How to make a pay stub

Before you start: what you need

A pay stub describes a payment that has already been worked out, so start from your payroll record for that period. You will need:

• Your business name and address.
• The employee’s name, and an employee ID if you use one.
• The pay period start and end dates and the pay date.
• Hours and rate, or the salary amount for the period, plus any overtime or bonus.
• Each tax withheld and each other deduction, as calculated by your payroll process or accountant.
• Year-to-date totals from the previous pay stub, if this is not the first of the year.

Step by step

1. Enter the employer and employee details exactly as they appear in your payroll records.
2. Add the pay period and pay date.
3. List each earning on its own line — regular hours, overtime, bonus — so the employee can see how gross pay was reached.
4. List each tax withheld and each other deduction on its own line with a clear label.
5. Calculate net pay: gross pay minus all deductions, plus any reimbursements.
6. Update the year-to-date totals by adding this period to the previous totals.
7. Check the result against the payment you made, then give the employee a copy and keep one.

Checks before you hand it over

• Net pay on the stub matches the amount actually paid.
• Year-to-date figures equal the previous totals plus this period.
• The pay date and period match your records and the bank payment.
• Names and addresses are spelled the same way as on other payroll documents.

A pay stub records real pay. Only make one for payroll you run or are authorized to prepare, using figures from that payroll.

Using a pay stub generator

A generator does the layout and the arithmetic for you: you enter the figures and it totals gross pay, deductions, net pay and year to date, then lays them out as a document. PayDocs works this way. It does not calculate taxes; you enter the amounts from your payroll record.

Questions