What skills should a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk put on a resume?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Mathematics, Critical Thinking, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, ADP Enterprise HR, ADP eTIME, ADP PC/Payroll, and ADP Workforce Now. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk work?

O*NET records 34 titles for this occupation, including Payroll Assistant, Payroll Clerk, Payroll Coordinator, and Payroll Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 32% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk resume example

A resume for a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk needs to show the work itself: compile and record employee time and payroll data. Day to day that means work like this: verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records; process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Payroll Assistant
Payroll Clerk
Payroll Coordinator
Payroll Specialist
Payroll Representative
Payroll Technician
Personnel Assistant
Personnel Technician
Timekeeper
HR Administrative Assistant
Accounting Assistant
Attendance Clerk
Bonus Clerk
Checkman
Commissions Clerk
Finance Specialist
Flight Crew Scheduler
Flight Crew Time Clerk

O*NET records 34 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records.
Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions.
Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers.
Process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system.
Prepare and balance period-end reports, and reconcile issued payrolls to bank statements.
Review time sheets, work charts, wage computation, and other information to detect and reconcile payroll discrepancies.
Distribute and collect timecards each pay period.
Record employee information, such as exemptions, transfers, and resignations, to maintain and update payroll records.
Issue and record adjustments to pay related to previous errors or retroactive increases.
Keep track of leave time, such as vacation, personal, and sick leave, for employees.
Compile employee time, production, and payroll data from time sheets and other records.
Keep informed about changes in tax and deduction laws that apply to the payroll process.

21 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Accounting software
ADP Enterprise HR
ADP eTIME
ADP PC/Payroll
ADP Workforce Now
API Navigator
Asure Software HCM
Automated payroll software
Automated timekeeping software
BMH Open4 Payroll
BSI ComplianceFactory
CyberShift Workforce Management 3G Time and Attendance
Data entry software
EBS On Line InstaPay

67 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

10-key calculators
Computer terminals
Desktop computers
Personal computers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

ADP Workforce Now
Kronos Workforce Timekeeper
Oracle HRIS

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Reading Comprehension
02Active Listening
03Mathematics
04Critical Thinking
05Speaking
06Writing
07Complex Problem Solving
08Monitoring
09Service Orientation

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Administrative
Mathematics
English Language
Economics and Accounting
Personnel and Human Resources
Administration and Management
Customer and Personal Service
Computers and Electronics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

32%Bachelor's Degree
30%Some College Courses
21%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk do?: Compile and record employee time and payroll data. Day to day that includes work like verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records and Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions.
What skills should a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk put on a resume?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Mathematics, Critical Thinking, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, ADP Enterprise HR, ADP eTIME, ADP PC/Payroll, and ADP Workforce Now. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk work?: O*NET records 34 titles for this occupation, including Payroll Assistant, Payroll Clerk, Payroll Coordinator, and Payroll Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 32% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.