Payroll Accountant

Kelley Create is a dynamic and innovative business technology company dedicated to helping our partners grow their businesses while supporting the wild success of our co-workers and ourselves. We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional customer service and are committed to driving growth and success in our industry.

Summary:

Kelley Create is seeking a detail-oriented and technically strong Payroll Accountant to manage full-cycle payroll operations for a multi-state workforce. This role supports a dynamic compensation environment that includes hourly, salaried, commission, and draw-based pay structures.

The Payroll Accountant will ensure strict compliance with federal, state, and local wage and hour laws, maintain accurate payroll records, and support audit and reporting requirements. This position operates within a small, high-functioning payroll team and requires both precision and the ability to manage complex payroll scenarios.

Key Responsibilities:

• Payroll Processing:
  • Process biweekly full-cycle payroll for multi-state employees, including hourly, salaried, commission, and draw-based compensation structures 
  • Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local wage and hour laws, including multi-state tax requirements 
  • Maintain and reconcile payroll records, ensuring accuracy across earnings, deductions, and tax withholdings 
  • Reconcile and audit benefit deductions, including medical, dental, vision, HSA, and FSA contributions 
  • Partner with Finance and HR to support payroll-related reporting and general ledger alignment 
  • Prepare, review, and submit state and local payroll tax filings 
  • Support internal and external audits, including 401(k), financial audits, and compliance reviews 
  • Investigate and resolve payroll discrepancies in a timely manner 
  • Maintain strict confidentiality of employee payroll and financial data 
  • Collaborate within a small payroll team to ensure deadlines and service levels are consistently met
• Recruitment and Onboarding Support:
  • Assist in the recruitment process by posting job openings, scheduling interviews, and communicating with candidates.
  • Help prepare offer letters and employment agreements.
  • Coordinate the onboarding process, including preparing new hire paperwork, and organizing new hire orientations. 
  • Coordinate pre-employment activities such as background checks, reference checks, and new hire paperwork.
• Employee Records and Documentation:
  • Maintain accurate and up-to-date employee records in the HR system (HRIS).
  • Ensure compliance with all legal documentation requirements, including I-9s, W-4s, and other employment forms.
• Compliance and Reporting:
  • Assist in ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws and company policies.
  • Prepare reports related to HR functions such as headcount, turnover rates, and employee demographics.

Competencies: 

To perform the job successfully, an individual must demonstrate the following competencies to perform the essential functions of this position. 

• Customer Focus: The individual needs to demonstrate understanding and compassion for concerns and issues. The individual should promptly address customer inquiries and complaints and go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Communication Skills—Clearly and effectively communicate with customers and team members. Writes concise, clear, and professional emails and messages. Pays full attention to customers, understands their needs, and responds appropriately. 
• Problem-Solving Skills: The individual identifies the root cause of customer issues and develops effective solutions. They think outside the box to resolve customer problems and improve service. They make sound decisions quickly to address customer needs and issues.
• Time Management: The individual effectively prioritizes tasks to manage multiple customer inquiries and issues. Completes tasks.
• Adaptability—The individual adapts to changing customer needs, policies, and technologies. Remains calm and effective under pressure during high-volume periods. Quickly learn new procedures and systems as required. 

Qualifications:

• Minimum 2+ years of payroll accounting experience, preferably in a multi-state environment 
• Strong working knowledge of payroll tax compliance (federal, state, and local) 
• Hands-on experience with ADP Workforce Now or similar payroll systems 
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (e.g., pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, data reconciliation) 
• High level of accuracy, attention to detail, and organizational skills 
• Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and professionalism

Preferred Skills:

• Associate degree in Accounting or related field 
• Experience supporting audits (financial, payroll, or 401(k)) 
• Familiarity with commission and draw compensation structures 

· Experience working in a multi-state or distributed workforce environment

• Strong understanding of benefits payroll impacts, including pre-tax vs. post-tax deductions and arrears management 
• Knowledge of wage garnishments, levies, and child support orders across multiple jurisdictions

Language Skills: 

Read and interpret documents such as safety rules, invoices, SOP, and instructions; write routine reports and correspondence. Effectively present information in one-on-one situations and small group situations to customers or vendors, and other employees.

Math Skills: 

Add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; compute rate, ratio, and percent and draw and interpret bar graphs.

Reasoning Ability: 

Apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form; to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations. Identifies problems, gathers information, and offers solutions.

Computer Skills:

Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook is required. Proficiency with email is required.