
17.Given the investment our company will make in hiring and training you, can you give us a reason to hire you?
18.Would you describe yourself as goal-driven?
19.Describe what you’ve accomplished toward reaching a recent goal for yourself.
20.What short-term goals and objectives have you established for yourself?
21.Can you describe your long-range goals and objectives?
22.What do you expect to be doing in five years?
23.What do you see yourself doing in ten years?
24.How would you evaluate your ability to deal with conflict?
25.Have you ever had difficulty with a supervisor or instructor? How did you resolve the conflict?
26.Tell me about a major problem you recently handled. Were you successful in resolving it?
27.Would you say that you can easily deal with high-pressure situations?
28.What quality or attribute do you feel will most contribute to your career success?
29.What personal weakness has caused you the greatest difficulty in school or on the job?
30.What were your reasons for selecting your college or university?
31.If you could change or improve anything about your college, what would it be?
32.How will the academic program and coursework you’ve taken benefit your career?
33.Which college classes or subjects did you like best? Why?
34.Are you the type of student for whom conducting independent research has been a positive experience?
35.Describe the type of professor that has created the most beneficial learning experience for you.
36.Do you think that your grades are a indication of your academic achievement?
37.What plans do you have for continued study? An advanced degree?
38.Before you can make a productive contribution to the company, what degree of training do you feel you will require?
39.Describe the characteristics of a successful manager.
40.Why did you decide to seek a position in this field?
41.Tell me what you know about our company.
42.Why did you decide to seek a position in this company?
43.Do you have a geographic preference?
44.Why do you think you might like to live in the community in which our company is located?
45.Would it be a problem for you to relocate?
46.To what extent would you be willing to travel for the job?
47.Which is more important to you, the job itself or your salary?
48.What level of compensation would it take to make you happy?
49.Tell me about the salary range you’re seeking.
50.Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way?
51.Describe an instance when you had to think on your feet to extricate yourself from a difficult situation.
52.Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
53.By providing examples, convince me that you can adapt to a wide variety of people, situations and environments.
54.Describe a time when you were faced with problems or stresses that tested your coping skills.
55.Give an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
56.Describe a time when you had to use your written communication skills to get an important point across
57.Give me a specific occasion in which you conformed to a policy with which you did not agree.
58.Give me an example of an important goal which you had set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
59.Describe the most significant or creative presentation that you have had to complete.
60.Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
61.Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).
62.Sometimes it’s easy to get in “over your head.” Describe a situation where you had to request help or assistance on a project or assignment.
63.Give an example of how you applied knowledge from previous coursework to a project in another class.
64.Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project disagreed with your ideas. What did you do?
65.Describe a situation in which you found that your results were not up to your professor’s or supervisor’s expectations. What happened? What action did you take?
66.Tell of a time when you worked with a colleague who was not completing his or her share of the work. Who, if anyone, did you tell or talk to about it? Did the manager take any steps to correct your colleague? Did you agree or disagree with the manager’s actions?
67.Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or guide others to a compromise.
68.What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision.
69.We can sometimes identify a small problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem. Give an example(s) of how you have done this.
70.In a supervisory or group leader role, have you ever had to discipline or counsel an employee or group member? What was the nature of the discipline? What steps did you take? How did that make you feel? How did you prepare yourself?
71.Recall a time from your work experience when your manager or supervisor was unavailable and a problem arose. What was the nature of the problem? How did you handle that situation? How did that make you feel?
72.Recall a time when you were assigned what you considered to be a complex project. Specifically, what steps did you take to prepare for and finish the project? Were you happy with the outcome? What one step would you have done differently if given the chance?
73.What was the most complex assignment you have had? What was your role?
74.How was your transition from high school to college? Did you face any particular problems?
75.Tell of some situations in which you have had to adjust quickly to changes over which you had no control. What was the impact of the change on you?
76.Compare and contrast the times when you did work which was above the standard with times your work was below the standard.
77.Describe some times when you were not very satisfied or pleased with your performance. What did you do about it?
78.What are your standards of success in school? What have you done to meet these standards?
79.How have you differed from your professors in evaluating your performance? How did you handle the situation?
