Senior Payroll Specialist, 401(k) & Form 5500

Payday & Plan-Year Pro

Reports to Payroll Leader

Location: Remote (U.S.) — Dallas–Fort Worth metro preferred

Type: Part-time, non-exempt — up to 30 hours per week

Direct reports: None (individual contributor)

Client contact: None — internal support role

Compensation: $45 per hour, based on experience

The Opportunity

This is a senior payroll role with a retirement plan specialty. Day to day, you run accurate, on-time, multi-state payroll for a portfolio of client companies. On top of that, you are our in-house expert on where payroll meets the 401(k): deferrals and remittances that match the plan document, deposits that land on time, and the annual Form 5500 cycle that ties it all together.

We are looking for someone who has personally run payroll at a senior level and personally owned a filing season — not someone who reviewed what a vendor produced. You should know what is due, when it is due, and what happens when it is late.

This is an internal, behind-the-scenes role. You will not manage client relationships or sit in client meetings. You work alongside our Payroll Leader and fractional HR leads, who own the client conversations — your job is to make sure the underlying work is accurate, compliant, and on time.

The engagement is part-time, up to 30 hours per week. The rhythm is predictable: a steady payroll cadence every week, with heavier stretches around quarter-end, year-end, plan testing season, and Form 5500 deadlines.

What You’ll Own

Payroll Processing

• Run end-to-end payroll for multiple client companies on weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly cycles — data and time collection, input, preview, approval, funding, and final review
• Process new hires, terminations, rate and status changes, and off-cycle, manual, bonus, and final paychecks in line with each state’s final-pay timing rules
• Calculate overtime and the regular rate of pay correctly under the FLSA and state law, including shift differentials, nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, and blended rates
• Administer pre- and post-tax deductions: benefit premiums, 401(k) deferrals and loan repayments, HSA/FSA, garnishments, child support orders, tax levies, and wage assignments
• Maintain employee tax setup — federal and state W-4s, local taxes, reciprocity agreements, and multi-state and remote-worker taxation
• Reconcile every payroll before and after it runs — register to funding, net pay, direct deposit, and tax liabilities — and run down every variance
• Prepare general ledger journal entries and payroll reports for client accounting teams and our fractional HR leads
• Keep payroll setups current with changes in minimum wage, paid sick leave accrual, pay frequency, and pay statement requirements across states

Payroll Tax and Year-End

• Register client accounts with state withholding and unemployment agencies, maintain SUI rates, and handle agency correspondence
• Monitor tax deposits and quarterly filings (Forms 941 and 940, state withholding and SUI returns); resolve notices, amendments, and penalty abatement requests
• Own year-end: taxable fringe benefits such as group-term life over $50,000 and personal use of company vehicles, third-party sick pay, W-2 and W-2c production, and year-end reconciliation
• Support new client implementations and payroll conversions — year-to-date and prior-quarter loads, setup audits, and parallel runs
• Maintain payroll calendars, documented procedures, and controls across client accounts

401(k) and Retirement Plan Support

• Serve as day-to-day liaison with recordkeepers, TPAs, custodians, and plan auditors
• Configure and maintain plan deduction codes and compensation definitions so payroll matches what each plan document actually says
• Remit deferrals, employer contributions, and loan repayments every payroll; monitor deposit timeliness and resolve payroll-to-recordkeeper discrepancies
• Manage eligibility tracking, entry dates, auto-enrollment and auto-escalation, hours for vesting, and rehire determinations
• Monitor 402(g), 415, and 401(a)(17) limits, including catch-up contributions and mandatory Roth catch-up for employees above the prior-year FICA wage threshold
• Process loans, hardship and in-service distributions, termination distributions, and rollovers; coordinate QDROs with the TPA
• Prepare census data for annual nondiscrimination testing — ADP/ACP, top-heavy, and coverage — and process corrective distributions, QNECs, and refunds within deadline
• Support required participant notices: safe harbor, QDIA, automatic enrollment, and 404(a)(5) fee disclosures
• Identify operational errors — late deposits, missed deferrals, the wrong compensation base — and support corrections through EPCRS or VFCP in partnership with counsel or the TPA

Form 5500 and Plan Audits

• Form 5500 — own the full annual cycle for client retirement plans: data gathering, Schedules A, C, D, H/I, and R, Form 8955-SSA, Form 5558 extensions, EFAST2 submission, and Summary Annual Report distribution
• Coordinate annual plan audits, including preparing the audit package, pulling payroll samples, and responding to auditor requests
• Maintain the filing calendar across client plans and flag risk before it becomes penalty

What You Bring

Required

• 5–7 years of multi-state payroll experience, including full-cycle processing, quarterly tax filings, and year-end
• Substantial hands-on 401(k) experience on the payroll side: deferral setup, contribution remittance, and recordkeeper reconciliation
• Direct experience preparing and filing Form 5500 and Form 8955-SSA
• Working knowledge of the FLSA, federal and state wage-and-hour and payroll tax rules, and ERISA, IRS, and DOL requirements for qualified plans
• Administrator-level experience on at least one major payroll platform
• Strong Excel skills and comfort reconciling data across payroll, HRIS, general ledger, and vendor systems
• Proven ability to work independently, own a calendar, and hit deadlines without daily supervision
• Discretion with confidential compensation and personal information

Preferred

• CPP or FPC certification (PayrollOrg); QKA, QKC, or CEBS a plus
• Experience supporting multiple employers at once — payroll bureau, PEO, consulting, or fractional HR
• Experience leading payroll implementations or mid-year conversions
• Familiarity with [HRIS/payroll platforms] and major recordkeeping platforms
• Experience taking a plan through an ERISA audit or a self-correction under EPCRS

Who Succeeds Here

• You run a calendar, not an inbox. Payday doesn’t move, and neither does the 5500 deadline.
• You are comfortable being the technical authority behind the work, and saying so plainly when something is out of compliance.
• You can switch between client files without losing track of whose plan document defines compensation which way.
• You would rather surface a problem early than explain a penalty — or a short paycheck — later.
• You like the detail work. A reconciliation that ties to the penny is a good day, not a chore.

Pay: $45.00 per hour

Expected hours: No more than 30.0 per week