Top 12 Payroll Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today’s hiring scrum, a resume that actually shows what you can do with payroll systems isn’t optional. It’s your proof. Highlighting practical payroll skills signals accuracy, compliance savvy, and the kind of reliability finance leaders cling to when deadlines bite.

Payroll Skills

1. QuickBooks
2. ADP Workforce Now
3. Excel
4. SAP SuccessFactors
5. Paychex Flex
6. UKG (formerly Kronos)
7. Dayforce (formerly Ceridian Dayforce)
8. Gusto
9. Oracle PeopleSoft
10. Xero
11. BambooHR
12. Zoho Payroll

1. QuickBooks

QuickBooks offers accounting with tightly integrated payroll, so you can run pay, calculate and remit taxes, manage deductions, and keep clean books without hopping systems.

Why It's Important

Payroll inside QuickBooks tightens the loop: precise calculations, automatic tax updates, error-cutting workflows, and on-time pay. Less rekeying. Fewer misses.

How to Improve QuickBooks Skills

Make it hum without fuss:

1. Stay current: Keep payroll updates applied so tax tables and forms are right.

2. Use direct deposit: Faster paydays, fewer voids, happier people.

3. Tune payroll items: Map earnings, deductions, and benefits cleanly to the chart of accounts to prevent reporting snarls.

4. Automate filings: Turn on e-file and e-pay for federal, state, and local taxes where supported.

5. Customize reports: Memorize payroll summaries, liability reports, and job-cost views tailored to your approvals cycle.

6. Lock it down: Role-based access, passwords, and audit trails for sensitive pay data.

7. Train intentionally: Short, scenario-based practice beats guesswork when quarter-end hits.

Small optimizations compound into a calmer payroll day.

How to Display QuickBooks Skills on Your Resume

2. ADP Workforce Now

ADP Workforce Now centralizes payroll, HR, time, benefits, and talent management in a cloud platform built to scale.

Why It's Important

It streamlines payroll processing and taxes, bakes in compliance guidance, and delivers accurate payments at speed. Fewer manual steps, stronger controls.

How to Improve ADP Workforce Skills

Level it up with focused habits:

1. Formal training: Master core payroll cycles, retro calculations, and year-end workflows.

2. Automate: Schedule payroll runs, tax filings, and general ledger exports.

3. Integrate: Connect time, HRIS, and your GL to eliminate duplicate entry.

4. Keep data fresh: Audit addresses, withholdings, and deduction setups before each cycle.

5. Use compliance alerts: Monitor rule changes and apply ADP recommendations quickly.

6. Lean on analytics: Track labor costs, overtime spikes, and funding needs.

7. Promote mobile adoption: Employees accessing pay info themselves cuts ticket volume.

8. Close the loop: Collect payroll team feedback and iterate configurations.

How to Display ADP Workforce Skills on Your Resume

3. Excel

Excel is the workhorse for organizing hours, calculating gross-to-net, reconciling liabilities, and slicing pay data six ways fast.

Why It's Important

When systems don’t talk, Excel fills the gaps. Accurate math, crisp checks, clear audits—without waiting on IT.

How to Improve Excel Skills

Sharpen the tool, shrink the risk:

1. Start with templates: Build a consistent gross-to-net model and reuse it.

2. Lean on formulas: SUM, IF, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH for rates and rules.

3. PivotTables: Summarize by department, location, or pay code in seconds.

4. Data validation: Guardrails for dates, rates, and hours to stop junk early.

5. Conditional formatting: Flag overtime, negative nets, or missing approvals.

6. Macros: Record repeat steps—imports, cleans, exports—then run with one click.

7. Security: Protect sheets, lock cells, and store files where only the right eyes can see.

8. External data: Link time clocks or HR exports to reduce manual keying.

How to Display Excel Skills on Your Resume

4. SAP SuccessFactors

SuccessFactors pairs core HR with Employee Central Payroll to automate complex payroll across countries and keep controls tight.

