Business & Finance
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
Compile and record employee time and payroll data. May compute employees' time worked, production, and commission. May compute and post wages and deductions, or prepare paychecks.
Median salary (BLS)
$58,260
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$40k – $81k
Job outlook
No separate BLS projection for this specific role
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $112,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
Education
Typical entry: Associate degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Junior Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
Entry / Junior
$39,500
~2 yrs to advance
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
Established
$58,260
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
Senior
$69,805
Key skills
A typical day
- •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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Business & Finance
Explore all- University of Pennsylvania6% admit · $112,000 grad pay
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology4% admit · $124,000 grad pay
- Harvard University4% admit · $119,000 grad pay
- University of California, Berkeley11% admit · $97,000 grad pay
- New York University12% admit · $84,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.