80.Give examples of your experiences at school or in a job that were satisfying. Give examples of your experiences that were dissatisfying.
81.What kind of supervisor do you work best for? Provide examples.
82.Describe some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that were implemented, or carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts.
83.Describe a situation that required a number of things to be done at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result?
84.Have you found any ways to make school or a job easier or more rewarding or to make yourself more effective?
85.How do you determine priorities in scheduling your time? Give examples.
86.Tell of a time when your active listening skills really paid off for you – maybe a time when other people missed the key idea being expressed.
87.What has been your experience in giving presentations? What has been your most successful experience in speech making?
88.Tell of the most difficult customer service experience that you have ever had to handle — perhaps an angry or irate customer. Be specific and tell what you did and what was the outcome.
89.Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. Why was this person difficult? How did you handle that person?
90.Describe a situation where you found yourself dealing with someone who didn’t like you. How did you handle it?
91.Give me a specific example of something you did that helped build enthusiasm in others.
92.Tell me about a difficult situation when it was desirable for you to keep a positive attitude. What did you do?
93.Give me an example of a time you had to make an important decision. How did you make the decision? How does it affect you today?
94.Give me an example of a time you had to persuade other people to take action. Were you successful?
95.Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult person. How did you handle the situation?
96.Tell me about a time you had to handle multiple responsibilities. How did you organize the work you needed to do?
97.Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision, but didn’t have all the information you needed.
98.What suggestions do you have for our organization?
99.What is the most significant contribution you made to the company during a past job or internship?
100.What is the biggest mistake you’ve made?
- Top Professional Payroll Specialist Job Interview Questions:
☛ Tell me about yourself?
☛ What are your greatest strengths?
☛ What Are Your Greatest Weakness?
☛ What experience do you have in Payroll specialist field?
☛ What are key tasks for Payroll specialist…position?
☛ What are top 3 knowledge/top 3 skills for Payroll specialist…position?
☛ What are KRAs/output of Payroll specialist…position?
☛ How to measure/appraise your Payroll specialist…position?
☛ What do you know about this company?
☛ Describe two or three major trends in your Payroll specialist field?
☛ Did you choose this profession/field?
☛ What tertiary qualifications have you attained that related to Payroll specialist…position?
☛ What is the most recent skill you have learned that related to Payroll specialist…position?
☛ What do you do to stay current with provincial, federal, state, municipal regulations?
☛ A payroll specialist clerk often has to face employees’ ire due to a payroll specialist error. How would you handle such a situation
☛ Define payroll specialist. Mention the various payroll specialist procedures conducted regularly for updating the payroll specialist database?
☛ What are monitoring methods for Payroll specialist activities?
☛ Describe ISO 9001 for Payroll specialist?
☛ What made you choose to apply to Payroll specialist…position?
☛ Tell me about your last position and what you did?
☛ What do you know about the Payroll specialist…position?
☛ What have you done to improve your Payroll specialist knowledge in the last year?
☛ What have you learned from mistakes on the Payroll specialist job?
☛ What was the most complicated payroll specialist you are responsible for?
☛ State the payroll specialist principles and standards defined to work and maintain an organization’s payroll specialist system.
☛ Name the payroll specialist 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 specialist 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 specialist 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 specialist operations while following either company or government policies?
☛ What kind of training and certification, do you have related to payroll specialist?
☛ 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 specialist 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 specialist?
☛ What are methods that are used to manage Payroll specialist?
☛ How to maintain Payroll specialist activities?
☛ What are common risks for Payroll specialist? And how to face?
☛ Describe steps to manage Payroll specialist?
☛ How to measure performance of Payroll specialist activities?
☛ Describe your experience with the administration of electronic timekeeping.
☛ Do you have experience of handling typical payroll specialist issues raised by the employees? If yes, tell us about your strategy to deal with such a situation?
☛ Explain your role with payroll specialist administration. Discuss the nature of problems generally occurred during the payroll specialist record submission?
☛ What do you understand from employer’s social security, compensation payments and payroll specialist 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?
☛ You can never be too prepared: Try these open-ended “What if…” questions you could face in a job interview.
