payroll

American  

[pay-rohl] / ˈpeɪˌroʊl /

noun

• payrolls
  plural

1. a list of employees to be paid, with the amount due to each.

2. the sum total of these amounts.

3. the actual money on hand for distribution.

   The bandits got away with the payroll.

4. the total number of people employed by a business firm or organization.

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verb (used with object)

1. to fund or subsidize.

   to be payrolled by the State Department.

payroll British  

/ ˈpeɪˌrəʊl /

noun

1. a list of employees, specifying the salary or wage of each

2. 1. the total of these amounts or the actual money equivalent

   2. ( as modifier )

      a payroll tax

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• payrolls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of payroll

First recorded in 1765–75; pay ¹ + roll

Explanation

A company's payroll is a complete list of everyone who works there and how much money they make. The small coffee shop where you work might have just four employees on its payroll. Any business or organization with a paid staff has a payroll. A school's payroll might include the principal, teachers, office workers, school nurse, and maintenance workers, for example. You can also use the term payroll for the entire amount of money that a company pays its workers over the course of a year, or for the department that calculates these salaries and hands out paychecks.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

payroll payrolls

On Wednesday, payroll firm ADP reported that US private sector hiring had bounced back strongly in September, after registering its slowest pace this year the month before.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

The team with the lowest payroll — the Cleveland Guardians — won their division.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

It uses a mix of public compensation information in job listings and online forums like Glassdoor, and data purchased from payroll companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

An increase in the rate of the payroll tax from 12.4% to 13.4%, meanwhile, would close about 23% of the funding gap, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

Barring the eyes, he looked like an albino, but Kaz happened to know that he’d been tailored to match the decor of the House by a certain Grisha on the payroll.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Consumer spending data are holding up and there were signs of payroll growth accelerating in Wednesday’s ADP private payrolls report, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Investors will look to tomorrow’s September nonfarm payrolls report for more clarity on the state of the labor market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

The United States on Wednesday estimated stronger second-quarter GDP growth than previously reported, with inflation remaining steady and private payrolls increasing more than expected.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Private-sector payrolls for September are due at 8:15 a.m.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

Of two employers with equal forces and payrolls one may receive much more and better service than the other.

From Increasing Human Efficiency in Business, a contribution to the psychology of business by Walter Dill Scott

Related Words

• amount
• budget
• charge
• consumption
• debt
• expenditure
• insurance
• investment
• liability
• loan
• loss
• mortgage
• obligation
• outlay
• price
• price tag
• rate
• risk
• spending
• sum