This role is responsible for preparing, reviewing, and analyzing moderate to complex payroll-related journal entries and reconciliations, ensuring accuracy and compliance with policies and accounting standards. The Senior Specialist handles more complex transactions, supports issue resolution, and ensures accurate and timely completion of period-end close activities.
The role requires solid technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work independently with minimal supervision. The Senior Specialist collaborates with cross-functional teams, supports audits, maintains internal controls, and contributes to process improvements in payroll accounting.
Responsibilities & Duties:
- Perform end-to-end payroll accounting activities, including complex payroll journals, reconciliations, and reporting.
- Prepare payroll-related journals such as unpaid salaries and wages, bonuses and incentives, unused vacation and leave balances, statutory accruals, employer contributions to statutory benefits, and other applicable transactions.
- Review and approve journal entries and reconciliations prepared by junior team members, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
- Analyze and reconcile variances between timekeeping records and GL data, including mismatches in hours worked vs. paid, overtime or leave discrepancies, payroll output vs. accrual differences, and cost center or wage type mapping issues.
- Ensure compliance with financial controls, company policies, and external audit requirements.
- Maintain accurate and audit-ready documentation for payroll accounting processes.
- Partner with Finance, HR, Payroll/Timekeeping, and other teams to resolve issues and ensure accuracy in payroll reporting.
- Prepare and validate reports in line with SLAs and contribute to process improvement and efficiency efforts.