Payroll Accountant at University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

The incumbent will be responsible for the following, but not limited to:

• Ensure all relevant benefit codes are activated on permanent appointments;
• Ensure that back pay is correctly calculated, including related deductions where applicable;
• Review and sign off on pay slips after input by the relevant payroll officers;
• Process and review payroll reports for terminations, secondary appointments and leave credits;
• Review the reports on medical aid, duplicate primary job rows, and multiple active tax records, then run the exception reports to find discrepancies between member and employee records for active tax records and UIF status — investigating and correcting any exceptions found;
• Set up monthly cut-off calendar dates on the Human Capital System; 
• Update the Payroll System with new month's payroll run;
• Monitor and run daily payroll executions to ensure completeness of payroll expense;
• Review exception reports for monthly tax, unemployment insurance fund and skills development levies and resolve differences;
• Reconcile interim cash focus payments to actual monies paid to employees, and compile a monthly reconciliation of all interim payments;
• Supervise and manage the day-to-day work allocation of Payroll Officer, ensuring adherence to payroll deadlines, internal controls, and compliance with the relevant legislation regarding income tax, unemployment insurance fund and skills development levies;
• Manage leave for reporting staff, including planning and approving leave applications to ensure adequate team coverage throughout the payroll cycle;
• Manage the performance development of reporting staff, including setting objectives, conducting performance reviews, and identifying training and development needs;
• Verify daily all postdoctoral (Post Doc) payments ensuring that they are correctly processed;
• Liaise and ensure that submitted files are approved for the payroll month and signed off by the relevant personnel;
• Run and review the daily comparison between the Human Capital System and Psiber Payroll, investigate variances, and resolve or escalate discrepancies timeously;
• Review any errors from the Labour department; 
• Adhere and comply with internal control measures and audit procedures;
• Test processes and controls on relevant programs created for payroll exception reports;
• Conduct a review of all third-party recons and to ensure that payments balance to the system deduction totals. Ensure that member contributions and employer contributions compare to total deductions, taking cognisance of required adjustments on the recons;
• Balance the monthly salary control accounts to relevant recons and deductions totals.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• BCom degree in Accounting, Finance, or Human Resources; 
• Four (4) years’ experiences in the following:
• Payroll experience;
• Financial experience;
• Psiber Payroll System Experience;
• ERP System Experience;
• Advanced Excel Experience;
• Two (2) years experience in a supervisory role;
• Staff development experience;
• Performance Management Experience.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES (SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, AND BEHAVIOURAL ATTRIBUTES)    

• Knowledge of relevant income and employment legislation; 
• Knowledge of South African Revenue Service rules and regulations; 
• Performance management;
• Creation and maintenance of payroll parameters;
• Computer literacy;
• Microsoft Office Suite;
• Google Suite; 
• Ability to accomplish tasks and processes accurately and completely; 
• Ability to use appropriate interpersonal skills and methods to reduce tension and resolve conflict; 
• Ability to deal with high-stress situations calmly and effectively;
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely;
• Ability to identify problems, investigate, determine possible solutions, and actively work to resolve the issues; 
• Knowledge of and ability to use effective approaches for choosing a course of action. 

ADDED ADVANTAGES AND PREFERENCES:

• Honours BCom Accounting or Taxation
• 2 -3 years' experience in the following;
• PeopleSoft experience;
• Experience in an institute of higher education. 

PLEASE NOTE: All shortlisted candidates may be required to participate in relevant skills assessments as part of the selection process.

• The annual remuneration package will be commensurate with the incumbent’s level of appointment, as determined by UP policy guidelines. UP subscribes to the BESTMED and UMVUZO medical aid schemes and contributes 50% of the applicable monthly premium

Applicants are requested to apply online at www.up.ac.za, and follow the link: Careers@UP. 

In applying for this post, please attach: 

• A comprehensive CV; 
• Certified copies of qualifications; 
• Names, e-mail addresses and telephone details of three referees whom we have permission to contact.

CLOSING DATE: 17 August 2026.