Basic methods of payroll planning

What is this?

The total wage fund is understood as the totality of the money supply, which simultaneously includes several items:

• The amount for payment of basic wages for both hours worked and not worked.
• Incentive allowances, bonuses, additional payments for a certain type of work that is not part of the employee’s main responsibilities.
• Compensation due to difficult working conditions, changes in work hours or changes in working conditions at an enterprise or in any other organization.
• One-time one-time bonus payments or incentives to certain categories of employees.
• Payments for food, fuel, and housing.
• Also the entire set of social benefits, which is also included in the wage fund. This includes vacation pay, sanatorium and resort pay, health benefits, travel allowances, various types of benefits, with the exception of those paid from state or non-state budgets.

When it is generally clear what the wage fund is, it is necessary to clearly imagine its structure and composition. This will help you understand what funds an employer must spend to maintain a certain number of employees, as well as understand what this fund is made up of and what charges are made from it.

The essence of wages

Salary is the amount that is allocated as remuneration to employees. It can also be called monetary compensation, established depending on qualifications, complexity of the work, quality and conditions of performance. It is documented in the employment agreement.

The payroll calculation must contain the following elements:

• employer's name;
• the period to which the calculation relates;
• date of payment of remuneration - according to this date, social insurance contributions and taxes are calculated;
• payroll number or name;
• signatures of people preparing calculations;
• all constituent elements, including taxes and bonuses, other deductions.

Compound

This is what the wage fund consists of - 2 large blocks. The first big block is payment for the time that employees worked. It includes:

• Salary according to tariff schedules and salaries.
• Something that is charged at a piece rate or as a percentage of certain revenue.
• The total cost of goods that are issued as payment in kind.
• Bonus salary fund, regardless of whether it is regular or one-time.
• Payments in the form of incentives or certain types of allowances to the tariff schedule and salaries.
• Payments in the form of additional amounts for length of service, for level of education, for length of service for employees and military personnel.
• Compensation for long hours or difficult working conditions.
• Fixed rates in addition to the tariff for harmful and difficult working conditions, as well as for work at night.
• Payment for work on weekends and holidays.
• For performing overtime work.
• Additional payment for those categories of workers who are employed in underground work, for example, in mines and mines.
• Payment for part-time employees.

The category for unworked time includes:

• Vacations.
• Additional holidays.
• Reduced hours for teenagers.
• Study leaves for students in universities and colleges.
• For the learning process.
• For involvement in state or public duties when such conditions arise, etc.

What does the wage fund consist of?

The payroll consists of targeted financing, the cost of manufactured products or services provided and the profit of the organization. The indicator consists of three parts:

1. Accruals for time worked or products produced. Payments are provided at tariffs and piece rates, compensation (for night hours, hazardous working conditions), incentive bonuses (for experience, qualifications), and production bonuses.
2. Payments for unworked time. Includes payment for vacations (regular and additional), maternity benefits, sick leave, production downtime due to the fault of the employer.
3. One-time payments. These include bonuses based on annual output or rewards for successfully completing an important task.

IMPORTANT! The structure of the fund does not include dividends, payment of financial assistance, purchase of vouchers and other targeted payments.

Structure

The wage fund includes four groups :

1. direct salary for working hours;
2. salary for hours not worked;

This includes various accruals, which include payment for unworked time. This also includes accruals for annual paid leave, as well as preferential hours for minors.

1. premium part;

The bonus part is a one-time payment , which is received as a reward for the results of labor worked for many years at the enterprise, etc.

1. accruals for accommodation and meals.

This is the price of food and housing, which, taking into account the legislation, is due to workers in certain sectors of the economy, as well as compensation for expenses for these needs in excess of what was planned.

Direct salary consists in turn of the following indicators:

• Salary, which is accrued for work done at tariff rates, salaries and as a percentage of revenue.
• The price of a product that is issued as salary in kind.
• Incentive additional payments, which are made based on the accrual rules at a particular enterprise.
• Premium part. These payments can be either permanent or occur from time to time.
• Compensation for work schedule and circumstances that forced you to work, for example, at night.
• Salaries for qualified personnel who were invited to train the organization’s workers.
• Salary for labor of those employees who worked part-time.

The wage fund also includes those finances that are paid to workers for their work. This refers to those citizens who work in permanent and temporary jobs, as well as funds due to persons under the law of the Russian Federation for unworked time (women on maternity leave, etc.).

payroll fund includes:

1. Cost of services or products.
2. Means that have a specific purpose.
3. Admission and funding.
4. Salary expenses are charges that are intended by the organization for individuals and are included in the initial cost of the goods.

Payroll structure

The wage fund consists of: 1. The wage fund. Monetary remuneration is paid to each employee for the amount of work performed. Provided that it will not be less than required by Law No. 82-FZ. To determine this part of the payroll, there is a calculation of the wage fund. It is done at every enterprise. 2. Payment in kind. In Russia, the legislator has provided for the possibility of paying for labor with products manufactured by the company. This means that part of the employee’s salary will be given to the “merchandise”, about which information will necessarily be entered into the accounting documents of the enterprise.

