Payroll Specialist

The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Inc.; Warrensburg (MO); On-site; USD 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid vacation and sick leave

Education assistance

Job summary

The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Inc. is seeking a Payroll Administrator for the University of Central Missouri. The role involves overseeing payroll operations, ensuring compliance with accounting principles and regulations, and managing payroll staff activities.

Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or Accounting, with at least three years of experience in payroll processing. Strong supervisory skills and knowledge of automated payroll systems like Banner are preferred.

This position offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance, paid leave, and education assistance for employees and their dependents.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance or Accounting required.
• At least 3 years of payroll processing experience.
• Supervisory experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Administer the university payroll, ensuring adherence to principles and regulations.
• Coordinate payroll staff activities and review payroll.
• Prepare corrective journal entries and accounting transactions.

Skills

Payroll management

Accounting principles

Regulatory compliance

Problem-solving

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Accounting

Tools

Banner payroll system

Job description

Description

Serve as administrator of the university payroll, to include directing semi‑monthly payroll production to ensure adherence to accounting principles, governmental statutes, regulations, and university policies. Coordinate payroll staff activities, review, analyze, and execute payroll, determine and calculate proper payments for new hires, employee status changes, terminations, and employee loans, provide oversight to facilitate payroll, balance payroll, prepare corrective journal entries and accounting transactions, authorize payroll adjustments for missed earnings, verify and correct budget coding, process W‑2 forms, assist staff employees performing payroll functions, execute wage assignments ensuring compliance with federal, state, and county regulations, review and ensure compliance with child support orders, IRS levies, court‑ordered garnishments and federal loan repayment assignments, serve as a university representative for court‑ordered interrogatories, review court orders, prepare accounting transactions to meet requirements, and prepare correspondence for monthly payments.

2. Perform duties for all University payrolls

Download check/advice statement information from the payroll database to produce check/advise statements; modem transfer direct deposit information to the federal reserve bank; assist the electronic file transfer of earnings information to employee paychecks; prepare the Missouri New Hire Report in compliance with federal requirements; prepare and report employee‑provided graduate‑level educational assistance on a semester basis; ensure timely and accurate deposit of employee/university matching funds for 941 withholding deposits through the federal electronic funds transfer payment system; perform system maintenance of the HRS system tables, including the calculation control master table, system calendars, and earning code table; execute control cards to produce trial and final payrolls, reset monthly, quarterly, and annual accumulators; participate in fiscal year close‑out; and, in the absence of the Director, Payroll Services, administer and oversee hourly payrolls, as well as system table maintenance and withholding and quarterly reporting.

3. Assist the Director of Payroll Services

Act on behalf of the Director in their absence under the supervision of assigned employees; recommend procedural and program enhancements to improve departmental efficiency; assist with payroll‑related problems, provide training to university departments and employees, and perform other duties as assigned.

Examples of Duties

As primary administrator – 55%

• Coordinate activities of payroll staff to ensure adherence to accounting principles, governmental statutes and regulations, university policies, and timeliness and accuracy of payrolls.
• Produce supplemental payrolls for employee adjustments, voids, and manual payments outside the university payroll schedule.
• Provide corresponding information feed to the university finance system and the related effect on employee W‑2 and/or 1042‑S information.
• Review, analyze, and execute the hourly payroll, including work‑study and regular, part‑time employee payroll.
• Determine and calculate proper payments for new hires, employee status changes, terminations, and employee loans.
• Serve as lead worker of the payroll to ensure duties are performed timely, including verify student assignment accuracy with Financial Aid, verify funding sources, prepare, distribute, enter, and/or correct records for student and hourly employees, audit time reports for compliance with the University and FLSA federal requirements.
• Balance payroll.
• Prepare corrective journal entries.
• Prepare accounting transactions, calculate and authorize payroll adjustments for missed earnings, verify and correct budget coding.
• Assist in the accurate and timely processing of W‑2 forms.
• Supervise student employees performing payroll office assistant duties.
• Coordinate and transfer ACH payroll deposits with the university’s bank and monitor ACH activity for failed payroll deposits and/or university requested returns and take necessary corrective action.

Perform duties – 20%

• Download check/advice statement information from the payroll database to produce check/advise statements.
• Prepare the Missouri New Hire Report, in compliance with federal requirements.
• Prepare and report employee‑provided graduate‑level educational assistance on a semester basis.
• Ensure timely and accurate deposit of employee/university matching funds for 941 withholding deposits through the federale‑electronic funds transfer payment system.
• Perform system maintenance of the HRS system tables, including calculation control master table, system calendars, and earning code table.
• Execute control cards to produce trial and final payrolls, and reset monthly, quarterly, and annual accumulators.
• Participate in fiscal year close‑out.
• Coordinate position control efforts among payroll services, accounting services and the university budget director for payroll encumbrances, labor and fringe benefit information, and liquidation of encumbrances for exports to the university’s general ledger.
• Labor redistribution processes to correct labor and benefit expense errors and the corresponding feed to the university finance system.

Typical Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, or a related field.
• Education may be substituted for experience or if experience may be substituted for education. Equivalencies: AA = 2 years experience; BA/BS = 4 years experience; MA/MS = 6 years experience.

Experience

• Three (3) years of payroll/benefit processing related activities experience; five (5) years preferred.
• Three (3) years experience related to personnel/payroll automated system; Banner experience preferred.
• Supervisory experience preferred.

Special Instructions

Full‑time staff & 12‑month faculty benefits‑eligible position: Benefits include competitive salary; health, dental, vision, life insurance, AD & D, long‑term disability; 3 weeks paid vacation per year; 3 weeks of accrued sick leave per year; 13 paid holidays; retirement; and generous education assistance for an employee, spouse and dependent children taking classes at UCM.

9‑month faculty benefits‑eligible position: Benefits include competitive salary; health, dental, vision, life insurance, AD & D, long‑term disability; 3 weeks of accrued sick leave per year; 13 paid holidays; retirement; and generous education assistance for an employee, spouse and dependent children taking classes at UCM.

Part‑time benefits‑eligible positions: Benefits include generous education assistance for the employee.

Temporary, adjunct, student employment, or graduate assistant positions: Benefits are not included.

A background check is required for the selected candidate of all staff, faculty, adjunct, and temporary positions and any job offer is contingent on the results of this check. Student employees and graduate assistants do not require a background check to be conducted prior to employment.

The University of Central Missouri is an Equal Opportunity Employer.