What is recorded in the Wages and Salaries Expense account?

Accounts such as Wages and Salaries Expense, Wages Expense, and Salaries Expense are used to record the gross wages and salaries earned by employees during the accounting period. Gross wages and salaries means the amount before payroll taxes and other withholdings.

Under accrual accounting (as opposed to the cash basis of accounting) wages expense is the hourly pay rate multiplied by the hours worked during the accounting period.

Wages and Salaries Expense will match the wages and salaries (that are not part of a manufacturer’s product cost) with the revenues earned during the accounting period shown on the income statement.

Learn more about Payroll Accounting. Learn more about manufacturing costs.