{
  "version": "1.3.0",
  "releasedAt": "2026-05-20",
  "kpi": {
    "rogueId": "hr.payroll_as_pct_of_burn",
    "slug": "payroll_as_pct_of_burn",
    "domain": "hr",
    "defaultLabel": "Payroll as % of Burn",
    "description": "Monthly fully-loaded payroll cost as a percentage of `finance.gross_burn_rate`. Tells the board what share of cash outflow funds people vs everything else (infra, GTM spend, professional services, facilities). Common pitfall: comparing this ratio across companies without normalizing for stage and capex intensity — a pure-software seed company will run very payroll-heavy; a hardware-or-bio company will not. Best practice is to read this in conjunction with the burn-rate trend, not in isolation.",
    "fieldType": "percentage",
    "unit": "%",
    "maturity": "general",
    "suggestedForStages": [
      "preSeed",
      "seed",
      "seriesA",
      "seriesB",
      "seriesC",
      "public"
    ],
    "defaultOwningFunctions": [
      "Finance",
      "HR"
    ],
    "stageRelevance": {
      "preSeed": "recommended",
      "seed": "core",
      "seriesA": "core",
      "seriesB": "core",
      "seriesC": "recommended",
      "public": "recommended"
    },
    "definitionSource": {
      "tier": "editorial",
      "sourceName": "imboard Editorial",
      "sourceUrl": null,
      "sectionRef": null,
      "publicationDate": "2026-04-01",
      "attributionNotice": null
    },
    "formula": "Payroll as % of Burn = (Monthly payroll run rate from `hr.payroll_run_rate` / 12) / `finance.gross_burn_rate` × 100. Use gross burn (not net) so growing revenue does not distort the share. Document any non-cash comp adjustments (e.g., stock-based comp included vs excluded).",
    "whyItMatters": "Cost-structure shape indicator — pairs naturally with runway math. A rising share without rising headcount can signal comp-band drift; a falling share with rising headcount often signals contractor / GTM expansion. Boards use this for the people-vs-program trade-off conversation.",
    "interpretationGuidance": "Early-stage pure-software companies often run 60–75% payroll-of-burn (people-heavy by design); later-stage companies with material GTM spend typically run 40–55%; hardware-heavy or bio-tech companies can run lower still (industry folk-wisdom, not citation-grade — varies materially by business model). Sudden drops without a hiring freeze or program-spend spike are usually accounting reclassifications, not real economics.",
    "relatedKpiIds": [
      "hr.payroll_run_rate",
      "finance.gross_burn_rate",
      "finance.net_burn_rate",
      "hr.total_headcount",
      "hr.arr_per_fte"
    ],
    "metricBasis": {
      "timeBasis": "period_flow",
      "production": "computed"
    }
  }
}