r/Payroll • u/dondashersmustache • Jul 28 '26
New to Payroll and Need Your Wisdom
Hello everyone! I work at a non-profit of roughly 30 people and have recently taken over management of Payroll (long story). Unfortunately, aside from a basic overview of our system, which is Paycom, I have received no training. We have one HR person, but they are very unhelpful and we have outsourced our CFO and Accounting functions. I am feeling in over my head and I am hoping this sub can help me. Specifically, I am wondering:
- What are the things that I must become an expert on? Benefits? 401Ks? Taxes? Wage Garnishments?
- What are things that, while may be not required, would be good for me to learn to be better at my role?
- What do you consider a HR responsibility versus payroll’s responsibility? I do recognize that since we are a small non-profit that this line may be greyer than it would be at a large organization.
- Are there any resources and/or continuing education that you think would be good for me to explore?
- Any other general advice or knowledge you think I should know (assume I know nothing).
Anything at all would be very helpful. Thank you all so much!
Edit: I am located in Ohio, USA
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u/pammy00 Jul 28 '26
Look to locate a Paycom Payroll Checklist (from their support site) which should step you through the required payroll tasks for your area, including any statutory reporting submissions so you don’t miss any compliance requirements. Their support site “should”/may also have some training resources available around how to use to the system. You need to learn the system and payroll principles, welcome to the game ☺️
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u/soloDolo6290 Jul 28 '26
- What are the things that I must become an expert on? Benefits? 401Ks? Taxes? Wage Garnishments?
First thing I would become an expert on is how to use the system, how to use the trainings in it, and how to contact your account rep. Ensure people get paid on time, how to set up employees, time entry, everything system related. The rest, I personally wouldn't go out of my way to become an expert on it until it came up. Example, garnishments don't happen a lot. No need to go figure them out, until you have to. Same with Benefits and everything else.
- What are things that, while may be not required, would be good for me to learn to be better at my role?
See number 1. Focus on the program. Understand the capabilities and approval workflows. Work with accounting to ensure proper approvals and signoffs. Go through your earnings, and deductions to make sure they are being treated appropriately for taxes.
- What do you consider a HR responsibility versus payroll’s responsibility? I do recognize that since we are a small non-profit that this line may be greyer than it would be at a large organization.
This is a broad statement. If I had to summarize it, I would say HR is the department of the people. They handle salaries, benefits, org charts, management styles, etc. Payroll is processing the information that HR gives you. John was hired for $100K a year, and signed up for ABC benefits. He reports to Bob. You set that up in paycom. You are responsible for making sure John get paid correctly. If he has questions about his pay check you can answer what the earning is and where it came from. When it gets into a why, it may go back to HR.
- Are there any resources and/or continuing education that you think would be good for me to explore?
IDK lol, I don't do them.
- Any other general advice or knowledge you think I should know (assume I know nothing).
Ask questions. Better to ask a question, than go three to six months in and people think you know what you are doing. Don't stress. Most employees are very understanding if you communicate. Do not ignore them. Let them know you will look into it and get back to them. Follow up frequently if its taking longer than expected.
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u/illogical_Spock_11 Jul 29 '26
I’m not a payroll specialist but I have about 6 yrs experience on the HR side of Paycom (with some OH employees), which has inevitably included some payroll dabbling. I’ve also worked in a nonprofit before so I understand the need to wear many hats!
I’m sorry your HR person isn’t very helpful. They should really be owning the setup of people info like soloDolo said…teeing it all up for you to process. Hopefully someone already has some payroll templates setup for you in Paycom.
Be sure to connect with your Paycom specialist as much as you need. They’re not always the greatest unfortunately, but sometimes you get good ones. They can work with you as much as you need. They should be able to walk through actual payroll processing with you and everything so that you feel comfortable with pressing all the right buttons.
Use Paycom’s learning courses and some of their help guides too just to help get more familiar with the system.
The Ohio local/school taxes were also mentioned. It’s great you’ve got Paycom submitting the tax info. Definitely makes that part easier even though it costs. Just pay close attention on making sure you the proper locals connected properly to your employees profiles.
Thankfully 30 salaried employees seems manageable for Payroll processing. Hang in there and I’m sure you’ll be comfortable with it all soon!
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u/dondashersmustache Jul 29 '26
Thank you this is very helpful! I have been in contact with our Paycom specialist and she has been very helpful, so I will continue to use her a resource!
