Pay stub template
Pay Stub Template: What to Include
A pay stub template is the layout a pay stub follows: who paid whom, for what period, how much was earned, what was taken out and what was left. Below is every field a complete template needs. If you would rather skip the math, you can fill in your pay details and get a finished pay stub with the taxes already calculated.
The fields every pay stub template needs
- Employer details
- Company name, address and often an employer ID. For a contractor, your business or gig name.
- Employee details
- Name, address and an employee ID if there is one. Only the last 4 digits of a Social Security number should ever appear.
- Pay period and pay date
- The start and end dates the pay covers, and the date the payment was issued.
- Earnings
- Regular hours and rate, overtime, bonuses or commissions, each with an amount, adding up to gross pay.
- Taxes withheld
- Federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%) and state income tax if your state has one.
- Deductions
- Pre-tax items like 401(k) and health premiums, and post-tax items such as garnishments.
- Net pay
- Gross pay minus taxes and deductions: the amount that actually reaches the bank account.
- Year-to-date totals
- A running total for each line from January 1 through this pay period.
How to fill in a pay stub template
- Work out gross pay: hours times rate (overtime at 1.5 times), or salary divided by the number of pay periods.
- Subtract pre-tax deductions such as 401(k) and health premiums to get taxable wages.
- Calculate federal income tax from the IRS withholding tables and the employee’s W-4.
- Calculate Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%), then state income tax if the state has one.
- Subtract post-tax deductions to reach net pay.
- Add year-to-date totals so each stub carries forward from the last.
Want the full walkthrough? See how to make a pay stub. Not sure what the numbers should be? Try our free paycheck calculator first, or read what a pay stub is and what is on one.
A template or a generator?
A blank template is only a layout. The hard part is the numbers: the taxes have to follow the IRS tables, and year-to-date totals have to grow from one stub to the next. A pay stub generator does that for you, in all 50 states, with a live preview before you pay. Pay stubs start at $4.44.
Pay stub template questions
What should a pay stub template include?
Employer and employee details, the pay period and pay date, earnings (hours, rate and gross pay), each tax withheld, any deductions, net pay and year-to-date totals. Those are the fields payroll providers show, and the ones landlords, lenders and employers look for.
Is there a free pay stub template?
Blank templates are easy to find, but you have to do the tax math yourself and keep year-to-date totals consistent across stubs, which is where mistakes happen. EasyIncomeDocs calculates the taxes for you and shows a full preview before you pay, so you can see the finished stub first.
Can I use a pay stub template in Word or Excel?
You can, if you are comfortable calculating federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare and state tax by hand. A pay stub generator does those calculations from the IRS's withholding tables and gives you a clean PDF.
How do I fill in a pay stub template?
Start with gross pay for the period, subtract pre-tax deductions, work out each tax, subtract post-tax deductions to get net pay, then add year-to-date totals. Our how-to guides walk through each step.
What is the difference between a pay stub template and a pay stub generator?
A template is a blank layout you fill in by hand. A generator takes your pay details and does the calculations for you, so the numbers add up the way payroll software calculates them.
Is it legal to use a pay stub template?
Creating a pay stub for income you actually earned or paid is fine. Every figure has to be accurate, and a stub must never be used to claim income that was not earned or to mislead a lender, landlord or agency.
Free printable pay stub templates
Want a blank to print? Download a free hourly or salaried template, or a sample with year-to-date totals, on our free pay stub template page. Not sure which layout you need? Read hourly vs salaried pay stubs.
For your own accurate records. A pay stub must reflect real information and is not for misrepresenting income, employment or financial details to a lender, landlord, government agency or any other party.