payroll

American  

[pey-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

The team payroll was roughly $12 million, May said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

He adds that regulating AI proves tricky, as many of the people who understand the technology best are on its payroll.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Officials warn in the documents that the center "could be unable to make payroll or pay routine maintenance contracts" within weeks, the Post reported.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

Employers also expressed uncertainty about whether the statement was enough to legally keep Salvadoran employees on their payroll.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

Aunt Kitty’s eyes got squinty, and I knew she was pondering the s I had added to detective, as if I were now on Mr. Pinkerton’s payroll right beside her.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

While the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9%, the number of vacancies and employees on payrolls fell in recent months.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

The index is a forward-looking measure for payrolls, and when it increases, employment is on track to grow as well.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

“Today’s U.S. payrolls could tip the scale for the September Fed meeting,” he said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The comments come as investors prepare for the release of US non-farm payrolls figures later Friday, and the consumer price index next week -- which are seen as crucial to what the Fed announces.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

More businesses will be started, more investments made, more jobs created, and more people will be on payrolls paying taxes.

From State of the Union Address by Ronald Reagan

Related Words

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