Payroll Clerks
Official O*NET title: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks (43-3051.00)
Also called: payroll assistant, payroll clerk, payroll coordinator, payroll representative, payroll specialist
Do you do this at work?
Answer each card — it takes about a minute.
Do you do this at work?
Provide information to employees and managers on payroll matters, tax issues, benefit plans, and collective agreement provisions
Swipe right for yes, left for not me. On a keyboard: → yes, ← not me, Z undo. +2 XP per answer.
How AI is changing payroll clerks work
3 of 15 measurable main tasks for this job show up in real AI-use data, so we rate it Green (little AI use yet) — 20%.
This shows where people already use AI, not whether the job will disappear. How we measure this.
Tasks in this job and recorded AI use
- Provide information to employees and managers on payroll matters, tax issues, benefit plans, and collective agreement provisions (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Issue and record adjustments to pay related to previous errors or retroactive increases (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Prepare and balance period-end reports, and reconcile issued payrolls to bank statements (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Review time sheets, work charts, wage computation, and other information to detect and reconcile payroll discrepancies (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Distribute and collect timecards each pay period (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Record employee information (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Keep track of leave time (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Compile employee time, production, and payroll data from time sheets and other records (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Keep informed about changes in tax and deduction laws that apply to the payroll process (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Complete time sheets showing employees' arrival and departure times (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Conduct verifications of employment (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Prepare and file payroll tax returns — too new for the AI data
- Compile statistical reports, statements, and summaries related to pay and benefits accounts, and submit them to appropriate departments — no recorded AI use
- Balance cash and payroll accounts — no recorded AI use
- Complete, verify, and process forms and documentation for administration of benefits — no recorded AI use
- Train employees on organizations' timekeeping systems — no recorded AI use
- Coordinate special programs — no recorded AI use
Tasks: O*NET 31.0. AI use: Anthropic Economic Index (exact or close text match).
Your first steps (guidance)
- Week 1: Open a free AI assistant and say hello. Follow our “Getting started with AI” guide. Ask it one simple question about your work.
- Week 2: Use AI on one task you do often. Try the prompt for: “Provide information to employees and managers on payroll matters, tax issues, benefit plans, and collective agreement provisions”. Try the prompt for: “Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers”.
Tick your own tasks above to get a plan based on what you really do. The first 2 weeks are free; Premium (coming soon) adds weeks 3–12. New to AI? Read our beginner’s guide.
Questions about AI and payroll clerks
Will AI replace payroll clerks?
Our data can’t predict job losses, and we don’t try to. What it does show: 3 of the 15 main tasks for this job match tasks people already use AI for (Anthropic Economic Index), giving a Green rating (little AI use yet). Using AI on a task is not the same as AI doing the whole job, and 17 of the 21 listed tasks show no recorded AI use yet.
Which payroll clerk tasks is AI used for most?
In the data, the most AI use among this job’s tasks is for: provide information to employees and managers on payroll matters, tax issues, benefit plans, and collective agreement provisions; compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers; issue and record adjustments to pay related to previous errors or retroactive increases.
Which payroll clerk tasks show little or no AI use?
For example: verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records; process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions; process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system. These are good places to keep building your own skills.
How does this job compare to others?
In Microsoft Research’s “Working with AI” study, this job’s AI applicability score is equal to or higher than 73% of the occupations they scored. That measures overlap with AI chat use, not risk of job loss.
How can a payroll clerk start learning AI?
Start small: open a free AI assistant, try it on one task you do often, and always check facts and numbers yourself. The plan on this page is guidance, not professional advice.
See how this job ranks
Payroll Clerks ranks #350 of 572 jobs for the share of main tasks with AI use (#1 = most), and #22 of 34 in Office & Admin.
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