Walk me through how you prepare and run a monthly payroll.
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Follow the payroll calendar and collect inputs before cut-off
- Update master data: joiners, exits, increments, bank changes
- Process attendance, leave, LOP, variable pay and reimbursements
- Run payroll, review variances and get approval
- Release bank file, payslips and statutory payments
Model answer
I work from a payroll calendar that sets dates for inputs, processing, approval and pay day. Before the cut-off I collect inputs: new joiners with documents and bank details, exits, increments and promotions, attendance and leave, overtime and incentives, and approved reimbursement claims. I update master data first, so the run uses the right structure. Then I run payroll in the system and check the output: headcount against HR, a month-on-month variance by employee and department, and exceptions like negative or zero net pay, very large changes or missing bank accounts. After my checks, a second person reviews and the finance or HR head approves. Then I release the bank file, publish payslips, and record statutory payments such as PF, ESI, PT and TDS by their due dates, along with the accounting entry for finance.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed easy round and get scored on every answer.
More easy Payroll Specialist questions
- Explain how you get from an employee gross salary to their net pay.
- A new employee asks why their monthly take-home is much lower than their CTC divided by 12. How do you explain it?
- An employee emails you saying their salary this month is wrong. How do you handle it?
- Why is data privacy so important in payroll, and what do you do to protect it?
- What do you check on payslips before they are released to employees?
- A new employee asks what PF is and why it is deducted from their salary. How would you explain it?
- What information and steps do you need to set up a new joiner correctly in payroll?
- How would you explain the difference between a fixed allowance and a reimbursement to an employee?
- Payroll has fixed deadlines. How do you stay accurate when there is very little time?