Example: An enterprise sells goods of its own production at a price of 300 rubles. The employee demanded that he be given part of his salary in goods in the amount of 10 pieces. The salary is 30,000 rubles. Consequently, the employee will receive part of the salary - 3,000 rubles (300 rubles x 10 pieces) as a "merchandise". The rest - 27,000 rubles - in money.

3. Awards, bonuses. In each organization, local documents, the so-called “salary” acts, provide for various types of remuneration. They can be bonuses or allowances for length of service, for the quality of work. Example: Military personnel in the Russian Federation receive an increase in their salary (more precisely, in their salary). Thus, service from 2 to 5 years will bring income to a military man in the amount of 10% of his salary, and service to the homeland for more than 25 years will bring 40% of his salary.

4. Compensation. These include monetary remuneration for special working conditions, overtime, on holidays and others. 5. Cash costs that employees use for free. An example of such costs is when an employer provides food or accommodation for its employees at the expense of the company. Also, workers may be given free products or various types of services. 6. Expenses for the purchase of things that are given to the employee free of charge. Example: an enterprise has its own dress code and each employee receives a uniform at the expense of the employer. The production of various T-shirts, jackets and attributes of the employer’s company fits into the payroll and the necessary documents of the enterprise. 7. Expenses for all types of vacations: main, additional, educational. These also include all compensation for unused periods of legal rest. 8. Costs of medical examinations (medical examinations) - annual examination by doctors. 9. Various compensations: sick leave, payments upon closure of an enterprise, for absenteeism through no fault of the employee, upon transfer to a position with a lower salary. 10. Salaries of freelancers who are drawn up under contracts.

Why is payroll analysis needed?

The role of correct calculation and systematic analysis of payroll is difficult to overestimate, since this indicator allows you to identify shortcomings and adjust the work of the enterprise, with an analysis of costs within individual structural divisions and the entire enterprise as a whole. Fund assessment helps to timely adjust the wage system by changing rates, prices, and salaries.

Contributions to extra-budgetary funds of the Social Insurance Fund and the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation are also calculated based on information about the size of the fund. The actual value of the payroll is represented not only as a way to stimulate workers, but also to rationally distribute the company’s money.

The value of the indicator is influenced not only by internal regulations and the existing remuneration system, but also by a number of legislative acts, so information about the payroll and its calculation is available to any employee of the enterprise.

Payroll is a variable value and subject to adjustment based on the goals set for the organization. The task of those authorized to manage the expenses of an enterprise in order to improve commercial results is to monitor dynamics, identify deviations from planned figures, and make decisions taking into account the identified discrepancies.

The indicator, analyzed over a certain period of time, allows us to compare the dynamics of payroll growth with an increase in productivity and company profit. Information makes it possible to create reserves for various changes in relation to wages and other areas related to the activities of the enterprise.

To make it more convenient to carry out the analysis, sometimes the fund is divided into fixed expenses (salaries, additional payments, vacation) and a variable part (payment of piece workers).

Functions performed

The main functions of the payroll are:

1. Social. This is the formation of a good working climate and the prevention of conflicts. By performing this function, the organization ensures payment of remuneration to each employee for a full day of work. The remuneration must not be lower than the minimum amount established by law. Workers' wages must also avoid falling in real value. This fact can cause dissatisfaction and weaken the motivation of employees to work due to a possible deterioration in their financial situation. The social dimension is presented in an attempt to prevent deep income inequality, which can lead to increased levels of poverty and exclusion.
2. Expensive. When managing wages, a cost function is implemented, since the remuneration is a cost to the employer. Reducing costs at individual enterprises determines the competitiveness of the economy.
3. Profitable. In relation to the employee, remuneration follows the profit function. The wages of employed persons constitute income. Therefore, the employee is interested in maximizing the amount of remuneration.
4. Motivational. It is carried out using four premises: wages encourage people to take a job, provide stability in the organization, promote high performance and encourage employees to develop their skills, which leads to the growth of the company and the achievement of maximum results.

Formula for calculating annual payroll

At the enterprise, the accounting department handles the calculations, but if desired, any employee can independently calculate the value of this indicator.

All employees who calculate payroll must be aware of the documents on which basis and by what rules this indicator is determined. The size of the payroll is directly influenced by the remuneration system existing in the organization.

The following factors are taken into account:

• salary amount;
• tariff scale sizes;
• prices for piecework work;
• various allowances and bonuses.

The calculation is carried out based on data obtained from the following documents:

• pay slips for the year, which reflect all payments made by the enterprise to all employees without exception;
• time sheets. Responsible persons are responsible for maintaining this documentation. They are the ones who enter into the timesheets the number of hours actually worked, as well as missed and overtime hours worked;
• staffing table for all employees, which indicates tariff rates, salary bonuses, production indicators, etc.

There is no standard formula for calculating the annual fund. However, to determine the value of the indicator in digital terms, two methods are used:

FOT g = Szp * H * 12 , where

Payroll g – annual wage fund;

Сзп – average salary at the enterprise for a certain time period (year);

H – the average number of all employees of the enterprise.

To obtain the average salary, the amount of all payments that were accrued and paid to staff is divided by 12 months.