☛ Like what you’ve read? Join Monster to get personalized articles and job recommendations-and to help recruiters find you.
- Tell me which payrolls are similar from company to company, every company has its own way of working with their quirks and other ways of doing things. Explain how will you familiarize yourself with a company’s particular system of working?
Such long questions will determine the hearing and attentiveness of the candidate i.e how attentively a person listens and answers to the query asked. This will show how initiative a candidate is about solving problems that differ from one company to another.
- Explain me the time when your work was not applauded, but criticized and how did you solve that problem?
This will tell you about the honesty of the candidate, and will give you a glimpse of how the candidate takes the criticism i.e… positively or negatively.
- Please explain how will you maintain the knowledge of laws, news and so on and tell if you have ever been related to any professional organisation?
Be true and be you is the formula for the interviewee to answer. This question is asked by the interviewer to blot out the truth from the candidate and this will show the level of honesty in the employee or how honest an employee is towards the company.
- While payroll may be similar from company to company, each company handles their payroll process a little differently. Tell me how you would familiarize yourself with our process?
This question shows initiative on the potential employee’s part and how they handle problems. Do they dive right into the position, or do they work better with a structured training program.
- When would you want to pay an employee through accounts payable instead of via payroll?
The answer to this question provides insight into how well a candidate knows the intricacies of AP and payroll. It also lets you see if a candidate can come up with solutions that are not cut and dried.
- Please explain what payroll experience do you possess in handling the special pay items?
This question will help the interviewer to know the bonus or other incentives if any are added in the payment of an employee. Special forms need to be filled out or any extra calculations to be done before processing a special pay item. These things are taken into account by the interviewer through this query.
- Every company has different contracts with different entities, each entity with a particular requirement. How will you make sure that every employee is paid correctly and that too on time without causing any delay?
This will help you know the stress level a person could handle along with giving an insight of setting up the process in line.
- Explain me about the most common errors that payroll specialist make and also the steps to avoid them?
Usually, the input errors occur, this type of answer by a person will explain about the possibility of mistakes one could make while working. Also, it will show a person’s capability to avoid them smartly without causing any further error or creating any chaos.
- Tell me which software are you proficient with? Have you ever been involved in the installation and implementation of HR information and the payroll functions?
This will let others know your technical skills regarding the softwares you work on and also how expert you are in using them as a professional without causing any mistake in the transactions you carry out. It will also tell about your experience in a field as more experience will give you more indepth knowledge while the less experience will likely to make many mistakes due to less knowledge.
- Tell us are you familiar with Employment Laws that Regulate Employee Pay?
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets standards for minimum wage, overtime, commissions, wage garnishments, record-keeping and reporting. Payroll Specialists must be familiar with these laws to comply with FSLA requirements.
- Tell me what are the most common errors made by payroll specialists? How can these be avoided?
Data input errors especially while filing tax details are the most common. I avoid these by paying extra attention and rechecking each form with a gap of few minutes after initial filling.
- Tell me what is the importance of accuracy when performing duties in a payroll specialist’s position?
There is nothing more important than accuracy. Since there is money at stake here, it is important to make sure that accurate postings are done and that any inaccurate information is dealt with on an immediate basis.
- Tell me what would you do if an employee does not submit time records by the payroll deadline?
In the first place, I assure that all employees submit their time records by the announced date each week so they are paid timely. If someone is late I personally remind them to. It is part of my duty to collect all records before the payroll processing date and I fulfill it proficiently.
- Adaptability is very important in the role of a payroll administrator. Sometimes, unplanned tasks will come up that will disrupt your day and affect your schedule. How do you prioritize your time in those situations?
This question helps you understand the personality of your potential employee, how they react to disruptions, and how they manage their time effectively.
- While payroll is pretty much the same from company to company, each firm tends to have its own quirks and ways of doing things that are a bit different from every other company. Describe how you would familiarize yourself with our particular system?
This question shows you how much initiative a candidate may have and shows you how a candidate solves problems – intuitively, asking questions, diving right in and making mistakes (and then learning from them), and so on.
- Tell me what all functions are involved in Payroll?
