Payroll as % of Burn
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. — HR KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier)
No public third-party standard anchors this KPI yet, so I'mBoard authors and maintains the definition — transparently labeled as editorial tier. See the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system and the back-attribution workstream.
Rogue ID: hr.payroll_as_pct_of_burn
Type: Percentage (%)
Domain: HR
Definition
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.
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).Why it matters
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.
How to interpret
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.
Related KPIs
hr.payroll_run_ratefinance.gross_burn_ratefinance.net_burn_ratehr.total_headcounthr.arr_per_fte
Source
I'mBoard editorial — authored and maintained by I'mBoard, first published 2026-04-01. No third-party standard is cited for this KPI; when one emerges, the definition is back-attributed and promoted to the published tier (a minor version bump). Read the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system, attribution rules, and dispute process.
Stage relevance
| Company stage | Priority |
|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | Recommended |
| Seed | Core |
| Series A | Core |
| Series B | Core |
| Series C+ | Recommended |
| Public | Recommended |
Suggested for stages: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C+, Public.
Default owning functions
- Finance
- HR
Machine-readable
- This KPI as JSON:
/api/ontology/hr/payroll_as_pct_of_burn.json - All HR KPIs:
/api/ontology/hr.json - Full catalog:
/api/ontology/index.json
Open Positions
Count of board-approved roles that are currently posted and unfilled (requisition open, offer not yet accepted). The leading-edge indicator for upcoming hiring capacity demand. Common pitfall: "approved" drift — roles that were verbally green-lit but never went through the approval gate get counted here, inflating the number. The board number should match the approved headcount budget; everything else belongs in narrative as "pipeline ideas." — HR KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
Payroll Run Rate
Annualized fully-loaded payroll cost based on current employee compensation — wages plus employer-paid taxes, benefits, and typical equity refresh allocation. Used as the dominant input into `hr.payroll_as_pct_of_burn` and the projection for `hr.fte_metrics`. Common pitfall: reporting base-salary-only and missing employer payroll taxes, benefits, and bonus accrual — this can understate true cost by 15–30%. Document the loading convention (typically wages × 1.20–1.30 for US fully-loaded) and apply consistently. — HR KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).