FOT g = (Zg + Dd) * K , where

Zg – wages accrued to employees for the year;

Дд – additional payments and other personnel incentives;

K is a fixed coefficient for enterprises operating in the Far North or areas close to it.

Answers to frequently asked questions on the topic

In the process of analyzing payroll, the analyst may have questions that are common in nature.

Question 1.

When analyzing the payroll, is it necessary to take into account one-time financial assistance paid to an employee in connection with the birth of a child?

Answer 1.

If the payment was made from the wage fund, then it must be taken into account when analyzing the payroll.

Question 2.

Is it necessary to highlight personal income tax as a separate line when analyzing payroll?

Answer 2.

If, when assessing payroll, the analyst uses the amount of labor income of employees, before deductions, there is no need to allocate personal income tax. Otherwise, the tax must be included in the analysis as a separate line.

How to find monthly payroll?

To find out the monthly payment fund, you need to use the modified annual formulas:

FOTM = SZ*SCh , where

• FOTm - wage fund for the month;
• SZ - average monthly salary;
• SCH - average number.

Calculation example. Let the average monthly salary with allowances be 354 thousand rubles, calculations showed that the average number of employees is 10 people.

• FOTm = 354*10 = 3,540 thousand rubles.

FOTm = (ZP + ND)*RK/12 , where

• ZP - salary for the year;
• ND - allowances, additional payments;
• RK - established regional coefficient.

Calculation example. The organization, located in the Magadan region, accrued 20 million rubles to employees for the year. wages, allowances - 4988.3 thousand rubles. The coefficient for the territory is 1.7.

• FOTm = (20,000 + 4988.3)*1.7/12 = 3,540 thousand rubles.

How to analyze payroll deviations

To identify deviations, it is necessary to compare the payroll indicators of the previous and current periods. The formula used for analysis is:

O = FOT1 – FOT2,

Where

О – deviation coefficient;

Payroll 1 – payroll indicators of the current period;

Payroll 2 – payroll 2 indicators of the compared period.

If an enterprise needs to compare the level of wages with the fulfillment of assigned tasks, you can use another formula:

A = (FOT1 – FOT2) * K1,

Where

K1 – plan fulfillment coefficient.

How to write instructions?

It must be said that the payroll can be either daily or monthly, quarterly, or annual (read more about how the annual payroll and full wages are calculated here). When calculating it, it is necessary to process all types of incentives, bonuses, compensations, rates, official salaries, and tariffs existing in the organization.

Simplified calculation scheme : you need to sum up the wages of all employees with a salary and multiply the amount by the number of months of the time period for which calculations are made, for example, by a year, i.e. multiply by 12.

Payroll can be calculated for any period, even for a day .

If the organization has hourly , then we determine the number of working hours. Then we sum up the hourly rates of workers and multiply by the total number of working hours.

For workers with piecework wages , prices are multiplied by the volume of planned work. At the final stage, everything is summed up, and the allowances, compensations and social benefits existing in the organization are added.

Read more about wages and salaries here.

Our specialists have also prepared other materials about payroll and wages:

• What is the efficiency of using the wage fund and how can it be increased? How can one increase the wage fund?
• Proper use and distribution of payroll: what is the variable and fixed part?
• Optimization and cost savings.
• Reflection in the balance sheet and financial statements.
• Basic methods of payroll planning.
• Types of payroll and wages.
• Charges and deductions.

PHOT: why does an enterprise need it?

How is the incentive part of the payroll formed? The wage fund is the amount of money that goes to pay wages to the company's employees, as well as bonuses, allowances and other types of monetary incentives.

The role of the payment fund is difficult to underestimate.

Provided it is properly constructed and of optimal size , you can easily monitor production costs.

The fact is that this fund takes up to 70% of all costs . That is why the payroll is planned for the year and for the quarter, so that later, when the reporting period begins, we can compare planned expenses and real ones.

It immediately becomes clear which areas are underfunded and which are over-funded. In general, the fund plays a fairly large role in optimizing LLC expenses .

We talked about how to correctly calculate and plan the annual payroll and wages in this material.

Differences between payroll and wages

Despite the similar formulation between these two indicators, they have one fundamental difference:

• the payroll amount includes the amount of accrued wages and social benefits for a certain time period;
• The wages and salaries include the amount of earnings (salaries, allowances, bonuses, compensation related to working conditions) minus social benefits for the same period of time. That is, all the amounts that are due to the employee for the time actually worked and the work performed.

The difference will be clearer if you give a specific example:

The company accrued 500,000 rubles for November 2021, payments for this month were:

– 300,000 rubles – wages for the period from October 15 to October 31, 2017;

– 130,000 rubles – the amount of accrued advance payment to employees for November 2021.

Thus, the payroll amounted to 500,000 rubles, and the wages and salary amounted to 430,000 rubles.

The two indicators may coincide in value with each other in those enterprises where there is no incentive for employees in monetary terms or any other incentive, and only wages are paid. Then, when planning the current and future expenses of the company, only the payroll is taken into account. It is a broader concept and includes the amounts of all accruals, including the wage fund (WF).

