Sinn Féin's wage bill in Northern Ireland is more than every other Stormont party combined.
Wage and salaries expenditure for the party's northern operation was £799,334 last year, according to their latest accounts.
The documents said the equivalent of 15 full-time staff were on the payroll. The party said this included their seven MPs, who unlike in other parties do not receive a salary from Westminster as they do not take their seats.
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It would suggest the bill averages at more than £53,000 per full-time role - more than the £51,500 basic annual salary given to MLAs.
However, Sinn Féin insisted the bill also includes another three full-time staff paid through a Stormont funding allowance. If included, this would bring the average to around £44,400.
In the past Sinn Féin had long maintained all its MLAs and MPs accepted an "average industrial wage" with the rest donated to the party and constituency matters.
But in 2018, the party said a review of its wage structures two years previous led to a "recommended party wage" which is "entirely voluntary".
The spending far outstrips the salaries for other Stormont parties, according to their 2021 "six-county report" recently published by the Electoral Commission.
The second-largest bill was for the DUP which incurred £192,860 on wages last year according to its financial statement. The party declined to say how many staff they directly employ.
Alliance, which said it employed the equivalent of seven full-time staff last year, had a wage bill totalling £169,136 - an average of £24,162 per full-time employee.
The UUP reported "staff costs" of £173,696 and said it has six employees, giving an average spend of £28,949.
The SDLP reported that it incurred £120,436 on employee wages during the period. It had 4.5 full-time-equivalent staff, giving an average of £26,763.
TUV's staff wage bill was £27,405 while People Before Profit incurred staff costs of almost £18,000.
The overall accounts also show Sinn Féin by far had the largest income of Stormont's five main parties last year with £1,532,946.
Its expenditure of £1,264,562 included £2,223 on its "uniting Ireland programme" and more than £3,500 on social media.
The UUP had the second-largest income of £376,309 but it spent £408,866, while the DUP had an income of £339,221 and expenditure of £314,987.
Alliance's income was £316,893 and the party spent £256,627. The SDLP's income was £253,997 but it spent £256,576.
The change to Sinn Féin's "average industrial wage" policy emerged in 2018 after it was revealed a senior Sinn Féin TD had been allowed since 2011 to retain his entire Dáil salary of more than €90,000.
At that time, the party said all its MLAs and MPs accepted a "recommended party wage" of "£28,480 before tax which is a take-home pay of roughly £431 a week".
The party did not disclose what its current recommended party wage is for elected representatives, nor the exact salaries its MPs currently receive.
An MP's basic annual salary is currently £84,144, but Sinn Féin MPs do not receive a wage from Westminster as they do not take their seats.
In a statement, a Sinn Féin spokesman said: "As noted in the party accounts submitted at the end of 2021, 15 staff were directly employed through the Sinn Féin payroll, including our seven MPs who do not receive a salary from Westminster.
"It also includes an additional three staff members paid through the FAPP (Financial Assistance for Political Parties) allocation. And it includes sundry costs to provide, for example, short-term cover for maternity leave."
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