Senior Payroll Specialist & Staff Accountant

Senior Payroll Specialist & Staff Accountant

Department: Finance – Accounting Reports To: CFO FLSA Status: Exempt Location: Austin, TX (Corporate Office)

Job Summary

We are seeking a detail-oriented and experienced Senior Payroll Specialist & Staff Accountant to own end-to-end payroll processing across the U.S. and Canada and contribute to the company's general ledger and accounting operations. This is a senior individual contributor role within the Finance organization, partnering closely with HR, Accounting, and Accounts Payable.

In addition to payroll ownership, this role will perform general ledger accounting activities tied to payroll and related accounts, and will support Navan, the company's travel and expense (T&E) management platform, through accounting, reconciliation, and close-related responsibilities.

The role requires strong technical payroll expertise, foundational GL accounting knowledge, systems administration aptitude, and the ability to manage confidential information with professionalism and discretion.

Key Responsibilities

Payroll

• Process full-cycle payroll for 400+ U.S. and 30+ Canadian employees, including audits, adjustments, off-cycle payments, and issue resolution.
• Review, audit, and process employee payroll data, including new hires, terminations, compensation changes, deductions, earnings, taxes, garnishments, bonuses, commissions, and other payroll adjustments.
• Validate timekeeping data, paid time off, holiday pay, overtime, leave-related payments, and other earnings or deductions prior to payroll submission.
• Maintain accurate payroll records and documentation in accordance with internal controls, audit requirements, and record retention standards.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, provincial, and local payroll regulations, including tax filings, reconciliations, and year-end reporting (e.g., W-2s, W-2Cs, 1095-Cs, T4s).
• Partner with HR on employee data integrity, leave administration impacts to pay, and benefit-related payroll deductions (executed by the HR team).

General Ledger & Accounting

• Prepare and post monthly payroll-related journal entries, including wages, taxes, accruals, PTO liability, and benefits-related entries provided by HR.
• Reconcile payroll, T&E, and related balance sheet accounts (e.g., payroll liabilities, accrued wages, employee advances, Navan clearing accounts) as part of the monthly close.
• Support the monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes by ensuring timely and accurate recording of payroll and T&E activity in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
• Partner with the Accounting team on GL mapping, cost center allocations, and variance analysis tied to labor and travel expenses. 
• Support internal and external audit requests related to payroll, T&E, and applicable balance sheet accounts.
• Identify and recommend process improvements and automation opportunities within payroll, T&E, and related accounting workflows.

Navan-Related GL & Accounting Support

• Support Navan-related accounting activities, including GL coding, cost center alignment, expense category mapping, and integration support with Microsoft Dynamics 365.
• Reconcile Navan activity to the general ledger, corporate card statements, clearing accounts, and related balance sheet accounts; investigate and resolve accounting discrepancies.
• Prepare or review Navan-related journal entries, accruals, reclasses, and other close activities to ensure accurate and timely recording of travel and expense activity.
• Partner with Accounts Payable and the Accounting team on expense report support, reimbursement processing, corporate card reconciliations, and month-end close deliverables.
• Provide Navan support to employees and managers on accounting-related questions, including coding, allocations, receipts, reconciliation items, and workflow status.
• Identify process improvements and automation opportunities within Navan-related accounting workflows, controls, reconciliations, and reporting.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive full-cycle payroll processing experience.
• 2+ years of general ledger or staff accounting experience, including journal entries and account reconciliations.
• Strong knowledge of payroll compliance, wage and hour rules, payroll taxes, deductions, taxable benefits, and year-end reporting in the U.S. and Canada.
• Experience with HRIS/payroll systems (e.g., Paylocity, ADP, Workday, UKG).
• Strong analytical, reconciliation, and problem-solving skills.
• High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple deadlines.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered in lieu of a degree.

Preferred Qualifications

• Payroll certification (CPP, FPC, or Canadian PCP/PLP equivalent).
• Hands-on experience with Paylocity and Microsoft Dynamics 365 (or comparable ERP).
• Experience administering a travel & expense platform (Navan, Concur, Expensify, Ramp, or similar).
• Background in payroll reporting, payroll and retirement audits, and corporate card / T&E reconciliations.
• Merger and acquisition payroll implementation and integration experience.

Required Skills

• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUPs/XLOOKUPs).
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills for interacting with employees, managers, and external vendors.
• Collaborative, "roll up your sleeves" mindset with a continuous improvement orientation.