How to develop a payroll budget

Payroll budget goal

One of the most expensive items in the budget of any organization is the wage fund (payroll). Errors in payroll planning can significantly affect the entire budget of the organization and lead to serious consequences. In this regard, those responsible for budgeting need to pay special attention to this task and plan staff costs as accurately as possible.

Budgeting Responsible

As a rule, the payroll budget is jointly developed by: the head of the personnel service; specialists of financial or economic planning services: labor economist, payroll accountant, chief accountant; HR service employees responsible for planning and controlling expenses included in the payroll (HR manager, compensation and benefits manager); heads of departments (within their department). Depending on budgeting standards, the main responsibility for the result of compiling the payroll is assigned, as a rule, to the head of the personnel service or, if the organization has a labor and wage management department (OH&W), to the head of this department. Then the documents justifying the costs of remuneration of personnel are transferred to the planning and economic structures, which, in the form of calculations, transfer them to the financial department to form a general budget for personnel costs.

Budgeting stages

The budgeting process can be divided into four stages: preparation; budgeting; examination; protection and approval. Management and control of payroll is a cyclical process that lasts all year round.

Recommendations for eliminating errors

To avoid errors in the calculation, implementation and control of the payroll budget, it is necessary to: start planning the payroll after an in-depth analysis of the payroll expenses of the previous period has been made, the organization’s business plan has been approved and a personnel work plan for the next year has been drawn up; develop a general methodology for budget formation with a clear distribution of responsibilities between all budgeting participants and teach it the rules of these persons; regularly monitor the labor market and salary offers, use benchmarking data in the field of personnel management; check the knowledge of line managers of the staffing table of their departments, understanding of the meaning of this document and the algorithm for changing it; build such a personnel selection system (regulations) so that department heads plan staff growth together with the personnel service employees responsible for selection, clearly justify their plans with performance indicators, business plans and the organization’s development strategy; explain to the heads of departments that all contracts with individuals, including those of a civil nature, are subject to payroll and this must be taken into account when planning costs and concluding them; automate the payroll calculation process to speed up the process and eliminate errors in calculations.

Budget Options

To speed up budget adjustments and simplify the protection procedure, develop three calculation options: optimistic, when the business plan is fulfilled/exceeded and excess profits are received; optimal, more realistic, taking into account the experience of past years and analysis of the situation; pessimistic, in the presence of a crisis situation and failure to implement the business plan. When developing different event scenarios, record all the pros, cons and risks of each of them. This information will be useful for management and the budget committee.

Preparatory stage

When forming a payroll for the next year, you must carefully prepare for the calculation:

• develop a budget format;
• automate the calculation process;
• analysis of statistics and other necessary personnel information.

Budget Format

Start preparing for payroll planning by choosing a budget format. Since the payroll budget is part of the organization’s overall budget, it is necessary to agree on the format of the data provided with the financial service. Also clarify the level of detail and categorization of positions and the characteristics of each position. As a rule, when planning payroll, all data is divided at least into production and non-production personnel, broken down by month and department. Each organization has its own budgeting rules. They are based on the approved management accounting methodology. Therefore, when drawing up a payroll budget, use exactly the format that is compatible with the format of the organization’s general budget. At the same time, if it is more convenient for the personnel service to use a different breakdown of expenses for analysis and reporting, which is not required by the financial service, it can be developed additionally and the process of its use can be automated. The following main approaches to budgeting are implemented in Russian business organizations:

• "top down" and "bottom up". In the first approach, the budgeting process is carried out by senior managers. The strength of this approach is that when distributing funds, the strategic goals and objectives of the company are taken into account as much as possible. In addition, with this budgeting format, conflicts and disagreements do not arise in the company; line managers and employees obey decisions “from above.” As a disadvantage, one can name the usual approach for Russian business to planning personnel costs according to the “residual” principle. As a rule, the main financial resources are directed to profit-generating divisions (the so-called “profit centers”) - production departments or sales departments that bring the main profit to the company.
• In the bottom-up approach to budgeting, often used in large companies, department heads create their own budgets, which are then agreed upon, coordinated and summarized at the highest level of government. The strength of this approach is the fact that the head of the personnel service, like other heads of departments and areas, can draw up a detailed list of personnel cost items, including payroll, and indicate a reasonable amount of funding to solve planned personnel tasks. But if only the second approach is used to plan the company’s budget, it is necessary to spend a lot of time and effort on coordinating all financial issues between the heads of the company’s departments. In this regard, in practice, a combined approach is most often used, when top managers collect information from below, and after agreeing and coordinating all cost items, they make a budgeting decision.

Process automation

After the form of tables for the budget has been developed, select a program in which the table data will be filled out and calculated. It is recommended to use Excel and write formulas and logical functions in this program in such a way that you can easily change the budget scenario and build different pivot tables. Using such a program will allow, in case of budget adjustments when variables change, to eliminate errors in the final result as much as possible, since the data will be automatically recalculated. However, you still need to be careful and regularly, at least selectively, double-check the data in the tables.

