6. Inputs for payroll systems

Salaried – the annual salary is divided by 12 to calculate the monthly amount to be paid.

Waged – paid weekly – rate per hour, rate for overtime, number of hours worked that week.

In order to calculate the payroll and how much each employee should be paid, the following details or 'inputs' are needed for the 'payroll master file':

• Employee/payroll number – the key field
• Name
• Address
• Date of Birth
• Marital Status
• National Insurance Number
• Tax code
• Date employment started
• P45/P60 details from previous employer
• Hourly rate of pay or annual salary
• Overtime rate
• Bonus details
• Pension payment details
• Private health insurance details
• Bank details
• Statutory sick pay details
• Maternity payment entitlement
• Paternity payment entitlement
• Holiday entitlement
• Holiday taken
• Days sick

As you can see from that long list, there are a large number of things to consider when calculating wages. Multiply that by say 250 employees and you can see why even a small company needs payroll specialist staff!