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 fell steadily from 2001 to 2005 before more than doubling in 2006 and increasing significantly again in 2007 to £12.5m. The level of wages is now far higher than the club could afford to pay under normal circumstances. The obvious comparisons would be with Aberdeen and Hibs. Their wages for 2007 were £5.2m and £4.2m respectively.

The 2006 rise is explained in the accounts with "... higher salary costs for playing staff due to an investment in our playing squad and extended contracts for existing players on improved terms”. The implication from this would seem to be that those wage levels are unlikely to change over the next couple of seasons due to the extended contracts. There is though a comment that “ …expenditure on the playing squad is unlikely to rise any further and may reduce as players on higher salary contracts leave the club”. These two statements seem contradictory. The £2.5m rise in wages in 2007 does not get commented on in the accounts.

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 Hearts are struggling to hit it. Only one year in the last seven have the wages been at the right sort of level. The 2007 ratio of 121% is usually only seen when clubs are in dire straits or have some external source of income that is helping them out.

The 2008 results are again unsustainable, however there is a glimmer of hope. As the club income dropped, then so did the wages costs. The implication is that the either the players are on performance related pay or that a number of high earners were moved out of the club. The 2009 figures will abswer which this is.

Both Hibs and Aberdeen make a big play on the fact that they need to develop young players, and that this is in their view is the only way to sustain the club in the long run.