Data collection and analysis

To form a payroll budget, study and evaluate:

• ​strategic goals of the organization and business plan for the next year;
• ​staffing schedule;
• ​production calendar;
• ​HR plan for the next year (hiring/dismissing, rotation, promotions, motivational measures, etc.);
• ​benchmarking data on personnel management costs and the result of labor market analysis;
• ​statistics for last and current years: planned and actual performance indicators; the number of unused vacations at the moment; average salary; amount of payments upon dismissal; staff turnover rate; the amount of costs for overtime work and work on weekends and holidays; the number of transitions from one category (grade) to another; salary changes within one category (grade), etc.

At the same time, request from all managers business plans for their departments and plans for recruiting personnel, as well as proposals for increasing salaries, bonuses for subordinates, additional benefits and other expenses. To do this, develop a unified budget form and methodology for filling it out for departments and, by order of the head of the organization, set deadlines for filling them out and submitting them to the person responsible for the budget.

Calculation of payroll items

According to Art. 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer’s expenses for wages include any accruals and allowances to employees in cash and in kind - incentives, compensation (related to the regime or working conditions), bonuses, one-time incentives, as well as personnel costs provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation , labor and collective agreements. In this regard, include the following items in the payroll budget:

• constant (fixed) part of the salary;
• allowances and surcharges;
• bonuses;
• compensation for unused vacation;
• insurance premiums;
• expenses under civil contracts.

Number of employees

After the preparatory work has been done for the formation of the payroll, together with an accountant and economist, proceed to its calculation. Start by creating a headcount plan. To do this, count the number of employees currently working for each department and determine the number of staff units according to the staffing table. Next, based on the scope of work and proposals from department heads, determine the number of employees who need to be hired. Make a calendar schedule for new employees to come to work. This will give an idea of ​​in what months and by what number of positions the staff will increase and the amount of salary expenses will increase accordingly. If there is a layoff, it is necessary to draw up a plan and determine in what months and by what amount the payroll will decrease due to those laid off. In this case, it is necessary to take into account all payments provided for by law, labor and (or) collective agreements, including the so-called “golden parachutes”. Accordingly, take into account these amounts in the budget in the months of upcoming reductions. Depending on budgeting standards, if required by labor economists and/or accountants, break down plans for staffing increases or decreases by skill category.

Constant part of salary

Based on the staffing table, determine the costs for the permanent (fixed) part of the salaries of all employees, including those you plan to hire. If the organization plans to increase salaries in general, by category or by specific positions, reflect the increase in expenses in the appropriate month. If the organization does not have a system of ranks (grades) and (or) salary ranges within the rank are not defined, indicate the existing salaries and hourly rates for all categories of positions. If the organization has a rank system, when planning rates, you can indicate the average or maximum salary within the rank. Or analyze the statistics on the number of employees switching from one rate to another during the year, set the percentage and assume that it will remain unchanged in the planning period (extrapolation method). Based on this, enter new monthly rates in the calculation table. Remember, the minimum wage rate must be greater than the minimum wage established for the next year, taking into account regional legislation. For employees with a time-based payment system, calculate standard hours (shifts). Check that the standard hours calculated on the basis of the planned volume of work do not exceed the permissible norm established by labor legislation. Remember, overtime work must be calculated in accordance with Article 152 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation; accordingly, the amount of the salary will be increased by the amount of additional payments. These payments must be included in the budget calculation. Additionally, make a reserve for salary increases. If you know exactly when salaries will be increased, assign this amount to this period, or split it evenly across months or quarters. If the bonus depends on salary, take into account the increase in salary when calculating it. When calculating payroll: for employees paid on a piece-rate basis, multiply the piece-rate rates by the planned volume of work; for personnel with a time-based payment system, multiply the planned number of each category of employees by the number of working hours in a month and by the hourly rate (if the calculation is made in hours) or by the daily rate (if the calculation is made in working days / shifts); For salary-based staff, multiply the number of employees by the monthly official salary.

Allowances and surcharges

When calculating your payroll, take into account all possible allowances and additional payments in the organization, for example:

• payments according to regional coefficients in remote and northern areas and salary supplements in the regions of the Far North and equivalent areas;
• additional payments for work on evening and night shifts (for shift work);
• additional payments for combining functions and professions;
• individual bonuses for professional excellence;
• other payments related to the time spent performing labor functions during the working day;
• bonuses for length of service, length of service (except for annual payments);
• additional payments for work in harmful or dangerous conditions and hard work;
• payment for work on weekends and holidays;
• overtime pay;
• payments for days of rest (time off) provided in connection with overtime work, with a rotational method of organizing work, with summarized accounting of working hours and in other cases established by law.

Also in the budget, take into account additional payments for days that are not actually worked, but for which the average earnings or daily rate are maintained. Such cases include:

• ​work of employees with piecework and time-based pay during regular and additional vacations. In this case, calculate the average earnings in each month, based on the annual payroll for this category of personnel, divided by the number of working days in the year;
• time for performing state and public duties on weekdays;
• vacations in excess of those provided for by law, for example, additionally provided under a collective agreement;
• women's leave related to pregnancy and childbirth;
• preferential hours for teenagers;
• educational leaves granted to employees studying in educational institutions, and training time for employees aimed at professional training, advanced training or training in second professions;
• days of medical examination, blood donation and rest provided after each day of blood donation for donor workers;
• other working days not actually worked, but for which, by law or collective agreement, payments are provided in the amount of average earnings or according to category;
• additional payment of the difference between the amount of social insurance benefits due to temporary disability and average earnings, if this is provided for by law or a collective agreement.

