Explore careers

Useful experience for payroll officers includes:

• cash-handling
• accounting work
• office or administrative work
• human resources experience.

Payroll officers may do some or all of the following:

• calculate pay, tax, student loan and superannuation deductions for staff
• manage the payroll system for the organisation
• check what hours staff have worked, and what leave they've taken
• arrange for staff to be paid correctly and on time
• forward information to government agencies
• keep staff records up to date
• ensure the organisation complies with the law.

Opportunities best for experienced payroll officers

Your chances of securing a job are best if you have payroll and leadership experience, as employers report difficulty finding skilled payroll officers.

Developments in payroll software, such as artificial intelligence that can detect payroll errors and automatically track and fix them, may reduce payroll officer numbers. However, vacancies are still common due to:

• a shortage of candidates applying for payroll manager roles, possibly because people are put off by widely reported breaches of the Holidays Act
• insufficient numbers of new payroll officers
• payroll officers often moving into other roles in accounting or human resources.

According to the Census, 3,513 payroll officers worked in New Zealand in 2018.

Types of employers varied

Payroll officers may work for:

• finance departments in small or large businesses
• specialised payroll companies.

New Zealand Payroll Practitioners Association (NZPPA)

(09) 480 6458 - info@nzppa.co.nz - www.nzppa.co.nz

Payroll officers may progress to other finance roles or into human resources.

• Accountant job information
• Finance manager job information
• Human resources adviser job information

Payroll officers need to be:

• analytical, organised and accurate, with an eye for detail
• good at problem solving
• honest, reliable and able to keep information private
• good at record-keeping
• able to work well under pressure and prioritise deadlines
• good at communicating.