Payroll is where the people a business pays are kept, alongside the record of what has actually been paid.
What it holds
Employees — people on the payroll, paid a wage or salary with tax withheld on their behalf.
Contractors — people paid for work without withholding. The distinction is a legal one rather than a preference, and it is set out in employee or contractor.
Pay runs — each processed cycle of payments. A pay run is the unit: it covers a pay period, lists who was paid, and records what was withheld.
Reports — the summaries produced from those runs, used for filing and for seeing labour cost over time.
Where it sits
Payroll is the largest cost in most service businesses, which makes it the largest single line in fixed and variable costs and the one that moves gross margin most.
Amounts recorded here flow into the accounts, so payroll and the books agree without being reconciled separately. See the unified ledger.
Related people records
Payroll covers payment. Everything else about a person — documents, time off, roles — sits in HR.