Select all allowances and surcharges in separate rows or, depending on the form of the calculation tables, in columns. This will make it easier to control the calculation and identify errors.

Awards

Depending on the approved motivation system, determine the amount of costs for bonuses. Perhaps these will be monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual bonuses, the amount of which is tied to the salary. Then for the calculation it is enough to know the total amount of the constant part of the salary.

If bonuses are tied to the amount of profit, you need to know the organization’s business plans and build on them. But since the implementation of the plan is not a stable process, it is necessary to work out at least three budget options for the bonus: optimistic, optimal and pessimistic. Find out from managers and finance specialists what percentage of the plan is applicable to each of the scenarios.

Also analyze the statistics for the last two to three years and look at the dynamics of the volume of actual bonus payments. Such an analysis will allow us to obtain certain coefficients that will show the success of departments in relation to each other and the influence of seasonality on the result. This will make it possible to calculate the bonus based not only on the planned results, but also taking into account actual data. Based on this, calculate three budget options with different scenarios.

If the organization plans to change the bonus system during the year, then draw up two budget options - with the current system and with the future one. It is also recommended to calculate three scenarios for each option: optimistic, optimal and pessimistic.

Vacation compensation

In the payroll budget, take into account payments for unused vacations upon dismissal of employees. To do this, make a general analysis of staff turnover from the past and current year and determine the amount of actual payments. Also calculate the number of unused vacation days that will accumulate until the start of next year. This data will serve as the basis for determining the amount of compensation upon dismissal. Of course, the amount will be approximate.

Insurance premiums

Once the basic costs of paying employees have been determined, take into account all insurance premiums from these amounts. This task should be carried out by the accountant responsible for calculating insurance premiums. Since at this stage only a draft budget is being developed and the amounts of actual costs will be different, the amount of contributions will also be estimated. This is fine. Report this, as well as other nuances of calculating budget items, when defending it.

Civil contracts

Next, determine the number of civil contracts that are planned to be concluded in each division. This information must be requested from the heads of departments practicing this option of cooperation with individuals. Such expenses will also be included in the payroll calculation. In this regard, be extremely careful when planning amounts. If it is difficult to determine the need for GPC contracts for the entire year, plan in the payroll calculation the amount obtained based on an analysis of the organization’s business plan and actual costs for this item for the previous two to three years.

Budget check

After all the main budget items have been calculated and the project has been drawn up, it is necessary to check it. To begin with, compare the size of the calculated payroll with the data in the business plan, specifically with the planned profit of the organization minus all mandatory expenses for the maintenance and development of the business.

Compare the total and look at each month's data. With proper planning, an increase in monthly profit should lead to an increase in payroll, and vice versa, with the exception of cases where large personnel expenses are planned, for example, payment of quarterly or annual bonuses, there will be a massive recruitment of personnel for new positions when expanding the business, or salary indexation. It is necessary to prepare for the fact that these months will receive increased attention from the budget committee and it will be necessary to explain the reasons for this discrepancy between the organization’s profit and the growth of the payroll.

Next, compare the planned indicators with the indicators for the same period of the current and last year, and production standards adopted in the organization. If the organization does not plan reforms and work processes are stable, then these indicators should correspond to those of previous years.

Calculate and compare the average salary for each month. Provided that the organization does not plan a sharp increase or reduction in the payroll, the salary should not differ much, with the exception of the months of bonus payment (months of bonus payment should also not differ greatly from each other).

After this, calculate the expected growth in labor productivity and average wages. In a normal situation, its growth should not outpace the rate of increase in productivity (growth in labor productivity outpacing growth in wages). Otherwise, it will be unclear why employees’ salaries are increased.

Also use benchmarking data to check the adequacy of your budget. For more details on the nuances of checking the adequacy of the payroll budget, see the article “How to assess the adequacy of the personnel budget.”

Defense and approval

After a draft budget has been generated and its main items have been verified, it is necessary to justify the amounts received to the management of the organization and (or) the budget committee. The main arguments when defending the budget should convince management that the budget: takes into account and corresponds to the strategic goals of the organization; helps realize the strategic and operational goals of specific departments; can be implemented subject to budgetary constraints determined by shareholders. For more information about the budget protection procedure, see the article “How to protect your personnel expense budget.”

How to calculate the payroll in the estimate?

The Guidelines for determining the cost of construction products on the territory of the Russian Federation, put into effect by Decree of the State Construction Committee of Russia dated April 26, 1999 N 31, contain information on methods for determining wages.

When calculating the amount of funds for wages, the following factors are taken into account:

• Availability of initial information in a specific construction and installation organization. This takes into account the current situation in the construction and installation services market.
• Statistical data provided by Goskomstat. It is required to take into account statistics by type of construction work, as well as by region.

When calculating wages in the estimate, you should use a unified regulatory and calculation base, which is presented in the “Methodological recommendations for determining the amount of funds for wages in contract prices and estimates for construction and remuneration of workers of construction, installation and repair and construction organizations” (MDS 83 -1.99). The same document provides information about the tariff system, which serves as the basis for all forms and systems of remuneration.

