Associate Director, Payroll - Emory University

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Description:

Reporting to the Senior Director for Payroll, organizes and directs the day-to-day operations of the Emory University Payroll Department.

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provides departmental leadership in the absence of the Senior Director.
• Responds to department and employee payroll inquiries and requests.
• Participates in developing departmental short and long-term goals and objectives.
• Analyzes departmental strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and constraints to give direction to staff.
• Establishes and administers departmental policies, procedures, and related forms in accordance with state, federal, and organizational guidelines by reviewing, revising, and communicating them to ensure compliance.
• Makes recommendations for implementing changes to maintain compliance.
• Provides on-going performance feedback, addresses problems, orients and trains employees, verifies competencies and identifies and suggests ways to develop skills.
• May hire, train, supervise and evaluate staff.
• Directs, schedules and monitors workflow.
• Monitors departmental expenditures against budget(s) to locate errors and/or omissions, balances account records, and reconciles discrepancies.
• Manages accurate and timely processing of payroll, reviews data, runs trial payrolls and creates department reports.
• Reviews and approves payments such as garnishments, tax levies, child support, and other invoice payments.
• Oversees recording of appropriate employee deductions and responding to court orders, garnishments, tax levies, or other deductions.
• Coordinates direct deposit activities by calling in ACH totals for the bank, resolving problems with banks, and maintaining records of direct deposit transactions.
• Processes journal entries to clear payroll suspense.
• Performs reviews of financial information and reports to manage quality control for accuracy of accounting data.
• Works with staff to identify solutions and maintains follow up to ensure on-going accuracy.
• Manages compliance and registration associated with employees working outside the state of Georgia.
• Ensures compliance with governmental laws on payroll accounting and taxes.
• Ensures that payroll processing follows federal, state and local laws.
• Prepares regular periodic federal and state tax reports and returns and makes required deposits.
• Files taxes in applicable states on a next day, monthly.
• Works in conjunction with the Associate Director of State/Local Compliance for identifying employees that are working in states outside Georgia.
• Contacts department HR Reps and employees to verify and send the correct state withholding form to the employee.
• Updates the tax panels in PeopleSoft and moves the wages and taxes from Georgia to the correct state.
• Reviews, verifies and corrects year-end reporting and employee W-2s.
• Assists with the processing of W-2s.
• Reviews and corrects ACH returns and reconciles banking discrepancies with accounting.
• Reconciles withholding and benefit deduction accounts and employee monthly earnings; prepares journal entries to correct and/or reclassify payroll expenses.
• Reconciles the payroll accounts in Blackline monthly.
• Executes and monitors payroll to general ledger interface.
• Interprets applicable regulations to maintain records and files.
• Establishes filing and auditing procedures to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• Maintains all required records for easy accessibility.
• Prepares weekly, monthly, and quarterly tax deposits, quarterly 941 reporting, W-2/Equifax, W-2C's, year-end reconciliations, and file uploads as needed.
• Updates payroll system tax table setups, as needed.
• Generates audit reports with each payroll run to ensure completeness and accuracy.
• Identifies payroll processing issues and partners with PeopleSoft HR/Payroll system technical teams to test solutions and resolve.
• Provides input for process improvements to enhance and/or streamline payroll operations.
• Functions as the lead resource for system upgrades, testing, and special projects.
• Researches and provides resolution for complex payroll inquires and discrepancies.
• Ensures payroll and tax documents are filed timely and accurately.
• Manages the posting of payroll to general ledger and performs timely reconciliations to ensure the financial records are accurate.
• Partners with other colleagues in the Office of the Controller to provide monthly reconciliations in a timely manner.
• Supports financial audit work associated with payroll.
• Assigns responsibility for the preparation of operational and statistical reports for management and regulatory agencies.
• Reviews completed reports to assist in decision-making and to comply with regulations.
• Works with IT staff to develop efficient ways of processing information and identifies areas in which state-of-the-art technology is needed to enhance operations.
• Works with technical teams to analyze payroll issues, provide appropriate action plans, and test resolution.
• Provides ad-hoc and standard reports by leveraging system queries and reports.
• Creates the payroll calendars for the year in PeopleSoft and adds the supplemental calendars for each month.
• Generates monthly overtime, late payments, overpayment reports and other ad hoc reports, as requested.
• Performs related responsibilities as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Business Management, or a related field.
• Six years of payroll experience including experience in a supervisory role.

Emory Supports a Diverse and Inclusive Culture:

Emory University is dedicated to providing equal opportunities and equal access to all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, gender, genetic information, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and veteran's status. Emory University does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment on the basis of any factor stated above or prohibited under applicable law. Students, faculty, and staff are assured of participation in University programs and in the use of facilities without such discrimination. Emory University complies with Executive Order 11246, as amended, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veteran's Readjustment Assistance Act, and applicable executive orders, federal and state regulations regarding nondiscrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action. Emory University is committed to achieving a diverse workforce through application of its affirmative action, equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policy in all aspects of employment including recruitment, hiring, promotions, transfers, discipline, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training. Inquiries regarding this policy should be directed to the Emory University Department of Equity and Inclusion, 201 Dowman Drive, Administration Building, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Emory University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. To request this document in an alternate format or to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact the Department of Accessibility Services at 404-727-9877 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD). Please note that one week advance notice is preferred.