Temporary Payroll Operations Assistant / Payroll Coordinator
At a glance
Mid-level Payroll role at Houlihan Lokey. Los Angeles · full-time · no salary stated · we estimate $69,258–$119,093 across the United States.
Houlihan Lokey has not published a salary for this role. The figure below is our estimate, not theirs.
hrroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Work through incoming payroll tickets in ServiceNow, answer routine questions and send complex tax or policy cases to staff
- Prepare Workday EIB files for earnings, deductions and adjustments, then complete batch updates before daily cutoffs
- Check new-hire tax, address and bank details, and contact employees to resolve ACH returns or bank-change notices
- Complete payroll checklist steps for status changes and leave, gather retroactive adjustment records, and prepare audit files
What you bring
- You have one to three years of hands-on US payroll, HR operations or data-entry work in a fast-paced setting
- You can use Excel to filter and format data and handle basic VLOOKUPs
- You can follow set workflows with limited supervision, meet daily deadlines and protect confidential employee information
Who this fits
This temporary contractor role suits someone comfortable with high-volume, transactional payroll support and quick, accurate data entry. You'll work with structured processes and daily cutoffs while escalating complex cases to full-time staff.
From the employer
Business Unit:
Human Capital GroupIndustry:
No Industry

Overview
Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) is a leading global investment bank recognized for delivering independent strategic and financial advice to corporations, financial sponsors, and governments. With uniquely deep industry expertise, broad international reach, and a partnership approach rooted in trust, the firm provides innovative, integrated solutions across mergers and acquisitions, capital solutions, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Our unmatched transaction volumes provide differentiated, data-driven perspectives that help our clients achieve their most critical goals. To learn more about Houlihan Lokey, please visit HL.com.

Position Overview
We are seeking an Interim / Temporary Payroll Assistant to provide immediate operational support for our US payroll team. This contractor role is focused on high-volume ticket resolution, basic data entry, new-hire setups, and transactional administrative tasks to ensure seamless day-to-day payroll execution.
Core Contractor Responsibilities
Queue Management & Tier-1 Support
Triage and action daily incoming payroll tickets in ServiceNow, providing standard tier-1 answers and escalating complex policy/tax cases to full-time staff.
Data Entry & Processing Support
Populate and format standard Workday EIB templates for routine ad-hoc earnings, deductions, and adjustments based on daily cutoff deadlines.
Execute assigned batch updates and data entry with high accuracy.
New Hire & Banking Follow-Ups
Audit incoming new hire profiles for complete tax forms, verified addresses, and valid direct deposit details.
Conduct direct outreach to employees regarding ACH returns / Notices of Change (NOC) to correct banking records quickly.
Checklist Execution & Coordination
Execute standard payroll checklist items for employee status changes and Leaves of Absence (LOA).
Collect and organize supporting documentation from Benefits partners for retroactive adjustments.
Escalations & Documentation
Route time-sensitive Payroll Change Notices (PCNs) (e.g., final pay, urgent off-cycles) to designated senior leads.
Pull routine reports and assemble audit backup files as requested by the payroll lead.
Contractor Requirements & Qualifications
Experience: 1–3 years of hands-on US payroll, HR operations, or data entry experience in a fast-paced environment.
Systems: Prior working exposure to Workday (or similar enterprise HRIS) and ServiceNow (or similar ticketing platform) is strongly preferred for immediate ramp-up.
Software: Solid working knowledge of Microsoft Excel (data filtering, formatting, basic VLOOKUPs).
Work Style: Self-starter capable of executing structured workflows with minimal supervision, meeting strict daily cutoffs, and handling confidential employee data with discretion.
Compensation and Benefits
Houlihan Lokey is committed to providing its employees with an exciting career opportunity and competitive total compensation package, which may include other components such as discretionary incentive compensation. The firm’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the possible salary range for this role at the time of posting is:

$25/HR - $30/HR


Actual salary at the time of hire may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant qualifications, skills, and experience and the location where this position may be filled.

Houlihan Lokey provides a competitive benefits package. Our current benefits offerings can be found here:
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.