Payroll Accountant

Hoxton Circle•Santa Clara, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Our client in the semiconductor space is looking for a Payroll Accountant to join their finance team. This role involves owning the end-to-end semi-monthly US payroll process for both salaried and hourly employees, including interns. The responsibilities extend to the accounting side, where the individual will prepare and post payroll journal entries, reconcile various payroll-related balance sheet accounts, and produce month-end schedules and variance analysis. The role also includes providing support for audits, quarter-end, and year-end processes such as W-2s, and developing payroll Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Internationally, the position requires reviewing vendor-prepared payslips, reports, and journals for non-US entities, with potential for expanded oversight over time. The ideal candidate will act as a "Champion of Payroll," driving process improvements, automation, and AI-assisted validations.

Requirements

4-7+ years of hands-on payroll, including ownership of multi-state, semi-monthly US payroll cycles
Demonstrated support of AR/AP/GL activity
Strong knowledge of US payroll regulations, wage-and-hour rules, tax withholdings and benefits deductions (medical, dental, vision, HSA/FSA, 401(k))
Strong Excel (pivot tables, lookups, conditional formulas) and comfort with large datasets
Strong communication skills to explain payroll calculations and GL impact clearly to non-finance people

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end semi-monthly US payroll for salaried and hourly employees (plus interns)
Pull input from Workday, maintain the payroll master file, input changes in ADP, review previews and control reports
Route packages for approval to the Controller/Assistant Controller and CFO as required
Handle off-cycle payments
Serve as the first point of contact for employee payroll questions
Prepare and post payroll JEs in Business Central
Reconcile payroll balance sheet accounts monthly (payroll clearing, accrued payroll, accrued bonus/commission, benefits and tax liabilities, processing fees)
Produce month-end schedules and variance analysis by entity, department, and cost center
Cover audit documentation, quarter-end and year-end support including W-2s
Write payroll SOPs and train backup coverage
Internationally, review vendor-prepared payslips, reports and journals for the non-US entities
Bring a process improvement mindset, actively looking for ways to automate processes and utilize AI-assisted validations