SESAY / Payroll recruitment

A Practical Payroll Assessment: Can the Candidate Do the Work?

A fictional pay-cycle exercise can reveal checking, calculation and escalation skills more clearly than a CV.

Published by SESAY · 11 November 2026

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Use a short exercise aligned to the vacancy. Give all candidates the same instructions, permitted tools, time allowance and fictional policy extracts. Explain whether reference material or AI tools are permitted, offer appropriate adjustments and use invented data throughout.

A 45-minute exercise

Provide a fictional prior-cycle report, proposed current-cycle report, timesheet extract and approval register. Ask the candidate to identify exceptions, explain their checks and prepare a short recommendation to the reviewer.

Plant these five issues:

  1. A duplicate allowance: employee B receives two identical $75 entries, although only one was approved.
  2. An unexplained rate change: employee C's rate differs from the authorised register.
  3. Missing overtime approval: employee D has additional hours without the approval required by the supplied fictional policy.
  4. A timesheet discrepancy: employee A's signed timesheet shows 72 hours, but the import shows 76 hours.
  5. An unsupported bank-account change: a new account appears without the verification evidence required by the fictional procedure.

Simple calculation and answer guide

For employee A, stipulate a fictional ordinary rate of $40 per hour and no other pay components. Imported pay is 76 × 40 = **3,040**. Approved pay is 72 × 40 = **2,880**. The unexplained difference is $160.

For employee B, the duplicate adds 75 * *.Togetherthesetwoknownerrorsoverstategrosspayby * *235, before resolving the other exceptions. The exercise does not require tax, superannuation or statutory entitlement calculations.

A strong answer distinguishes confirmed errors from items requiring clarification. It documents evidence, proposes the correct approval path and avoids releasing an unverified payment change. Missing approval should trigger clarification; candidates should not conclude that hours actually worked can simply go unpaid.

Suggested marking guide

Area Weight
Identifies the five exceptions 30%
Calculates and explains the known differences 20%
Uses sensible checks and supporting evidence 25%
Communicates and escalates appropriately 25%

Set role-specific expectations before testing. A score supports a decision; it does not guarantee future performance. Keep the exercise separate from productive client work.

Next step: Discuss a role-specific assessment with SESAY.

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You assess their culture fit.

Discuss the role, the skills you need and the evidence behind your shortlist.

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