Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
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Overview
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.
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Titles for this career often contain these words
PayrollClerkAssistantTimePersonnelTechnicianAccountingAttendanceFlightCrewSchedulerHumanResourcesAdministrativeHRSpecialistCheckerBonusCheckmanCommissionPaymasterAdministratorAnalystBenefitsAssociateBookkeeperCoordinatorOfficerProcessorRepresentativeSecretaryPieceWorkSignOutRecorderTimekeeperWanigan
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Responsibilities and activities

Financial clerks typically do the following:

  • Keep and update financial records
  • Calculate bills and charges
  • Offer customer assistance
  • Carry out financial transactions

Financial clerks’ job duties vary by specialty and by setting.

The following are examples of types of financial clerks:

Billing and posting clerks calculate charges and generate bills, which they then prepare to send to customers. They review documents such as purchase orders, sales tickets, charge slips, and hospital records to calculate fees or charges due. They also contact customers to get or give account information.

Brokerage clerks help with tasks associated with securities such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and other kinds of investments. Their duties include writing orders for stock purchases and sales, calculating transfer taxes, verifying stock transactions, accepting and delivering securities, distributing dividends, and recording daily transactions and holdings.

Credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks review the credit history, and get the information needed to determine the creditworthiness, of individuals or businesses applying for credit. Credit authorizers check customers’ credit records and payment histories to decide, based on predetermined standards, whether to approve new credit. Credit checkers contact credit departments of business and service establishments for information about applicants’ credit standing.

Gambling cage workers work in casinos and other gambling establishments. The “cage” in which they work is the central depository for money and gambling chips. Gambling cage workers sell gambling chips, tokens, or tickets to patrons. They count funds and reconcile daily summaries of transactions to balance books.

Insurance claims and policy processing clerks process applications for insurance policies. They also handle customers’ requests to change or cancel their existing policies. Their duties include interviewing clients and reviewing insurance applications to make sure that all questions have been answered. They also inform insurance agents and accounting departments of policy cancellations or changes.

Loan interviewers, also called loan processors or loan clerks, interview applicants and others to get and verify personal and financial information needed to complete loan applications. They also prepare the documents that go to the appraiser and are issued at the closing of a loan.

New accounts clerks interview people who want to open accounts in financial institutions. They explain the account services available to prospective customers and help them fill out applications. They also investigate and correct errors in accounts.

Payroll and timekeeping clerks compile and post employee time and payroll data. They verify and record attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments. They make sure that employees are paid on time and that their paychecks are correct.

Procurement clerks compile requests for materials, prepare purchase orders, keep track of purchases and supplies, and handle questions about orders. They respond to questions from customers and suppliers about the status of orders. Procurement clerks handle requests to change or cancel orders. They make sure that purchases arrive on schedule and that the items meet the buyer’s specifications.

Salary
Median salary: $47,020 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $37,720 and $58,000.
$47K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for payroll and timekeeping clerks
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$46K$46K$41K$46K$44K$37K$43K$35K$26K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
05K10K15K20K25K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of payroll and timekeeping clerks who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Time Pressure (86%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (41%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (35%)
SOURCES:
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
Financial clerks should be able to explain policies and procedures to colleagues and customers.
Math skills
The job duties of financial clerks includes calculating charges and updating financial records.
Organizational skills
Financial clerks must be able to arrange files so they can find them quickly and efficiently.
Injury and Illness
About 16 payroll and timekeeping clerks become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 51% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
All multiple traumatic injuries
Bruises and contusions
Fractures
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by payroll and timekeeping clerks
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), payroll and timekeeping clerks typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as payroll and timekeeping clerks as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for payroll and timekeeping clerks

Financial clerks typically need a high school diploma or equivalent to enter the occupation. Employers of brokerage clerks may prefer candidates who have taken some college courses in business or economics and, in some cases, have a 2- or 4-year college degree.

Education level of Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
Only 24% of payroll and timekeeping clerks have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by payroll and timekeeping clerks
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click the program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most payroll and timekeeping clerks? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as payroll and timekeeping clerks. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where payroll and timekeeping clerks earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for payroll and timekeeping clerks compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for payroll and timekeeping clerks.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which payroll and timekeeping clerks earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
12% of Payroll and timekeeping clerks are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 12% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 49% of careers.
12%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of payroll and timekeeping clerks by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$42K$42K$43K$44K$45K$44K$42K$0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000Self-employed incorporatedFederal governmentState governmentLocal governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Payroll and timekeeping clerks and gender
With 87% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 95% of careers.
Gender of Payroll and timekeeping clerks
Men (13%)
Women (87%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$42K$46K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
87%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%. The situation is a little better for payroll and timekeeping clerks, with the median salary for men 10% higher than the median salary for women.
10%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Payroll and timekeeping clerks
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Payroll and timekeeping clerks.
Race/origin of payroll and timekeeping clerks
White (76% )
Black (12% )
Asian (4% )
Other (4% )
Multiracial (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$33K$38K$42K$42K$43K$44K$49K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100KHispanicOtherMultiracialBlackWhiteAmerican IndianAsian
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.