Why It's Important

It handles complexity—local rules, myriad deductions, retroactivity—while keeping pay punctual and compliant.

How to Improve SAP SuccessFactors Skills

Target the levers that matter:

1. Process optimization: Standardize pre-pay validations and retro runs; reduce off-cycle chaos.

2. Deep user training: Focus on payroll control center, alerts, and exception handling.

3. Integrations: Tighten links with finance, time, and benefits to stop reconciliations from ballooning.

4. Analytics: Use workforce and payroll analytics to spot cost drifts and bottlenecks.

5. Stay updated: Apply quarterly releases and test changes in a sandbox before go-live.

How to Display SAP SuccessFactors Skills on Your Resume

5. Paychex Flex

Paychex Flex offers payroll, tax management, and employee pay options in a single, scalable platform built for small and midsize teams.

Why It's Important

It trims manual effort, strengthens tax compliance, and delivers predictable, accurate payroll cycles without heroics.

How to Improve Paychex Flex Skills

Dial in the experience:

1. Simplify workflows: Shorten clicks to core tasks; use saved views and defaults.

2. Automate routine work: Schedule runs, auto-collect time, and auto-file taxes where eligible.

3. Integrate systems: Connect HR, time, and accounting so data flows once.

4. Strengthen mobile: Encourage app usage for approvals and employee self-service.

5. Custom reporting: Build role-specific dashboards for liabilities, funding, and variances.

6. Security first: MFA, least-privilege access, and periodic permission reviews.

7. Train continuously: Short refreshers around tax season and year-end cut down errors.

8. Collect feedback: Iterate settings based on payroll team and employee input.

How to Display Paychex Flex Skills on Your Resume

6. UKG (formerly Kronos)

UKG provides workforce management for time, scheduling, and leave, plus HR and payroll capabilities depending on the product (e.g., UKG Pro, UKG Ready). It’s built to get hours right and feed payroll cleanly.

Why It's Important

Accurate time in means accurate pay out. Automated rules, fewer adjustments, better compliance—no more Friday scrambles.

How to Improve UKG Skills

Make the most of it:

1. Train by role: Supervisors on exceptions, admins on pay rules, payroll on imports and audits.

2. Automate: Apply accrual rules, rounding, and meal/rest policies; cut manual edits.

3. Integrate: Sync HR, time, and payroll/GL so approvals flow into pay with no rekeying.

4. Customize reporting: Exception dashboards for managers; payroll pre-check reports for finance.

5. Stay updated: Apply patches and new features; test in non-prod first.

6. Feedback loop: Capture manager and employee pain points and adjust configurations.

How to Display UKG Skills on Your Resume

7. Dayforce (formerly Ceridian Dayforce)

Dayforce is an end-to-end HCM platform with real-time payroll calculation, benefits, time, and HR all under one roof.

Why It's Important

Continuous calculation reduces surprises on payday, and the unified stack shrinks integration risk.

How to Improve Dayforce Skills

Tighten the system, calm the cycle:

1. Right-size configuration: Map earning and deduction codes to policies and jurisdictions precisely.

2. Invest in training: Focus on payroll workflows, retro rules, and year-end mechanics.

3. Automate approvals: Timesheets, tax updates, and feeds—less chasing, fewer delays.

4. Update regularly: Apply releases and validate in a test environment before go-live.

5. Integrate cleanly: Connect HR, time, benefits, and finance for a single source of truth.

How to Display Dayforce Skills on Your Resume

8. Gusto

Gusto delivers payroll, benefits, and HR tools designed for small and growing companies that want less paperwork and more predictability.

Why It's Important

Automated taxes, straightforward onboarding, and clear pay runs keep compliance steady and admin light.

