Payroll Interview Questions

The Payroll source documents are the employee Time Sheets (or equivalent) that record when the employee worked and generally what they did. These records are subject to audit by the Labor Department, EEOC and probably others that I haven't encountered. These should be bound into a Payroll Source Document folder.

However, there are other employee documents that need to be retained, e.g., their original employment application, employee reviews (if you do them),that record their federal/state tax exemption choices,reporting their annual wages and withholdings, etc.

These can be filed in separate Employee files (by employee name or number) -- or simply integrated into the Payroll Source Document folders (in the week in which they occur). I very much favor the latter -- especially if you're doing computer accounting -- in keeping with my "always file chronological" bias.

Employees who do not complete their required payroll forms make the payroll administrator's job more challenging. Asking this question allows the applicant to explain how she would handle this to ensure the worker still gets paid.

Paycheck - this is the method by which the Employee is paid (A Bank Check/Cheque or Direct Deposit to Bank)

Payslip - Also called as Pay Stub is the paper which will typically detail the gross income and all taxes and any other deductions such as retirement plan contributions, insurances, garnishments, or charitable contributions taken out of the gross amount to arrive at the final net amount of the pay, also including the year to date totals in some circumstances.

Payroll administrators process payroll tax information. IRS forms W-2 and W-4 provide employers with the information needed to withhold income taxes from employees' wages. Familiarity with these forms ensure the candidate understands how to properly prepare these documents.