Payroll Assistant

Columbia University Irving Medical Center; New York (NY); On-site; USD 66,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Columbia University Irving Medical Center is seeking a Payroll Assistant to support full‑cycle payroll processing and meticulous transaction management in the CUIMC Payroll Service Center. The role involves maintaining precise employee records, assisting with compliance and error resolution, and ensuring accurate calculation of wages, deductions, and specialized pay.

It requires attention to detail and the ability to work in a fast-moving medical environment, with focus on auditing timekeeping

Qualifications

• Requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent education and experience.
• 1–2 years payroll or HR data entry experience preferred.
• Experience with large organizations or hospital systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Review and process high-volume payroll-related transactions (new hires, rehires, pay changes, leaves, terminations).
• Audit and verify add‑ons and salary changes for proper authorization and CU policy compliance.
• Maintain comprehensive payroll records and ensure data integrity across departments.

Skills

PeopleSoft familiarity

Microsoft Excel

Data verification

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Bookkeeping training or payroll training

Tools

PeopleSoft

Excel

Job description

Grade 103

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $66,300 to $70,000

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Position Summary

The Payroll Assistant works under general supervision to support full-cycle payroll processing and comprehensive transaction management in the CUIMC Payroll Service Center. This role is responsible for maintaining precise employee records, assist with executing meticulous compliance & error resolution, and ensuring the accurate calculation of wages, deductions, and specialized compensation.

Responsibilities

• Transactions & Data Integrity
  • Review and process high-volume, critical pay-related transactions, including but not limited to new hires, rehires, pay adjustments, job data changes, leaves of absence, and terminations.
  • Conduct detailed reviews of all additional compensation (add comps) and salary changes to verify proper authorization and regulatory & CU policy compliance.
  • Establish and maintain comprehensive employee payroll records
  • Review and audit complex timekeeping records across multiple medical center departments to ensure strict compliance with established standards.
• Payroll Processing & Accounting
  • Compute wages, overtime, and specialized pay, including gross to net pay, grossing up wages, provide compensation breakdowns
  • Calculate and prepare labor accounting allocations, process cost transfer and salary distributions
• Reporting, Compliance & Error Resolution
  • Inspect automated system output, systematically reviewing payroll registers, standard reports, and system logs to identify errors.
  • Investigate and resolve out-of-balance conditions, executing routine, minor adjustments to correct documents and datasets prior to final processing.
  • Assist with preparing reports and conduct research to generate special reports.
• Performs other duties as assigned or requested

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience
• 1 to 2 years of related payroll or HR data entry experience, preferably within a large organization or hospital system.

Preferred Qualifications

• Software Skills: Hands-on experience or familiarity with PeopleSoft is highly preferred; a fundamental understanding of using Microsoft Excel (e.g., sorting data, basic formulas, filtering) is required.
• Education & Training: Specialized training in bookkeeping, accounting, or payroll processes is normally required.
• Core Competencies: Extreme attention to detail for salary reviews, strong data verification skills, and the ability to maintain pace under general supervision in a fast-moving medical environment.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.