# payroll

/ˈpeɪˌɹoʊɫ/ (US) · /pˈeɪɹəʊl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/payroll
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. list of employees

noun · CEFR B2

the official list of people who work for a company and receive a salary.

For teachers: the register of employees entitled to receive compensation from an organisation.

- The company has over five hundred people on its payroll this year.
- The merger resulted in a significant expansion of the payroll, necessitating a complete overhaul of the human resources database.

### 2. total money paid

noun · CEFR B2

the total amount of money a company pays to all its workers.

For teachers: the total sum of wages and salaries paid by an employer to its staff during a specific period.

- The small business struggled to meet its monthly payroll during the slow season.
- The chief financial officer expressed concern that the annual payroll was increasing at a faster rate than the company's net revenue.

### 3. the department or process

noun · CEFR B2

the department in a company that handles paying salaries and taxes.

For teachers: the administrative department or functional process responsible for calculating earnings and withholding taxes.

- If you have a question about your tax code, you should contact payroll.
- The payroll department is currently transitioning to an automated system to reduce errors in overtime calculations.

### 4. bribes

noun · CEFR C2 · Informal

money paid secretly to people to make them do what you want.

For teachers: a sum of money used for regular bribes or illegal payments to ensure cooperation.

- The corrupt politician had several local police officers on his payroll.
- Investigative journalists uncovered evidence that the cartel had placed high-ranking officials on a secret payroll to ensure safe passage for their shipments.

Usage: Often used with the preposition 'on'.

### 5. to add to the list

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to put someone on the official list of employees so they can be paid.

For teachers: to place an individual on a formal payroll for the purpose of salary administration.

- We need to payroll the new interns before they start work on Monday.
- The agency was contracted to payroll the temporary staff, handling all tax obligations and insurance contributions on behalf of the client.

## Examples

- The company has fifty employees on the payroll.
- The accounting department works late every Tuesday to ensure everyone on the payroll receives their salary by Friday morning.
- As the startup scaled its operations globally, managing a multi-currency payroll became one of the most significant administrative hurdles for the finance team.

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