Payroll Analyst

Job Description

At  Wilson Elser, we are redefining what it means to work at a national law firm. With more than 1,400 attorneys across 46 offices nationwide, we are recognized among the top 100 law firms by The American Lawyer and ranked #30 in the National Law Journal's survey of the nation's largest law firms.

Our continued success is built on a culture of collaboration, innovation, client service, and mutual respect. We are committed to fostering an environment where employees are empowered to grow their careers, contribute meaningfully, and thrive professionally.

Our firm is committed to attracting and retaining professionals who value each other and the service we provide by embracing Teamwork, Collaboration, Client Service, and Innovation. If you are a motivated professional looking for a long-term fit where you can grow in a role, and will be valued and empowered, then we invite you to apply to our Payroll Analyst position in our New York City Midtown  Office.

This position offers a flexible, hybrid working arrangement.

The Position

The Payroll Analyst supports accurate, timely, and compliant payroll administration across a complex multi-state organization. This role performs detailed payroll review and analysis, reconciles payroll and benefit-related data, researches discrepancies, maintains supporting documentation, and partners with internal stakeholders and external vendors to bring issues to resolution.

The position requires strong analytical judgment, discretion, and an understanding of how payroll transactions affect employees, tax reporting, benefit contributions, accounting records, and downstream systems. The Payroll Analyst is expected to understand the reason behind payroll processes, not only the mechanical steps, and to identify risks or inconsistencies before payroll is finalized. The ideal candidate will be a methodical, self-motivated, coachable team player with a strong attention to detail and a deep commitment to delivering quality work.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the end-to-end processing and review of multiple payrolls, which include exempt, non-exempt, and partner pay groups with different pay frequencies and deadlines.
• Validate payroll inputs, including new hires, terminations, compensation changes, time and attendance, bonuses, leave adjustments, deductions, imputed income, direct deposit changes, and other one-time or recurring transactions.
• Perform pre-payroll and post-payroll audits to confirm the accuracy and completeness of gross-to-net calculations, taxable wages, tax withholding, benefit deductions, employer contributions, net pay, and payroll funding totals.
• Prepare and reconcile payroll reports, including payroll registers, tax liability reports, deduction reports, benefit contribution reports, employee pay collections, and other supporting schedules.
• Prepare payroll journal entries.
• Analyze payroll discrepancies, identify the root cause, assess the impact across employees and reporting periods, and coordinate corrective action through completion.
• Reconcile retirement plan and health savings account contributions to payroll records and vendor files; investigate rejected, missing, or inconsistent records and support timely correction.
• Review multi-state and local tax withholding for reasonableness and support employee work-location, residence, reciprocity, and jurisdictional setup changes in accordance with established procedures.
• Support quarterly and year-end payroll activities, including payroll tax reconciliations, W-2 validation, taxable fringe benefit reviews, correction processing, and responses to audit or agency inquiries.
• Prepare recurring and ad hoc payroll data for Finance, Benefits, Human Resources, and other stakeholders while applying appropriate confidentiality and data-governance controls.
• Maintain complete audit support, payroll checklists, and reconciliations.
• Support payroll system implementations, upgrades, testing, parallel payroll validation, data conversion, and process redesign, including the transition to Workday.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen controls, reduce manual work, improve reporting, and increase the efficiency and accuracy of payroll operations.
• Respond to employee and stakeholder inquiries clearly, professionally, and within established service expectations, escalating sensitive or high-risk matters as appropriate.
• Perform other payroll-related responsibilities and special projects as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Experience with Workday Payroll is required. 
• Three or more years of progressive payroll experience, preferably in a complex, high-volume, multi-state environment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of payroll practices specific to law firms, including partner compensation, bonuses, and multi-state payroll administration.
• Working knowledge of payroll concepts, including gross-to-net calculations, taxable wages, supplemental wages, payroll taxes, deductions, garnishments, benefit contributions, and year-end reporting.
• Demonstrated experience performing payroll audits, reconciliations, variance analysis, and discrepancy research.
• Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including lookup functions, pivot tables, data validation, filtering, and reconciliation of large data sets.
• Ability to manage confidential information, competing deadlines, and detailed work with sound judgment and a high degree of accuracy.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain payroll matters clearly to employees and business partners.

Wilson Elser offers a competitive salary and benefits package designed to support our attorneys both professionally and personally.

A variety of factors are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to experience, education, licensure and/or certifications, geographic location, market demands, other business and organizational needs, and other factors permitted by law. Final salary wages offered may be outside of this range based on other reasons and individual circumstances. This position is considered full-time and therefore qualifies for benefits including 401(k) retirement savings plan, medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. 

Why Should You Apply? 

• Benefits: Outstanding benefits package, including 401k match and generous PTO plan
• Career Growth: Ample opportunities for professional development and advancement
• Employee Perks: Access to corporate discount plans and other benefits

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