AdministrativeCompare

Payroll Clerk

O*NET: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks·43-3051.00

The Verdict:AI platforms autonomously compute wages, handle deductions, reconcile accounts, generate reports, and file taxes at professional quality. Human tasks like oversight, queries, and training are shrinking as software improves. Core functions face high displacement risk over the next decade, with the role largely automated.

Resilience Score

/100

High Risk

Score tiers

Highly Resilient81–100

Resilient61–80

Moderate Risk41–60

High Risk21–40

Critical Risk0–20

How is this scored?

Task Resilience

How much of this role's daily work remains beyond AI and robotic automation.

30% of score

Physical Presence

The degree to which this job needs a human present — hands-on, in the field, or in the room.

20% of score

Human Necessity

How important the unique human edge is — for trust, accountability, or judgment.

15% of score

Regulatory Shield

How strong the legal requirement is for a human in this job (by law, licensing, or credentials).

13% of score

Technological Maturity

How far AI remains from performing this role's core functions.

10% of score

Displacement Evidence

The volume of jobs in this field being eliminated by AI or automation right now.

12% of score

Score last updated: March 2026Full methodology

Avg Salary

Median annual wage from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 release.

$55k

Job Growth (10yr)

Projected change in total number of jobs (not salary) from 2024–2034. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections.

-16.7%

AI Exposure

Percentage of this role's analyzed tasks that AI can handle autonomously or nearly so. 12 of 21 tasks are classified as AI-exposed.

57%

High exposure

Task Analysis

A significant share of this role is already automatable.
12 of 21 tasks can be handled by AI. Your value concentrates in the human-essential tasks below. The 33% of tasks that are AI-leverage is where mastering the tools keeps you ahead.

Read the action plan for high-risk roles

12exposed

7AI leverage

2human-essential

View all 21 tasks

AI Can Handle This12 tasks

Tasks AI can do autonomously or nearly so

Process and issue employee paychecks and statements of earnings and deductions.

Compute wages and deductions, and enter data into computers.

Process paperwork for new employees and enter employee information into the payroll system.

Prepare and balance period-end reports, and reconcile issued payrolls to bank statements.

Review time sheets, work charts, wage computation, and other information to detect and reconcile payroll discrepancies.

Record employee information, such as exemptions, transfers, and resignations, to maintain and update payroll records.

Issue and record adjustments to pay related to previous errors or retroactive increases.

Keep track of leave time, such as vacation, personal, and sick leave, for employees.

Compile employee time, production, and payroll data from time sheets and other records.

Prepare and file payroll tax returns.

Compile statistical reports, statements, and summaries related to pay and benefits accounts, and submit them to appropriate departments.

Balance cash and payroll accounts.

AI Leverage7 tasks

Master these tools — humans who do outperform those who don't

Verify attendance, hours worked, and pay adjustments, and post information onto designated records.

Keep informed about changes in tax and deduction laws that apply to the payroll process.

Provide information to employees and managers on payroll matters, tax issues, benefit plans, and collective agreement provisions.

Conduct verifications of employment.

Complete, verify, and process forms and documentation for administration of benefits, such as pension plans, and unemployment and medical insurance.

Train employees on organizations' timekeeping systems.

Coordinate special programs, such as United Way campaigns, that involve payroll deductions.

Human Advantage2 tasks

Tasks requiring trust, presence, or novel judgment

Distribute and collect timecards each pay period.

Complete time sheets showing employees' arrival and departure times.

Resilience Landscape

Payroll Clerk lands in Lower Pay, High Risk

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