Restaurant Payroll Manager

The Payroll Manager is responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of the payroll process to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll operations. Key duties include processing payroll for all employees, ensuring compliance with tax laws and regulations, managing payroll systems, and handling employee inquiries regarding compensation. The Payroll Manager also coordinates with Team Support and Finance to manage deductions, benefits, and reporting, and ensures all payroll transactions are properly documented.

Essential Functions

• Regularly exercises discretion and independent judgement with respect to matters of significance.
• Analyzes, prepares and inputs payroll data using the company’s human resources information system (Paylocity) to produce accurate and timely payroll.
• Ensures compliance and maintains current knowledge with all applicable state and federal wage and hour laws.
• Reviews exported information from POS for completeness and accuracy and loads into Paylocity.
• Processing of Wage Garnishment Orders into the payroll system and maintains these orders.
• Complete garnishment or state correspondence.
• Create employee notification letters of any pending or active garnishments.
• Compiles payroll data such as vacation time, standard payroll and insurance benefit deductions.
• Ensures that employees are classified in their proper departments.
• Processes requests for void checks / manual checks and direct deposit reversals as needed.
• Contacts various department supervisors for any missed times and processes corrections within the payroll processing system.
• Compiles internal management reports from payroll system software (monthly active employee reports, department/rate reports, minimum wage reporting, etc.).
• Prepares weekly, monthly, quarterly and year-end reports (gross payroll, hours worked, vacation accrual, tax deductions, benefit deductions, etc.) for management.
• Researches and confirms specific payroll related journal entries, account reconciliations, and provides general ledger support to the accounting department.
• Job/department creations within payroll processing system, POS along with ensuring accuracy in GL mappings.
• Stays current on payroll systems to achieve alignment with Team Support.
• Facilitates management and employee understanding of payroll procedures and any established company policies.
• Reviewing payroll policies and amending procedures when necessary.
• Monitor and resolves any payroll discrepancies by investigating and resolving any found issues promptly and accurately.
• Assists with the tracking of check deliveries or rerouting of checks as necessary.
• Investigate/research payroll inquiries for proper employee taxing based on elections filed.
• Investigate W2 errors and process corrections.
• Verify eligibility of employees for any advance requests per company policy.
• Submission of position/rate additions into the payroll processing system.
• State and federal employment reporting (BLS and JOLTS) and tax reporting audits for accuracy (SUI, 940, 941, W3 and w2's).
• Stale check reporting to applicable states and the processing of replacement checks.
• Assists with any government payroll audits.
• Registration of any new state tax accounts (unemployment/reemployment and withholdings).
• Processing of any temp agency timecard reporting and payroll.
• Assists employees with pay errors and makes corrections as necessary.

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Human Resources, or related field or relevant work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years experience in restaurant payroll management.

Skills

• Proficiency with payroll software and timekeeping systems.
• Strong understanding of federal, state, and local payroll tax laws, labor regulations, and compliance requirements.
• Familiarity with general accounting principles, including managing deductions, contributions, and payroll reconciliations.
• Ability to manage large volumes of data with a high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to troubleshoot and resolve payroll discrepancies, tax issues, and employee pay concerns.
• Ability to interpret payroll data, generate reports, and analyze trends for informed decision-making.
• Ability to manage multiple payroll cycles and deadlines across multiple locations and multiple states.
• Ability to explain payroll processes, deductions, and policies to employees and executives clearly.