Payroll Specialist resume example & templates

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Payroll Specialist resume example

Summary

Payroll Specialist with 5 years of experience processing multi-state biweekly and weekly payrolls of up to 1,800 employees in ADP and UKG. Maintains 99.8% payroll accuracy and cut off-cycle checks by 65%. Brings reliable tax compliance, clean reconciliations and patient answers to employee pay questions.

Experience

Payroll Specialist, Copper Canyon Logistics (Denver, CO)

Apr 2022 – Present

  • Process weekly and biweekly payrolls for 1,800 employees in 9 states totaling $96M a year
  • Maintain 99.8% accuracy and cut off-cycle checks by 65% by adding pre-close timecard audits in UKG
  • Reconcile payroll to the general ledger monthly and prepare quarterly 941 and state filings with no penalties
  • Administer garnishments, union dues and fringe benefits for 220 Teamsters-covered drivers
  • Answer about 90 employee pay questions a month, resolving most within one business day

Payroll Coordinator, Front Range Dental Partners (Aurora, CO)

Sep 2020 – Mar 2022

  • Ran biweekly payroll for 340 employees across 18 dental offices in ADP Workforce Now
  • Built a bonus calculation template that cut production bonus errors to zero
  • Calculated collections-based pay for 9 associate dentists each pay period with no disputed checks

Education

  • B.S. in Accounting, Metropolitan State University of Denver (Aug 2016 – May 2020)

Skills

  • Payroll: multi-state processing, garnishments, union payroll, fringe benefits, off-cycle payments
  • Tax & Compliance: Form 941, W-2, state unemployment, FLSA overtime, local taxes
  • Systems: UKG Pro, ADP Workforce Now, NetSuite GL, Excel
  • Certifications: Certified Payroll Professional (CPP)

How to write a Payroll Specialist resume

A strong Payroll Specialist resume shows the people programs and processes you ran, and how they improved hiring, retention or efficiency. Lead with scope and impact: the size of the systems, budgets or teams you influenced, and the decisions you owned.

Sections, in order

  1. Summary
  2. Experience
  3. Skills
  4. Education

Length: One page is ideal; two pages are fine with 10+ years of relevant experience.

Summary: Open with your specialty and years of experience, then one or two signature results.

Skills to feature

Example bullet points

Tips from recruiters

Recommended templates

Payroll Specialist resume FAQ

What should a Payroll Specialist resume include?

A Payroll Specialist resume should show the people programs and processes you ran, and how they improved hiring, retention or efficiency. Use these sections in this order: Summary, Experience, Skills and Education. Lead with scope and impact: the size of the systems, budgets or teams you influenced, and the decisions you owned.

What is the best resume template for a Payroll Specialist?

Classic, Modern and Executive work well for Payroll Specialist roles. They are single-column with standard headings, so applicant tracking systems (ATS) parse them reliably.

How long should a Payroll Specialist resume be?

One page is ideal; two pages are fine with 10+ years of relevant experience.

Which skills should a Payroll Specialist put on a resume?

Prioritize the skills named in the job posting. Common ones for Payroll Specialist roles are Talent acquisition, Employee relations, HRIS (Workday, BambooHR), Compensation and benefits, Performance management and Onboarding.

How do I write strong Payroll Specialist resume bullet points?

Start with an action verb, say what you did, and end with a measurable result such as time to hire, offer acceptance rate and retention. For example: "Rebuilt the engineering hiring loop, cutting time to hire from 52 to 31 days across 80 hires."

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