payroll

payroll — noun

1. a company document that lists workers and the pay each one should get

1.nounB2
Definition

a company document that lists workers and the pay each one should get

Example

Rita checked the payroll before the Friday bank transfer.

collocation: check the payroll

After two new cooks arrived, the manager updated the payroll.

Common collocations
  • check the payroll
  • update the payroll
  • print the payroll
  • on the payroll
  • off the payroll
Synonyms
  • employee list

    broader term that may not include pay details

  • staff register

    more formal and often used in administrative contexts

  • wage record

    focuses on recorded pay amounts rather than names alone

Usage Note

Often used with verbs like check, print, or update. Distinguish from sense 2, which names the money paid rather than the record itself.

Common Mistakes

HR emailed my payroll yesterday.
HR emailed my payslip yesterday.
'payroll' is the company record, not one worker's pay document.

2. the full amount a company pays its workers in a pay period

2.nounB2
Definition

the full amount a company pays its workers in a pay period

Example

The factory's payroll grew after the night shift was added.

collocation: payroll grew

Last winter, rising sales easily covered the store's payroll.

collocation: cover the payroll

Common collocations
  • high payroll
  • cut payroll
  • cover payroll
  • meet payroll
  • payroll costs
Synonyms
  • wage bill

    a business term, especially for the cost of paying workers

  • labor costs

    broader because it can include more than wages alone

  • salary budget

    usually a planned spending limit, not the actual amount paid

Usage Note

Often appears in business reports with verbs like rise, cut, cover, or meet. Distinguish from sense 1, which refers to the list of workers and pay amounts.

Common Mistakes

My monthly payroll is NT$60,000.
My monthly salary is NT$60,000.
'payroll' here means the total paid to all staff, not one person's pay.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

For noun/2, 'payroll' means the money a business actually pays its workers. 'Wage bill' is very close, but it sounds more financial and is often used when people discuss pressure to cut costs. 'Labor costs' is wider: it can include insurance, training, and other staff expenses, not only wages or salaries. 'Salary budget' usually means a planned limit for future spending, so it may be lower or higher than the real payroll. Use 'payroll' when the focus is the amount going out to staff in a week or month. For example, a restaurant can say, 'Our payroll rose in July,' but a finance team might say, 'We reduced next year's salary budget.'

wage billlabor costssalary budget

Common collocations

Phrases

  • company payroll
  • monthly payroll
  • weekly payroll

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

'Payroll' was formed in English from 'pay' and 'roll'. Here 'roll' uses an older sense meaning an official list, from the time such records were written on rolled sheets. The word first referred to the roll of names of people who were due to be paid, and later also came to mean the total money paid to them.