Payroll Audit Checklist

Payroll errors and fraud such as unauthorized pay changes, duplicate bank accounts or payments to leavers can continue unnoticed when master data and payment controls are weak. This checklist helps auditors cover employee master data, pay changes, leavers, payroll processing and payment.

Use it to prepare interviews and structure fieldwork in a payroll audit. Employee master checks confirm new hires are supported by approved HR records, employees have unique IDs and valid bank and tax details, salary, grade and bank changes are authorized, leavers are removed on time, and duplicate bank accounts, IDs or addresses are analyzed. Payroll processing checks cover input ownership and cut-off dates, validation of overtime, bonus and allowance calculations, separate review of manual adjustments, reconciliation to the prior month and HR headcount, and review of gross-to-net and statutory deductions for unusual changes. Payment and access checks cover independent approval of the payment file, role-based and reviewed HR and payroll access, controls where users can create employees and release payments, investigation of rejected salary payments, and management review of payroll trends.

Use the Done, Review or N/A status to show what is supported by evidence, the risk prompts to look for control bypass, and the completion page to document your conclusion.