If your payroll expenditures fall within 15-30% of gross revenue, your business is in a safe zone. Businesses that live within this range tend to be most successful, at least from a payroll perspective.f your percentage falls above 30%, in the red zone, it’s time to come up with a new strategy immediately. Maintaining a payroll that falls above 30% of your gross revenue is one of the most common reasons for a business to fail. Identify it first and then we can fix it.