Bookkeeping

19 Common Payroll Terms To Know

payroll terminology

Other workers are considered non-exempt and you must pay them overtime. A worker is considered non-exempt and eligible for overtime unless an exemption can be proved by the employer. Exempt means “exempt from overtime.” Exempt and non-exempt employees are categorized typically by the work they do.

A payroll tax holiday is a deferral of payroll tax collection until a later date at which point those taxes would become due. A payroll tax deferral is intended to provide some temporary financial relief to workers by temporarily boosting their take-home pay. Payroll taxes include Social Security which takes 6.2% of your income up to $168,600 as of 2024. Payroll taxes also pay for Medicare which takes 1.45% of login or create an account 2020 your income. Handling your own payroll for your business can be tricky because the payroll/payroll tax process involves a vocabulary all its own. These terms are the most important ones you’ll encounter as you begin to work on employee paychecks and start the payroll process.

  1. Software programs can be time-consuming, however, and this can pose a problem for small companies without a lot of staff.
  2. Additional pay an employee receives on top of their regular wages or salary, often as an incentive or reward for good performance.
  3. Employers must usually file quarterly wage reports with the state for SUTA tax purposes.
  4. A zero-dollar ACH transaction to verify whether an employee’s bank account information is correct, prior to paying them by direct deposit.

Fringe Benefits

The I-9 is a form used to verify if an employee is legally eligible to work in the United States. Payroll terminology can be intense how to calculate cost per unit to digest if you’re new to the role, and challenging to remember even with payroll experience. This article may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by parties other than TriNet. TriNet does not control such web sites and is not responsible for their content. Inclusion of such hyperlinks on TriNet.com does not necessarily imply any endorsement of the material on such websites or association with their operators.

Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate (W-

It’s determined in different ways for salaried and hourly employees. Nonexempt employees are not excluded from FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions. These employees must be paid no less than the federal minimum wage, along with overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. The amount an employer is required by law to take out of an employee’s wages for a specific payroll tax. The legal seizure of an employee’s wages to satisfy delinquent taxes that the employee owes. The taxation agency sends the levy to the taxpayer’s employer, who must withhold the required amount from the taxpayer’s wages.

payroll terminology

Supplemental Wages

An allowance given to employees for travel-related business expenses, such as meals and lodging. A documented contingency plan for managing payroll when disaster or unforeseen emergencies strike. Taxable, non-monetary compensation provided to employees as a fringe benefit. Compensatory damages awarded to plaintiffs in an employment discrimination lawsuit.

Pretax deductions

The portion of an employee’s wages that is subject to Social Security tax. Allows employees who live in one state and work in another to pay state income tax to their home state, instead of the state they work in. Additional wages paid to employees for working undesirable hours, such as weekends, nights, or holidays. An internal form managers and employees can use to submit payroll requests, such as for manual checks, salary advance, or retroactive pay. “In general, \”hours worked\” includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer’s premises or at any other prescribed place of work. Payroll is one cash receipts journal of the most crucial aspects of running a business — but it’s far from easy trying to learn and remember payroll terminology and jargon.

Employers must usually file quarterly wage reports with the state for SUTA tax purposes. “The amount an employee would have to pay a third party in an arm’s-length transaction to buy or lease the benefit.” Defined by the IRS. The acronym SSA can refer to either the Social Security Act or the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Act was enacted by President Roosevelt in 1935 as part of the New Deal plan. Its aim was to set up a social insurance system in order to reduce destitution among senior citizens and the disabled. The Social Security Administration is the government body set up by the Social Security Act.

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