Bookkeeper Salary Range?

njjel

What do you all feel an appropriate salary range is for an employee with 3 year's experience who has the title of bookkeeper, but who's main focus is ADP Payroll?

Ethel

In Tx we have similar position (different title), employee has 8 yrs exp. and is in the $40,000 range. Probably a lot higher in your neck of the woods.

pork1

Ethel: Is this position an EXEMPT position? That breaks down to $19.23 an hour. A book-keeper would be hard pressed to be recognized as an executive. You should recheck your classification!

PORK

Ethel

Yes, Pork, it is exempt. She also handles our 401K and as I mentioned, we don't have her classified as a bookkeeper, but her main focus is ADP payroll + other "Stuff" i.e. 401K, etc.

pork1

NJJEL: We are paying ours $12.00 per hour.

PORK

Don D

I agree with Pork. Being 'in charge of' a 401k program is a clerical responsibility. I see no reason for her/him to be in a 40K category. A bookkeeper, in my decades of experience, with the duties you suggest, would be in a range of 26-30K. Now, a payroll manager who supervises others and makes independent decisions and perhaps handles multiple state/federal regulation demands might get close to 40, but probably not.

Ethel

Yes, the position (which I stated was not Bookeeper) does make independent decisions and handles multiple state and fed. regs. So guess that I focused on the ADP Payroll portion of the question and should NOT have responded because the position here handles so much more. Additionally, this position did not begin at this rate but has been held by the same person for several yrs and has grown to that level. Sorry -- I will be more explicit in the future.

pork1

Ethel: "Time in service" nor "rate of pay ($455.00 per week minimum)" do not make for a total justification in classifing one's position. Handling state and federally regulated programs are not words that fit in the current standard test. "Holds a position of responsibility" with the employer, defined as either: (1) performing work of substantial importance or (2) performing work requiring a high level of skill or training; if your position fits these words and your employer can sustain a wage and hour audit/investigation to validate the positions right to an EXEMPT status, then paying this position at the $40,000 rate might be justified. In my company this position would be called Director of Human Resources.

I wish you the best in sustaining this person in that position for he/she is well paid for doing the job and very happy for now. However, don't be surprised that after your company has paid this person as a salaried person and when she retires, she drops a BOMB on the company that she has worked overtime for 40 years and has the time and record information to prove it, and she never got paid OVERTIME because the company inappropriately classified her position as EXEMPT.

Guess what her records will be the factual records used to punish the company for this wrong doing because as an EXEMPT employee there is no company record kept on the 40+ hours worked in any week for 40 years. Even one hour a day for 40 years is 10,400 hours at time and a half.

Oh and I worked through my lunch hour at my desk, too, I was so busy with all these people problems, I never had a chance to go out for lunch. If it was not for the people problems that I had to take care of, my job would have been great and I could have had a better working life.

It happens every day some where, so be sure and validate this position for true Decision making and assigned responsibility/accountabilty, which is not supervised by a duplicate or equal manager.

PORK

pork1

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 10-27-04 AT 09:03AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Thanks Don; my HR assistant does all of those things, administrative task of HR; I have not been able to come to the belief that she makes any important descisions on her own, as she administrates the activities of all written programs and procedures. Her decisions are in the guidelines of each computer program and she follows them.

It reminds me of the opportunity I once had in the carpet manufacturing arena. Our Art department had a multitude of "creative artist" graduates of college programs that were on the rolls as EXEMPT and made to work whatever hours were necessary to complete the creative designs of the customers.

As I became aware of each of the departments in the plant and the managers I came head to head with the Marketing Manager (brother to the owner) who managed the art department. I advised him that we needed to change the classification of the art workers who basically operated data terminals and created art designs for carpet sales and orders from stored computer patterns. He refused, and after I left the company "college graduates" got through to the Fed Wage and Hour folks who came and investigated the departments classification of the computer operators called "Creative Art Technicians". Just because they were college graduates did not make them EXEMPT under the old FLSA. It cost the company dearly for not taking my advice.

Now under the new FLSA, one might be able to find these individuals creating carpet designs as a professional making over $455.00 per week and adding new designs to the saved data bank. But, I would bet my last nickel that they would not stand up to the Primary duty words requiring invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a creative endeavor. With these new computer programs I can create and invent new designs, but I have a hard time painting in any stretch of the imagination.

And neither does my very capable assistant who can operate the "devil" out of the payroll system, the benefits systems, the W/C system, the files system, the 401K systems; she plugs in the data and things good happen. She will someday, I hope be promoted to Personnel Manager and will then have some decision authority and responsibility. Until then she will remain non-exempt.

PORK