Chapter 12

Question 1

payroll

Answer 1

a list of the employees and the payments due to each employee for a specific pay period

Question 2

pay period

Answer 2

the amount of time over which an employee is paid

Question 3

payroll clerk

Answer 3

an employee responsible for preparing the payroll

Question 4

gross earnings

Answer 4

the amount of money an employee earns in a pay period; also called gross payed

Question 5

salary

Answer 5

a fixed amount of money paid to an employee for each pay period

Question 6

wage

Answer 6

an amount of money paid an employee at a specified rate per hour worked

Question 7

piece rate

Answer 7

a rate of pay based on the number of items produced

Question 8

electronic badge reader

Answer 8

an electronic device that scans the magnetic strip containing employee information on an employee’s identification badge and then transfers the information directly to a computer

Question 9

commission

Answer 9

an amount paid to an employee based on a percentage of the employee’s sales

Question 10

overtime rate

Answer 10

pay rate employees are required to pay certain employees covered by the state and federal laws; the Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938 sets the rate at 1.5 times the regular hourly rate after 40 hours per week

Question 11

deduction

Answer 11

an amount that is subtracted from an employee’s gross earnings

Question 12

withholding allowance

Answer 12

an allowance an individual claims on a Form W-4; it is used to calculate the amounted income tax withheld from an employee’s paycheck

Question 13

401(k) Plan

Answer 13

a voluntary payroll deduction from gross earnings; the employee does not pay income tax on the amount contributed until the money is withdrawn from the plan, usually after age 59 1/2

Question 14

payroll register

Answer 14

a form that summarizes the information about employees’ earnings for each pay period

Question 15

net pay

Answer 15

the amount left after total deductions have been subtracted from gross earnings

Question 16

direct deposit

Answer 16

depositing net pay directly into an employee’s personal bank account through electronic funds transfer

Question 17

employee’s earning record

Answer 17

a record prepared for each employee that contains all payroll information related to the employee; it is kept on a quarterly basis

Question 18

accumulated earnings

Answer 18

the employee’s year to date gross earnings

Question 19

types of pay periods

Answer 19

weekly
biweekly
semimonthly
monthly

Question 20

responsibilities of a payroll clerk

Answer 20

• makes sure employees are paid on time
• makes sure each employee is paid the correct amount
• completes payroll records
• submits payroll reports
• pays payroll taxes

Question 21

pay categories that help determine gross earnings

Answer 21

• salary
• hourly wage
• commission
• salary plus commission or bonus
• piece rate

Question 22

3 required deductions by law

Answer 22

1. federal income tax
2. social security tax
3. city and state income tax

Question 23

seven parts of the payroll register

Answer 23

1. total hours column
2. rate column
3. earnings section
4. deductions section
5. net pay column
6. check number column
7. column totals

Question 24

how many parts are there to an employee’s check and what are they

Answer 24

2

1. check
2. check stub