Entrepreneurs, managers, heads of state and municipal enterprises a significant amount of work is devoted to the fulfillment of obligations related to the calculation and payment of labor compensation to employees. This process involves the formation of a separate category of expenses in the form of a wage fund. What is its possible structure?
Payroll purpose
Payroll - among the key items of expenditure at any enterprise. The process of manufacturing industrial products or providing services is accompanied by the need to regularly pay compensation to company employees.
The composition of the payroll at Russian enterprises can be represented by such articles as:
- payment of actual labor compensation (in the form of salaries, allowances, bonuses);
- calculation and payment of personal income tax to the budget;
- transfer of contributions to state funds;
- expenses related to the fulfillment of the social obligations of the employer;
- training and retraining costs.
According to one of the common classifications, the structure of the wage fund can be represented by 3 main groups of costs:
- labor compensation;
- social benefits;
- other money transfers.
Regarding the costs of financial support for the employees of the enterprise that are borne by government agencies - in particular, the FSS - in the payment of sick leave and maternity. They are, in general, not included in the payroll. However, the possible costs associated with performing the functions of a tax agent by the company may well be included in the structure of the Federal Law.
The calculation of the wage fund, its analysis and presentation in the form of statistics can be based on criteria that are adopted at the level of legal acts or have developed in the practice of business communications in a particular industry. Let us consider in more detail the essence of the corresponding approaches.
Federal Law in By-Laws
First, we can study how the composition of the payroll is determined in by-laws. Above, we noted that they can fix the rules governing the methodology of statistical presentation of the wage fund. Among such legal acts is a letter of the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation No. NN-P14-4332 dated March 19, 2015, which establishes the procedure for submitting statistical reports to state bodies for telecommunication organizations.
So, this document includes provisions on which the payroll should include:
- amounts of compensation in cash and other forms;
- payments related to special working conditions, as well as the working hours of employees;
- various surcharges, allowances, bonuses, as well as incentive payments;
- compensation for food, housing expenses, if it is systematic.
The statistical reporting form provided for by the letter of the Ministry of Communications should include accrued monetary amounts, taking into account personal income tax and other deductions provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation, regardless of the specific sources of their origin, expense items and tax benefits.
The letter also contains a provision according to which the amounts accrued for employee leave should be included in the wage fund only in those amounts that correspond to vacation days in the corresponding month. Another noteworthy provision of the letter in question is an indication that the structure of social payments should include funds that are associated with the benefits provided to employees of the company - for treatment, travel, recreation or employment. Benefits from state funds, in particular the FSS, are not considered by the Ministry of Communications as a part of the wage fund. In this sense, the agency adheres to the methodology, which we mentioned at the beginning of the article.
It can be noted that such a legal category as the wage fund was introduced into wide legal practice by Resolution of the Goskomstat No. 89 of 07/10/1995. The methodology for calculating the relevant compensation contained in this document was considered fundamental for both state-owned enterprises and private businesses. But in 2003, the indicated source of law was canceled. Thus, Russian organizations were able to calculate the wage fund, its necessary analysis and presentation in the form of statistical data, based on the internal methodology. At the same time, in government departments, relevant approaches could begin to be approved in the form of by-laws. Above, we examined an example of an appropriate source of law.
Legislative acts at the federal level, which would define the concept of “payroll”, have not yet been adopted in the Russian Federation. However, in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation there is article 255, which is called "Labor costs". Its provisions, according to many lawyers, may well be used as a tool for interpreting the term in question. We study the relevant legal act in more detail.
Labor costs in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
So, the wage fund as an independent legal category after the cancellation of the above resolution of the State Statistics Committee was not subsequently enshrined in the legislation at the federal level. However in Article 255 of the Tax Code There are provisions establishing the structure of labor costs. If they follow the indicated legal act, they should include:
- any compensation in cash or otherwise;
- incentive allowances;
- accruals that are associated with special working conditions;
- Prizes
- incentive charges;
- costs associated with the need for the employer to comply with labor law or the provisions of contracts with employees.
The wages fund of workers, based on the provisions of Article 255 of the Tax Code, also includes:
- amounts accrued by official salaries, various tariff rates, piecework rates or as a share of revenue in accordance with local wage systems;
- bonuses for industrial results;
- accruals to tariff rates for demonstrated skill, significant achievements in work;
- allowances for special working conditions, including the performance of labor duties at night, within the framework of a multi-shift regime, when combining professions, performing overtime, performing labor duties on weekends and holidays;
- cost of compensation for utilities, food for workers;
- expenses for the purchase or order in the workshop of overalls, uniforms;
- average earnings, which should be retained by employees during their fulfillment of state or social duties;
- the cost of paying employees to the settlements in which they spend their vacation, compensation for unused days of vacation;
- payments to employees who are leaving the company - including in connection with the procedures for reorganization, liquidation of the company, staff reduction;
- length of service payments;
- allowances due to regional and other ratios approved by law;
- allowances for work in the regions of the Far North, as well as in territories equated to them;
- the costs of maintaining the average earnings during the study leave of the employee, as well as the payment of the employee's travel to the place of study;
- compensation for labor during a forced absence or forced performance of low-paid work.
The provisions of Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation also establish that payments to state funds should be included in the structure of the wage fund. Let's consider this aspect in more detail.