Payroll planning

To form a payroll, the following activities are required:

• study the staffing table, the company’s regulations on wages, bonuses, as well as regulatory documents (Labor and Tax Codes);
• calculate the number of personnel in relation to the planned production volume;
• calculate payroll based on the data received.

ATTENTION! At enterprises, when forming a payroll, they are guided by the extrapolation rule, that is, they are guided by past production results and the amount of labor costs.

The extrapolation method involves the following steps:

1. The actual size of the fund for the previous year is analyzed.
2. Measures are being developed to optimize the indicator.
3. Factors that can influence the volume of payroll are being studied.
4. Based on the results of the research and calculations, the payroll amount for the planned year is calculated.

How to plan the size?

How is the planned value of the wage fund ? To plan the size of the payroll, you need to have accurate information about the number of employees, the length of the working day, and the work schedule of workers. To calculate, naturally, you will need a calculator and some time.

It is very important that the size of the fund is sufficient not only to pay salaries, but also for bonuses and allowances that can give the employee’s class and increasing coefficients.

There is no single formula for calculating the fund for all enterprises. Each company works with its own payment characteristics : in some places incentives and percentages of profits are used, and in others there is a large salary and a whole system of fines.

Despite this, there is a generalized calculation formula (the so-called enlarged planning method).

FOT = Chrp * ZPsr , where:

• Chrp is the number of employees of the enterprise according to the plan, taking into account possible layoffs and hiring of employees;
• ZPsr is the average wage.

Depending on the period for which the payroll is calculated, the result obtained is multiplied by 3, 6 or 12 ( according to the number of months in the required period).

In addition to this enlarged planning method, there are three more.

You will find more information about how companies calculate payroll and wages in this material.

Element-by-element method

When using this method, the main attention is paid to the payroll for the time worked . Moreover, it is calculated for each class of workers separately: for piece workers, temporary workers and managers and specialists.

An example of a formula for calculating the payroll of pieceworkers Payroll = Tst * F * Chsd * KVn , where:

• Tst – tariff rate or grid established at the enterprise;
• F – annual fund of effective working time of one employee;
• Chsd – number of piece workers;
• KVN – coefficient of fulfillment of norms.

The same formula translated into temporary workers looks like this

FOT = Tst * F * Chpv , where:

Tst and F are the same as in the first formula, and Chpv is the number of temporary workers.

For managers and specialists, the size of the fund is calculated by multiplying the salary of employees by the number of employees in these positions. All allowances and bonuses are added to the result obtained.

By adding all three payrolls, you get the wage fund for the time worked . Therefore, in order to more fully reflect the size of the general fund, it is necessary to add the payroll for unworked time.

It includes sick leave, annual leave, preferential hours, educational leave and hours spent by employees on public duties.

Extrapolation method

This method is based on an in-depth analysis of external and internal factors influencing the state of affairs in the company.

First of all, experts analyze labor costs for the past year .

Then they forecast the same costs for the current year and plan the order of expected costs.

After this, deviations are calculated in percentage and physical terms, and those costs that can be reduced .

After all these manipulations, a fund project , which is submitted for consideration to the company specialists responsible for planning. If necessary, they make their own adjustments or completely redo the project.

At the penultimate stage of the extrapolation method, the finished fund project is brought to the head of the enterprise for consideration. He can also make adjustments, taking into account the company's policy regarding wage payments.

After approval by the manager, the project is provided to spending specialists for review.

Salary – definition, essence, functions

Wages represent part of a person’s total income, the formation of which directly depends on his activities or the work of the team. Economists consider the concept of “salary” inappropriate to use. The essence of payments from the employer is more accurately revealed by the term “labor income”.

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The essence of wages lies in two concepts.

1. Wages are the price of human labor. Its size directly depends on the demand for a vacancy in a certain specialty and on the number of offers for it from employers.
2. Labor income is considered the cost of labor power. In this case, labor is a commodity for which supply and demand are formed. It is supply and demand that influences the deviation in wages.

It should be noted that the purchase and sale of labor or human labor occurs using employment contracts. The contract is intended to regulate the relationship between the employee and the employer.

On a national scale, wages perform two important functions:

• providing citizens with a means of subsistence, increasing their standard of living;
• stimulating enterprise productivity growth.

But if we consider the functions of labor income on the scale of one family or individual, we can distinguish several components:

• improving the employee’s financial condition;
• stimulating a person to increase income (training, retraining, changing the quality of products produced by the employee);
• improvement of labor productivity;
• regulating demand and supply for vacancies, as well as company profitability.

American economist J. Keynes believes that the lower the income, the larger part of it goes to consumption, which effectively affects the economy of the country as a whole. That is, the lower a person’s salary, the more he receives and the less he saves.

Thus, labor income must be adjusted, for example through controlled inflation or wage reduction.

Forms and systems of remuneration

The form and system of remuneration is a tool that allows you to adjust the amount of wages, depending on the time spent by the employee on work.

