Film Accounting Glossary
Payroll batch
What is a payroll batch?
Also called timecard batch, or payroll submission.
A payroll batch is a group of timecards submitted to the payroll company together for one pay period and cost-coded as a unit.
Batching by department and week is what allows payroll cost to be tied cleanly to the accounts in the cost report. A batch submitted with wrong account codes or missing start paperwork will either be rejected or, worse, processed into the wrong lines.
Example
Batches are submitted by department and week, so 14 transportation timecards land together coded to the transportation accounts. A batch submitted with the wrong codes is worse than a rejected one: it processes, and the cost lands in another department's variance.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Submitted to the payroll company against a weekly deadline, with the account coding attached at submission.
Common mistake
Submitting a batch with the wrong account codes. It processes cleanly and lands the cost in another department's variance, which is worse than being rejected.
Related questions
- How is a payroll batch organized?
- By department and pay period, with the account coding attached at submission, so the payroll cost ties directly to the accounts on the cost report.
- What happens if a payroll batch misses its deadline?
- Either the crew waits for the next run, or the production pays for an off-cycle run, which carries a fee and reopens that week's reporting.