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).
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_run_rate
Type: Currency
Domain: HR
Definition
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.
Formula
Payroll Run Rate = Σ(employee fully-loaded annual comp). Fully-loaded ≈ base + bonus + employer taxes (Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, SUTA) + benefits (health, dental, 401k match) + equity refresh accrual. US-typical loading factor 1.20–1.30× base; international varies materially by country.Why it matters
The single largest line in most operating budgets — drives runway calculus, dilution sensitivity at fundraise, and the unit economics conversation. Visible upward steps without a corresponding revenue or headcount-plan justification are board-action triggers.
How to interpret
Trend month-over-month; flag step-changes >5% that are not attributable to net new hires or planned comp cycles. Compare against hr.approved_headcount_budget × stage-typical avg comp (industry folk-wisdom, not citation-grade) to surface comp-band drift.
Related KPIs
hr.payroll_as_pct_of_burnhr.fte_metricshr.total_headcounthr.arr_per_ftefinance.gross_burn_rate
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 |
|---|---|
| Series A | Core |
| Series B | Core |
| Series C+ | Core |
| Public | Core |
Suggested for stages: Series A, Series B, Series C+, Public.
Default owning functions
- HR
- Finance
Machine-readable
- This KPI as JSON:
/api/ontology/hr/payroll_run_rate.json - All HR KPIs:
/api/ontology/hr.json - Full catalog:
/api/ontology/index.json
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).
Performance Watch
Count of employees currently on a formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) or equivalent performance-bar process. Leading indicator for `hr.terminations` — most PIPs that do not resolve with measurable improvement convert to involuntary exits within one quarter. Common pitfall: confusing PIPs with informal coaching — only employees on a written, time-bound plan with defined exit criteria should be counted here. Informal "we need to talk" relationships belong in the at-risk count, not this number. — HR KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).