The purpose of the form and system of remuneration is:

• in establishing a fair amount of labor income;
• in the method of assessing the labor expended by the employee;
• in the way of assessing labor force measurement.

Forms of remuneration are divided into two categories:

• monetary - payment of wages in the form of means of payment;
• in-kind – payment to an employee for services, goods, as well as other valuables not related to cash.

Important!

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the employer does not have the right to pay more than 15% of his labor income in kind.

The labor remuneration system (WRS) is a tool that, by analyzing the employee’s labor expended, helps determine the final wage.

1. Tariff SOT is a tool for determining an employee’s earnings using tariffs established for categories of work performed.
2. Piece wages are paid based on the actual work performed and the rate for it.
3. Time-based SOT is a tool for calculating an employee’s labor income based on the actual time worked and the rate per 1 hour.
4. Tariff-free SOT is used to determine an employee’s fixed salary for a certain period of time.
5. Mixed wage system is a combination of two or more wage systems.

Important!

Based on Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, we can conclude that employee wages consist of three variables: salary or cost of work performed, compensation and incentive payment.

The procedure for forming a payroll

Since the reserve includes the lion's share of the enterprise's funds, it is necessary to systematically determine its structure and size within the required period.

To do this, an algorithm is used consisting of the following stages:

• Collection of information about the number of employees at the enterprise and its movement, the structure of the company;
• Obtaining data on the average salary at the enterprise, planned production indicators, studying the staffing table, internal facts on the fund;
• Calculation of the average number of personnel for the required period of time;
• Choosing a planning structure;
• Comparison with average parameters and level of detail data;
• Formation of estimates.

Important: a properly forecasted payroll makes it possible to rationally spend funds and create a transparent financial management system that allows you to control the stages of payments to all employees.

Sample composition and structure

The table shows an example of the composition and structure of the wage fund

Internal structure

Analysis of the structure of the wage fund is an obligatory element of management activities in the company. In the process of such research, internal and external elements of the payment amount are studied.

The main purpose of the internal structure of the payroll is to implement the stimulating function. However, the motivation should not come from the payment amount itself, but from the fact that the payments can be modified using appropriate components:

• basic amount of the tariff;
• bonus;
• awards;
• commissions;
• profit share;
• overtime value;
• functional additives;
• training allowances and so on.

However, effective rewards do not have to include all of these components. The structure must be simple to fully realize its function. Too much accumulation of various factors can negatively affect employee motivation. The output of this component into the system must be a direct reflection of the requirements established in the job description and serve a specific purpose. Of course, all of the above components can be divided into several groups.

Fund analysis

In the process of applying the payroll and its thorough analysis, it is possible to determine the reasons that influence the actual deviation of indicators from the required norm, as well as the possibility of comparing production development and wage growth.

Important: to analyze the constant part of the payroll, deterministic factor analysis models are used, which provides the opportunity to improve the remuneration system.

In order to analyze variable elements, you should use those indicators that most affect the complexity of the production process.

System components

The payroll contains the necessary funds to be paid to employees in cash or in kind:

• Accrued remuneration for labor;
• The price of the product is according to the market value, which was issued as 20% of the salary;
• Additional payments for work on holidays and weekends, overtime, time off. Here you will learn how work on weekends and holidays is regulated by law;
• Payments for performing duties under special conditions;
• Rewarding the team for any merits and in any form;
• Payment for the work of employees not related to the composition of the team - part-time workers, consultants, piece workers and other workers providing one-time services.

In addition, the following are taken into account:

1. Payments for time not worked:

• Period spent on public works;
• Time spent on retraining and advanced training;
• Grace time for minors;
• Leave of any form - maternity leave, annual, additional;
• Maintenance of salary in case of downtime due to the fault of the employer, delay in travel or wasted time during the period of getting to the destination.

1. Incentive payments:

• Funds spent on gifts, promotions, trips.

1. Additional:

• Business travel;
• Funds used to pay for sick leave, special types of pensions, etc.

External structure

Since there are differences within an organization in positions, in job content, in productivity, salaries should vary depending on the profession. The external remuneration structure serves to determine differences and ratios in payment amounts. The tools for determining this structure are the remuneration system.

Analysis of the dynamics and structure of the wage fund allows us to identify the following among the main internal structural factors:

1. Salary distribution is the basic range within one job category.
2. Subject gap - determines how many different positions can be in one position rank.
3. Average value is the arithmetic average between pay intervals within one position category.
4. Penetration - This factor determines how much a person can earn in a base salary in a lower or higher category than the one in question. In this case, it is worth establishing such differences so that the positions are not too close. Diversity motivates to improve competencies and promotes advancement.
5. Pay policy is a company's decision regarding the company's salary level when compared with competing firms.
6. A rate increase is the amount by which an employee's base salary can be increased.
7. The top rate of remuneration is the maximum level of base amount that an employee in a given category can achieve.
8. Low rate - the minimum level of base pay that an employee in a given position can achieve.

When identifying factors in an organization, it is worth considering that they must be the result of the overall remuneration policy adopted. It is also worth adding that the appropriate range of payments affects the implementation of the social and incentive function of the payroll in the company. It happens that an unreasonably long gap can become a source of work conflicts.