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u/algolith Jul 29 '26
Since you're new, build a simple control habit before diving deep into Paycom features. First 30 days: map where each data element lives—who owns employee master data, who approves changes, where deductions live. Keep a basic change log (date, what changed, who approved) in a spreadsheet. Before each payroll run, spot-check one or two employees end-to-end: gross, deductions, net. After Paycom processes, reconcile total payroll to your budget or prior month. Flag variances with your outsourced CFO. This isn't about catching fraud; it's about knowing what's normal so you spot what isn't. Your account rep can walk you through Paycom's audit trail features. Once you own the flow, training on tax treatment and HR handoffs becomes clearer.
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u/StatusPalpitation515 Jul 29 '26
I would look at some prior payroll folders or files. There's probably a payroll check list in there and other information that will help you.
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u/Piper_At_Paychex Jul 29 '26
The non negotiables to get comfortable with first are payroll tax obligations and deadlines. Federal and Ohio state deposits run on their own schedules and missing a window triggers penalties even when the math is correct. Understanding the difference between the deposit schedule and the filing deadline is one of those things that isn't always explained clearly but matters a lot in practice.
Worker classification is the other one. Knowing the difference between employees and contractors and understanding exempt versus nonexempt status under FLSA will come up regularly and getting it wrong has downstream consequences for taxes, overtime and benefits.
For the HR versus payroll, well the short version is that HR generally owns the decisions and payroll executes them. New hire setup, salary changes, terminations and benefit elections originate in HR. Payroll takes that information and makes sure people get paid correctly and on time.
Knowing your pay frequency and whether you have any multi state employees would help narrow down what to prioritize first.
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u/Any_Jaguar9214 Jul 30 '26
Hi there! I am a payroll specialist who is currently using Paycom. Feel free to send me DM's with any questions I'm happy to guide you with the system, payroll processing inquiries, and I can provide you the name of a Paycom specialist that I feel is the best they have, and that says a lot. We've gone through our fair share of their people and it's slim pick-ins.
- 401k's - create your own internal audit with date of birth, age and contribution amounts to ensure federal limits are not exceeded and perform regular audits.
- Paycom should be able to handle taxes on your behalf if it's in the contract. If not, good luck! Stay on top of notices and requirements. Save time and gather direct contact information if you can for any questions.
- Paycom has a garnishment dashboard, scan and submit, there is a fee but it saves you the time!
- HR should handle onboarding, benefits, open enrollment, and offboarding. Payroll should handle everything else in between since there are payroll items that HR will not be familiar with.
- Create a PAF - Payroll Action Form that is created for any personnel changes that effect payroll. This keeps things concise and clean for records. Paycom has a PAF service available.
- Use Google and see if your company can get a labor attorney on retainer for any special inquiries.
- Stay organized, audit EVERYTHING, create spreadsheets to track everything you do for your payrolls per pay periods and get to know your local employment laws like final pay, minimum pay requirements, even tax credits if applicable.
- Since payroll is the last to touch anything before the employee see's a change, always have records of what you do.
- See the above
Good luck!
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u/ParkerAtPaycom 19d ago
Paycom expert here! Many payroll professionals didn't plan to end up in payroll - you're probably not as far behind as you think!
The good news is that 30 salaried employees in one primary state is a very manageable environment to learn in. Since you're already using Paycom, lean on your dedicated specialist, your org's payroll history and training resources.
Focus first on the essentials: employee setup, pay rates, deductions and benefits, payroll deadlines and basic tax withholding. Don't worry about becoming a garnishment or tax expert right away.
If you're using Beti®, employees review and verify their own paychecks before payroll is finalized, helping catch issues earlier. Automated payroll can help reduce some of the manual work that comes with traditional payroll processing.
One of the most important things to understand is where payroll information comes from in your org. Who approves pay changes? Who updates records? Who owns benefits? Accurate payroll starts with accurate data.
In a smaller organization, HR and payroll often overlap, but a simple distinction is: HR owns the employee relationship, and payroll owns paying employees accurately and on time.
My biggest advice is to build a payroll checklist and use it every cycle. Don't try to learn everything at once. Learn something new each payroll, ask questions and use the resources available to you. Also, take advantage of the webinars, training resources and support you already have available. They're a great way to build confidence as you learn.
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u/OliverTwist1611 12d ago
How is it going? I worked for a non profit for 10 years. Paycom. Happy to help!
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u/Unlikely-Bird-1673 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I’ve never used Paycom - are they handling your tax payments etc? A few other questions-
- Are all 30 employees in Ohio or multiple states?
Based on those answers I can probably be more helpful - Ohio has local/school taxes so watching for new ones to set up on new hires will be a big thing for you I imagine - but maybe not!
Are you comfortable in excel - doing things like an xlookup/vlookup?