Functions involved in Payroll involves,
☛ Balancing and reconciling payroll data
☛ Delivers payroll checks
☛ Depositing and reporting taxes
☛ Wage deductions
☛ Record keeping and verifying the reliability of pay data
☛ Maintains compliance with tax laws
☛ Records paperwork for new hires
☛ Edits existing employee files.
☛ Calculating reimbursements, bonuses, overtime and holiday pay
- Tell me what you need to do in order to pay a new employee?
In order to pay new employee,
☛ Fill employee Information form, bank confirmation slip and get your employee to complete a tax form.
☛ Send all forms to Payroll department at least three working days before your employee’s first timesheet is due to be sent for payment.
- Tell me what is Payroll source documents?
Payroll source documents are those documents which gives all the details required for the generation of the salary of an employee. It includes,
☛ Time sheets
☛ Job sheets
☛ Time recorders
☛ Payroll registers
☛ Pay-in-slip (pay slip)
- Tell me what is the importance of accuracy when performing a task as a payroll specialist?
This question aims to know how the candidate keeps the concept of accuracy in mind. The answer from the candidate will show whether the candidate works with accuracy or no. this is to know how the candidate deals with the postings and the other inaccurate information that comes on a daily basis.
- Explain me about how will you keep current strategies and rules on the payroll techniques?
The answer to this question will let you know how well the candidate takes it on himself or herself to make sure he or she stays up to date on the issues related to the payroll.
- Tell me we would like to know about your experience, expertise and education in detail?
Though this question seems easy, but it will assist in knowing how fluently a person can converse and communicate with others without any flaw. In this question one will have to give all the educational details along with the expertise and experience if any.
- Explain me your work week?
This query will describe about your work schedule in detail. For the candidate it is must to not to answer the non work related activities while being in the company. This will create a bad impression. Before answering such a question, make sure you consider the position for which you are applying and also relate your last job position. The more you connect with the last job experience, the more successful you will be in answering the questions.
- Tell me what kind of the behavior works best for the payroll worker?
This will ensure you the inherent qualities of the worker and will determine whether the personality is good or not for your company. According to his or her answer, a person will come to know the behavior of the candidate.
- Tell me when to Outsource Payroll?
Payroll should be outsourced when,
☛ A small company where the owner does payroll.
☛ You don’t come across last minute changes that frequently
☛ You don’t want to invest in in-house system and infrastructure
☛ You have to pay at multiple locations
- Tell us what all detail must be checked before vouching of wages?
Before vouching of wages, following details are considered.
☛ Checking Of Internal System
☛ Checking for proper Calculations
☛ Checking Of Wages Sheet
☛ Verifying computing Paying System
☛ Nature Of Payment
☛ Same Cash Paid And Drawn
☛ Checking Of Names
☛ Checking for authorized Signature
☛ Unpaid Wages
☛ Deductions
- Explain me what are the employer paid benefits?
Employer paid benefits include,
☛ Holidays
☛ vacations
☛ sick days
☛ insurance (health, dental, vision, life, disability)
☛ retirement plans
☛ profit-sharing plans
- Explain me how you keep current on payroll techniques/strategies and rules?
The answer to this question will tell you how well the candidate takes it upon himself to ensure that he stays up to date on payroll issues.
- What type of behaviors work best for a payroll specialist?
This question helps you determine a candidate’s innate personality and helps you determine if that personality is a good fit for your company or accounting and/or HR department.
- Explain me how you keep current on payroll techniques/rules?
The answer to this question will tell you how well your potential employee takes it upon himself to ensure that they stay current with payroll processes.
- Do you know what is the purpose of w2 and w4 IRS forms?
IRS forms are needed by the employers while processing and forwarding income tax information. W2 and W4 contain useful data regarding tax withholding and income tax eligibility ratio calculations from employees’ wages.
- Explain me how do you deal with employees who do not report time records to the payroll staff before a deadline?
I have trained the payroll staff to handle time-dependent problems on their own by performing strict follow up duties. However, there are times when employees just do not comply. When I have to intervene, I become direct with the employee and usually send out an email, very politely outlining repercussions of not reporting time records in a timely fashion.