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PayrollIn a functional accounting sense, "payroll" consists of an employer's activities related to the compensation it pays to its employees (payroll accounting, payroll tax return preparation, benefits administration).

However, the term "payroll" is also used broadly to refer to the dollar amount of an employer's liability for cash wages he must pay to his employees (as in "my company's total annual payroll is $100,000.") In this sense "payroll" refers to the employee compensation expense of a business.

Payroll for a given employee is calculated as follows:

1. Start with Gross Pay

For a salaried employee, gross pay equals the employee's flat salary per pay period.

For an hourly employee, gross pay equals the number of hours worked multiplied by his hourly rate. If the employee works overtime, or has more than one hourly rate, multiply the applicable hours by those special rates.

2. Subtract deductions from gross pay to arrive at the employee's net pay.

Some major deductions are:

Income taxes - Federal, State and Local, if applicable (also

called "withholding taxes")

Social Security and Medicare tax

Employee contributions to the state's

unemployment or worker's compensation

fund (if applicable)

Deductions for employee benefits (Medical/401(k)

plan contributions, etc.)

Wage garnishments (often calculated as a

percentage of gross salary)

3. After all deductions have been made, the amount left over is the employee's net pay.

This process is easily automated, and there are a variety of software packages to handle payroll processing.

There are also "widgets" and free websites that can be used in a pinch to calculate employee paychecks.

Large companies will usually want to use payroll service bureaus, such as ADP. They can also handle the various payroll tax reporting and deposit requirements, which can be quite complex.

There are different models for forecasting future payroll expense, but the simplest way is to multiply expected average headcount for the future period by the current average compensation rate, and then multiply the product by the average percent wage increase to be effective in the future period. But this assumes that the range of salaries is fairly evenly distributed among the current employees, and that future headcount will reflect a similar salary distribution range.

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Q: What is a payroll and how is it calculated?
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How is overtime calculated on a bi monthly pay payroll?

Usually hourly at time and a half. Can be banked, too.


Meaning of payroll and how is it calculated in payroll?

A payroll is, in layman's terms, the out goings a company has to spend on its staff or human resources. These are often very complicated and difficult to figure out due to factors such as staff illness, holiday pay and leaves of absence. It is important to make sure your pay roll is correctly administered as payroll's are used to help figure out company and personal taxes. Inability to keep these records properly can lead to big fines.


What role does the payroll services play in a company?

Payroll services pay employees of the business file tax documents, calculates wage deductions and withholdings. Federal state and local taxes are calculated then subtracted from the employees pay and paid by the payroll service. They also occasionally handle the insurance, retirement accounts and workers compensation needs of the company.


What is payroll signature?

A payroll signature is the authorized signature for payroll checks.


Name of the occupation that does payroll?

There are many job functions in payroll. In a small company, the owner's wife may be the office manager which includes calculating and writing payroll checks and paying taxes. In a larger company, there may be a payroll clerk who reports to an accountant, or a payroll department with a Payroll Director, a Payroll Manager, many payroll supervisors, payroll specialists and payroll clerks. Each has different job functions. The payroll process can be housed in Accounting or in Human Resources.

Related questions

How is payroll calculated?

Payroll is calculated by taking how many hours the employee worked and multiplying it by how much the employee gets paid per hour. Any money being withheld for taxes, insurance, retirement plans, etc should be subtracted from the employees pay. Most electronic time clocks that monitor when employees check in and out can be connected with payroll software to automatically calculate the payroll based on the employee's time worked.


How is overtime calculated on a bi monthly pay payroll?

Usually hourly at time and a half. Can be banked, too.


Meaning of payroll and how is it calculated in payroll?

A payroll is, in layman's terms, the out goings a company has to spend on its staff or human resources. These are often very complicated and difficult to figure out due to factors such as staff illness, holiday pay and leaves of absence. It is important to make sure your pay roll is correctly administered as payroll's are used to help figure out company and personal taxes. Inability to keep these records properly can lead to big fines.


What role does the payroll services play in a company?

Payroll services pay employees of the business file tax documents, calculates wage deductions and withholdings. Federal state and local taxes are calculated then subtracted from the employees pay and paid by the payroll service. They also occasionally handle the insurance, retirement accounts and workers compensation needs of the company.


What is payroll signature?

A payroll signature is the authorized signature for payroll checks.


Paperless Payroll?

form_title=Paperless Payroll form_header=Go green with paperless payroll! Have you ever used a paperless payroll system before?= () Yes () No How many people are on your payroll?=_ Approximately how much is your payroll costs per week?=_ What is the payroll schedule?=_


Name of the occupation that does payroll?

There are many job functions in payroll. In a small company, the owner's wife may be the office manager which includes calculating and writing payroll checks and paying taxes. In a larger company, there may be a payroll clerk who reports to an accountant, or a payroll department with a Payroll Director, a Payroll Manager, many payroll supervisors, payroll specialists and payroll clerks. Each has different job functions. The payroll process can be housed in Accounting or in Human Resources.


How do you figure out weekly payroll?

how do you figure out weekly payroll I am not interested in payroll services.


What is book-keeing for payroll?

what s the payroll bookkeeping? what s the payroll bookkeeping?


What is the journal entry for accrued payroll?

debit to payroll expense credit to accured payroll


What are the legal consequences of forging a W-2?

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What is the payroll bureau?

The payroll bureau is a bureau that is tasked with processing the payroll of various companies.