Contributions to state funds as part of remuneration
The use of the wage fund by an enterprise may be associated with the fulfillment of obligations to transfer to the state structures - PFR, FSS, FFOMS, necessary contributions. As for payments to the FIU, they can be classified as mandatory and voluntary. In the second scenario, labor costs correlate with contracts: insurance, private pension providing. Also, employers can make additional contributions aimed at increasing the funded pension of employees, or those payments that are connected under insurance contracts.
Other wage bill items
What other items of expenditures may be included in the wages fund of employees by virtue of the provisions of Article 255 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation? Among those:
- amounts that correspond to the value of the salary or tariff rate, which are established in the collective labor contract, for the period the employee is on duty;
- the amounts that are listed as compensation for the work of individuals employed in accordance with special agreements between the employer and government agencies;
- compensation for training employees of the enterprise associated with separation from the workplace;
- expenses for maintaining the earnings of donor workers during periods of absence from work associated with their stay in medical institutions and taking rest after appropriate procedures;
- payments under civil law contracts;
- accruals to military personnel who serve in state enterprises;
- surcharges for citizens with disabilities;
- deductions of funds to the reserve, which is formed for the purpose of subsequent compensation of holidays to employees, or accrual of annual employee benefits for years of service;
- costs associated with the compensation of interest on mortgages, which are issued by the employees of the company.
These are the key categories of expenses of the enterprise that are provided for by the provisions of Article 255 of the Tax Code.
Goskomstat Methodology
So, we examined how the payroll fund is interpreted in the current sources of law of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the methodology laid down in the Decree of the Goskomstat No. 89, which we mentioned above, continues to be actively used until now. The analysis of the payroll, the formation of certain statistical data in many organizations, mainly private ones, are based on the principles that the indicated source of law contains. Therefore, it will be useful to consider the key provisions of the Goskomstat - although they are unofficial in nature.
The classification of the costs of the enterprise that form the appropriate payroll (wages) fund, involves, first of all, the allocation of a separate category of wages for hours worked. These costs, in accordance with the provisions of the Goskomstat, should include:
- salary that is accrued at tariff rates, piecework rates, salaries, or as a percentage of revenue;
- compensation in the form of natural products, bonuses, remuneration, incentive allowances;
- surcharges for special working conditions, the performance of labor duties at night, work on weekends and holidays, the performance of labor duties overtime.
The next category of company expenses included in the structure of the wage fund is compensation for time not worked by an employee. It includes:
- payment of holidays provided on an annual basis;
- compensation for study leaves for employees;
- payments related to the passage of employees of the company training, training;
- compensation for forced downtime, absenteeism, payments to donor workers.
The next category of expenses that are included in the main salary fund according to the methodology of Goskomstat is incentive payments that are accrued to employees at a time. Among those:
- one-time bonuses;
- remuneration based on the results of the performance of labor duties for the year;
- length of service payments;
- financial assistance to employees;
- payments in excess of vacation pay;
- compensation for workers who did not take leave;
- the value of shares or benefits associated with their acquisition.
Another category of expenses under the Goskomstat is payments related to compensation for food, housing expenses, and fuel. Also noted legal act provides for various transfers of a social nature. Among these are pension benefits for employees working in the company, lump-sum benefits to labor veterans who retire - if we are talking about the company's own funds.
Classification of payroll
Now we know what the main legislative standards are, which determine the nature of the wage fund and the classification of the items of expenditure that are characteristic of it. At the same time, a number of approaches have been established in the Russian expert community related to the classification, in fact, of the funds in question. Researchers distinguish the following types of funds: direct, hourly, daily, monthly, quarterly and annual. Let's consider their essence in more detail.
Direct payroll
Direct payroll is characterized by the fact that its value correlates with the quantity, quality, and also the results of labor activities of the company's employees. Relevant payments include time-based compensation to employees in accordance with approved salaries and tariffs, that is, for the actual time that employees fulfill their obligations.
Hourly payroll
The specificity of this fund is that it is calculated on the basis of hours actually worked by the employee. Extra charges may also be included in it - for performing duties at night or for working in special working conditions, on weekends and holidays. The structure of the watch fund may include allowances for professional excellence, the performance of labor duties on conditions of combination
Daytime fund
The fund under consideration takes into account, in turn, the days that the employee actually worked. As a rule, it includes indicators of the hourly fund, as well as surcharges for those periods that are non-working, but must be compensated by law. The composition of the daily fund may include bonuses to minor employees for half-holiday, compensation for nursing mothers, as well as payment of downtime.
Annual, quarterly and monthly funds
The funds under consideration include, in turn, all those that we examined above for the corresponding period. Also, their structure may contain payments in the form of coefficients, allowances for seniority, as well as bonuses, which are provided for by the legislation or local regulatory acts of the enterprise.
Russian enterprises involved in the formation and analysis of the wage fund can use, as a basis for solving the corresponding problems, both the criteria that are recorded in the legal acts examined by us and those that have developed in practice in the business community. In the case of state organizations, in most cases they are obliged to follow the requirements of legal acts adopted at one level or another.
Summary
The composition of the payroll at Russian enterprises has a complex structure. This can be predetermined by the specifics of regulatory legislation or standards adopted in a particular organization. The relevant expenses include not only the salary itself. The Pension Fund, the Social Insurance Fund, the MHIF and other recipients of statutory payments also become objects of calculating the costs included in the structure of wage funds.An enterprise may issue local regulations on the basis of which an analysis and interpretation of the relevant costs are carried out. Many firms, analyzing such data, determine the average payroll. Or, on the contrary, they provide detailed detailing of expenses for various items.
