Definition

The process of paying employees—basically money hemorrhaging in a very structured, tax-compliant way.

Example Usage

Payroll for this month is running about 15% higher due to bonuses and overtime.

Origin

From French 'paie,' meaning 'payment' or 'wages'

Fun Fact

Payroll taxes are the one thing the government actually cares about companies getting right

Source: Human resources and accounting terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

materiality threshold

The dollar amount below which errors or omissions don't matter enough to disclose in financial statements—essentially the accounting version of 'close enough for government work.' It's how auditors decide which issues are worth losing sleep over.

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commercial paper

Short-term unsecured promissory notes issued by corporations to fund immediate needs, typically maturing in under 270 days to avoid SEC registration. Think of it as corporate IOUs for companies with good enough credit that people actually accept them.

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commodity

Basic goods traded in bulk markets where one unit is virtually identical to another—think oil, wheat, gold, or coffee beans before they get a fancy name at Starbucks. These fungible raw materials are bought and sold on specialized exchanges where traders gamble on price fluctuations. It's where agricultural products and natural resources become abstract financial instruments.

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carry trade

Borrowing money in a currency with low interest rates, then investing it in assets with higher returns elsewhere, pocketing the difference. Works brilliantly until exchange rates move against you and your 'free money' becomes very expensive.

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Diversification

The investment strategy of not putting all your eggs in one basket, which is excellent advice until you have to figure out how many baskets to buy. It's how financial advisors tell you they don't know what will go up, so they're betting on everything.

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Advanced

funded status

The difference between a pension plan's assets and its obligations, revealing whether there's enough money to pay promised benefits or whether future employees will be holding the bag. Spoiler: there's usually not enough.

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See “Payroll” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

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