CareersPayroll Manager

PM

Verified Career Path

Payroll Manager: Facts, Skills, and Next Paths

A Payroll Manager oversees the day-to-day processing of employee paychecks, ensuring each run is accurate, compliant, and delivered on time. This role manages multi-entity, multi-state, and even international payrolls, covering everything from hourly wages and bonuses to complex compensation structures for attorneys and business professionals.

Core responsibilities include managing payroll systems like Oracle Cloud or Workday, reconciling tax filings, and partnering with HR, Finance, Benefits, and IT to improve end-to-end operations. Real examples from current postings: managing payroll for 2,500+ employees at HITT Contracting, or overseeing a 48-state remote workforce at the Association of American Medical Colleges. Compliance with federal, state, and local regulations is a top priority, appearing in 100% of job postings.

The median salary for Payroll Managers is approximately $129,000. The most requested skills beyond compliance are Payroll Processing (50%), Analytics & Reporting (40%), and HRIS Systems (40%), with Workday (30%) and Spreadsheet Modeling (30%) also commonly required.

$89,527 – $142,616

9 resume skills

27 adjacent paths

PM

CH

BA

PO

PS

TA

$89,527 – $142,616

Avg. Salary

18 paths

Adjacent Paths

52% avg. match

Avg. Match Score

35.2 shared skills

Shared Foundation

Live market pulse· updated today

Salary (live)

$89,527 – $142,616

median $112,315

Hiring now

10+ recent postings

Who's hiring

Wix, fuzehealth, OPCO Skilled Management

The Skill Blueprint for Payroll Manager

The core competencies employers ask for. Use them to strengthen your resume, spot gaps, and compare related career options.

In demand right nowCompliance · 90%Finance · 90%Operations · 90%Payroll Processing · 90%Documentation · 80%Analytics & Reporting · 70%HRIS Systems · 70%Leadership · 70%

Microsoft Office

technical

Oracle

technical 10% of live postings

Where Else Can Payroll Manager Skills Take You?

Build toward this role and you may be building toward several others. Explore the paths that share the same foundation.

Adjacent Paths from Payroll Manager

Sort by:

1

Chief Human Resources Officer

48 shared skills · Executive

59%

+$236kCareer change

2

Benefits Administrator

39 shared skills · HR

59%

−$46kCareer change

3

People Operations Manager

36 shared skills · HR

56%

+$18kCareer change

4

Payroll Specialist

27 shared skills · Finance

56%

−$46kCareer change

5

Tax Analyst

39 shared skills · Finance

54%

−$25kCareer change

6

Director of HR

33 shared skills · HR

54%

+$51kCareer change

7

Accounting Manager

46 shared skills · Finance

53%

+$11kCareer change

8

HR Manager

34 shared skills · HR

52%

+$10kCareer change

9

Senior Accountant

32 shared skills · Finance

51%

−$0kCareer change

10

Chief People Officer

31 shared skills · HR

51%

+$118kCareer change

11

Warehouse Manager

27 shared skills · Operations

49%

−$34kCareer change

12

Chief Legal Officer

28 shared skills · Executive

49%

+$338kCareer change

13

Tax Manager

38 shared skills · Finance

49%

+$51kCareer change

14

Total Rewards Manager

38 shared skills · HR

48%

+$17kCareer change

15

Chief Data Officer

30 shared skills · Data

48%

+$197kCareer change

16

HRIS Analyst

43 shared skills · HR

47%

−$21kCareer change

17

Director of Internal Audit

35 shared skills · Finance

47%

+$100kCareer change

18

VP of People

30 shared skills · HR

46%

+$78kCareer change

Showing the top 18 of 27 transitions — explore the rest via the Network map.

Why People Explore Payroll Manager

High Impact Visibility

Payroll Managers sit at a critical intersection in the organization. Your work directly ties to key business metrics — making your impact visible across teams and to leadership.

Resume Signal

The skills behind Payroll Manager — Compliance, Payroll Processing, Analytics & Reporting — give you concrete language for resumes, interviews, and adjacent roles.