How to Improve Gusto Skills

Squeeze more value with simple shifts:

1. Boost automation: Scheduled runs, automatic tax filing, and auto-reminders reduce misses.

2. Expand integrations: Connect accounting, time tracking, and expense tools to streamline.

3. Customize outputs: Tailor pay stubs, run calendars, and reports for your cadence.

4. Strengthen support: Build a quick-reference playbook for common exceptions and edge cases.

5. Stay compliant: Monitor tax and wage changes; review notices monthly.

6. Educate users: Short tutorials for admins and employees reduce support tickets.

7. Collect feedback: Poll stakeholders after each quarter; fix the rough edges.

How to Display Gusto Skills on Your Resume

9. Oracle PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft provides robust HR and payroll with deep configurability for enterprises that need granular control.

Why It's Important

It automates complex payroll rules, anchors compliance, and scales to large populations with heavy auditing needs.

How to Improve Oracle PeopleSoft Skills

Modernize without creating upgrade pain:

1. Apply updates: Keep tax and regulatory patches current; test thoroughly.

2. Use cloud services where it fits: Offload infrastructure while keeping PeopleSoft at the core.

3. Tune performance: Monitor processes, indexes, and queries to shrink run times.

4. Train your admins: Deeper knowledge means fewer customizations.

5. Trim custom code: Prefer delivered features and the Fluid UI for usability and smoother upgrades.

6. Automate routine work: Scheduled jobs for calc, confirm, and GL—less manual oversight.

7. Leverage reporting/BI: Turn payroll data into actionable cost and compliance insights.

8. Harden security: Strong roles, MFA, and periodic access reviews protect pay data.

How to Display Oracle PeopleSoft Skills on Your Resume

10. Xero

Xero offers accounting with payroll features that vary by country. In regions like the UK, AU, and NZ, payroll is built in; in the US, payroll is handled through integration with partners.

Why It's Important

When available in your region, Xero streamlines pay runs, filings, and leave tracking; otherwise, integrations keep the process cohesive.

How to Improve Xero Skills

Keep it tidy, make it flow:

1. Automate payroll: Connect time apps (e.g., Deputy, QuickBooks Time) to import hours directly.

2. Use pay templates: Standardize rates, allowances, and overtime rules.

3. Mind compliance: Confirm current tax rates and thresholds for your jurisdiction.

4. Enable self-service: Let employees view payslips and request leave to reduce admin.

5. Keep learning: Review Xero Central guidance for new features and regional updates.

How to Display Xero Skills on Your Resume

11. BambooHR

BambooHR focuses on HR data, onboarding, and performance—with native payroll available in select regions (notably the U.S.) and strong integrations elsewhere.

Why It's Important

Clean employee records feed clean payroll. Less rework, fewer mismatches, better compliance posture.

How to Improve BambooHR Skills

Bridge HR and pay seamlessly:

1. Integrate payroll: Connect to a supported payroll provider if native payroll isn’t available in your region.

2. Automate data syncs: Use the API or built-in connectors to push changes instantly.

3. Customize reports: Build payroll-ready exports with the exact fields your processor needs.

4. Promote self-service: Employees update banking and personal info—accuracy from the source.

5. Track compliance: Monitor tax and employment rule changes; reflect them in fields and workflows.

6. Ongoing training: Short webinars and refreshers when features change keep errors at bay.

How to Display BambooHR Skills on Your Resume

12. Zoho Payroll

Zoho Payroll streamlines pay runs, taxes, and compliance inside the Zoho ecosystem, with availability that varies by country.

Why It's Important

It compresses the messy parts—calculations, filings, and documentation—into a routine you can trust.

How to Improve Zoho Payroll Skills

Turn the dials that matter most:

1. Expand automation: Auto-calc earnings, deductions, and filings to reduce manual work.

2. Integrate deeply: Link Zoho People, Zoho Books, and banking for smoother runs and reconciliation.

3. Customize: Tune payslips, roles, and reports to your exact needs.

4. Stay current: Apply tax and labor updates promptly; verify regional requirements.

5. Boost support: Build internal SOPs, tutorials, and quick answers for common exceptions.

6. Go mobile: Use the app for approvals and employee access anywhere.

7. Harden security: MFA, encryption at rest/in transit, and regular access audits.

How to Display Zoho Payroll Skills on Your Resume