Multistate Payroll Administrator

Key Responsibilities

• Process payroll accurately and on schedule for employees across multiple states, including regular and off-cycle payrolls.
• Review timesheets, earnings, deductions, garnishments, bonuses, commissions, and benefit withholdings for accuracy and compliance.
• Maintain employee payroll records for new hires, terminations, transfers, status changes, and compensation updates across multiple jurisdictions.
• Audit employee setup to ensure correct state and local tax withholding based on residence, work location, and reciprocal tax requirements where applicable.
• Investigate pay issues to determine root cause and suggest potential corrections.
• Support payroll tax registrations, unemployment rate updates, agency notices, reconciliations, and year-end payroll reporting.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local wage and hour laws, payroll tax requirements, pay frequency rules, and recordkeeping standards.
• Prepare payroll reports, registers, and audit documentation for internal stakeholders and external agencies as needed.
• Compile and submit compiled reports; e.g. California Pay Data, EEO-1, Affirmative Action plans, etc.
• Train site HR personnel on how to manage time and attendance and proper employee recordkeeping in the HRIS.
• Track payroll errors and regularly report metrics.
• Partner with HR, Finance, benefits administrators, and payroll vendors to resolve issues and improve payroll accuracy and efficiency.
• Monitor changes in payroll laws and tax regulations across applicable states and recommend process or system updates as needed.

Qualifications

• Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field preferred.
• 3+ years of payroll experience, including hands-on experience processing multi-state payroll.
• Working knowledge of payroll systems, HRIS platforms, and Microsoft Excel.
• Strong understanding of federal, state, and local payroll tax requirements, wage and hour laws, and reporting obligations.
• Experience reviewing tax withholding, local tax setup, unemployment rates, garnishments, and year-end payroll processes.
• Strong attention to detail, organization, analytical thinking, and confidentiality.
• Ability to manage deadlines, interpret regulatory requirements, and communicate effectively with employees and cross-functional partners.

Preferred Skills

• Experience processing payroll in a multi-state environment with complex tax and labor law requirements.
• Familiarity with reciprocal tax agreements, employee location tracking, and jurisdiction-based payroll setup.
• Knowledge of payroll audits, quarterly and annual tax filings, reconciliations, and agency notice resolution.
• Experience with payroll platforms such as UKG, ADP, Workday, Paycom, or similar systems.
• Ability to identify process improvement opportunities in multi-state payroll operations.
• Professional certification such as CPP or FPC is a plus.

Work Environment

This role typically operates in an office or hybrid work environment and involves prolonged computer use, high attention to detail, and consistent adherence to deadlines. The position may support employees, managers, and internal partners across multiple locations or time zones. Periodic overtime may be required during payroll processing cycles, quarter-end reconciliations, or year-end reporting.