Payroll covers all the people employed by the club, from the players, through the board members, through to the match day tea-lady.

There are two areas to watch. The obvious one is that that the wages just don't get too high. The graph shows that the wages were steady up to 2004 before starting to creep up as the player's win bonuses increased. It is important for the club that they have a control over player contracts that link extra payments to success, and conversely that the club is not tied into long, high-value contracts that would drag them down if relegation happened.

The second area to keep an eye on is the ratio of the wages to the income. Deloittes who do some in-depth analysis of football finances reckon the target for this ratio should be 50%. This allows the club to cope with the costs of running the business, buying the occasional player, running a youth development system, putting on games, maintaining the ground etc. In the Aberdeen accounts for 2006 a comment is made that the target 'industry recommended' target is 60%.

Which ever target is used Falkirk have been close to it up to the last couple of years. The last three years have been just under the 60% figure and this again shows a well-run club financially.  There are two ways to improve the ratio, by either cutting wages or by increasing income. The 2008, and 2009 figures show a leap in wages matching an increase in income.  The key thing will be how the players' performance related pay is structured. If there was relegation in 2010 then there would likely have to be a halving of wages!

** (The wages ratio is not currently available for 2000-2001)