US · Payroll register · CSV
Free payroll template for Excel and Google Sheets
Short answer
This free payroll template is a payroll register: one row per employee per payday, with 26 columns from pay date and hours to net pay. It is a CSV file that opens in Excel or Google Sheets, and its formulas work out gross pay, 2026 Social Security and Medicare, total deductions and net pay. You type in the income tax from your payroll.
What's in the payroll template
Each row is one employee on one payday. You type the columns you know from the timesheet and your payroll; the formula columns fill themselves in once the row has a name.
| Column | Filled by | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| A: Pay date | You | The date the employee is paid (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| B: Period start | You | First day of the pay period. |
| C: Period end | You | Last day of the pay period. |
| D: Employee | You | Name or employee number. Formulas stay blank until this is filled. |
| E: Pay type | You | Hourly or Salary. |
| F: Rate | You | Hourly rate, or salary for one pay period (annual salary ÷ pay periods in the year). |
| G: Regular hours | You | Hours paid at the regular rate. Keep it for salaried staff too: the FLSA asks for hours of non-exempt employees. |
| H: Overtime hours | You | Hours over 40 in the workweek for hourly staff. |
| I: Regular pay | Formula | Salary: the rate. Hourly: rate × regular hours. |
| J: Overtime pay | Formula | Hourly: rate × 1.5 × overtime hours. Salaried non-exempt overtime goes in Other earnings. |
| K: Other earnings | You | Bonus, commission, tips paid through payroll, retro pay, imputed income. |
| L: Gross pay | Formula | Regular + overtime + other earnings. |
| M: Social Security and Medicare wages | Formula | Starts as gross pay. Overwrite it when a cafeteria-plan (section 125) deduction lowers these wages; 401(k) deferrals don't. |
| N: Federal income tax | You | From your payroll's withholding calculation (IRS Publication 15-T). |
| O: Social Security | Formula | 6.2% of column M, to the cent. |
| P: Medicare | Formula | 1.45% of column M, to the cent. |
| Q: State income tax | You | From your state's withholding tables; 0 where there is none. |
| R: Local tax | You | City or county tax, where it applies. |
| S: Pre-tax deductions | You | 401(k) deferrals, cafeteria-plan health premiums, HSA. |
| T: After-tax deductions | You | Roth 401(k), garnishments, union dues, repayments. |
| U: Total deductions | Formula | Columns N to T added up. |
| V: Reimbursements | You | Expense repayments that aren't wages, such as mileage under an accountable plan. |
| W: Net pay | Formula | Gross pay − total deductions + reimbursements: the amount paid. |
| X: Employer Social Security | Formula | The employer's matching 6.2%. |
| Y: Employer Medicare | Formula | The employer's matching 1.45%. |
| Z: Payment reference | You | Check number or direct deposit reference. |
Worked example: one biweekly payday
The file comes with two fictional employees on a biweekly payday, October 16, 2026, so you can see the formulas work before you type over them. Jordan is paid $18.50 an hour for 80 hours plus 4 hours of overtime and puts 3% into a 401(k). Sam is on a $60,000 salary ($2,307.69 a period), gets a $250 bonus, has 5% going to a 401(k), $25 of union dues and a $42.50 mileage reimbursement.
| Column | Jordan Rivera | Sam Patel |
|---|---|---|
| Regular pay (I) | $1,480.00 | $2,307.69 |
| Overtime pay (J) | $111.00 | $0.00 |
| Other earnings (K) | $0.00 | $250.00 |
| Gross pay (L) | $1,591.00 | $2,557.69 |
| Federal income tax (N), typed in | $98.00 | $241.00 |
| Social Security 6.2% (O) | $98.64 | $158.58 |
| Medicare 1.45% (P) | $23.07 | $37.09 |
| State income tax (Q), typed in | $72.00 | $128.00 |
| Pre-tax and after-tax deductions (S, T) | $47.73 | $140.38 |
| Total deductions (U) | $339.44 | $705.05 |
| Reimbursements (V) | $0.00 | $42.50 |
| Net pay (W) | $1,251.56 | $1,895.14 |
The income tax figures are illustrative, as if taken from the employer's payroll. Social Security and Medicare are the 2026 rates from IRS Publication 15. The figures are fictional and not advice.
How to use it in Excel or Google Sheets
- Excel: download the file and open it. The formulas calculate as soon as it opens. Save it as an .xlsx workbook so your formatting is kept.
- Google Sheets: File → Import → Upload, and leave "Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas" ticked.
- Type over the two example rows, then add one row per employee per payday. Formula columns stay blank until the Employee column has a name.
- The first 30 rows carry the formulas and the totals row adds them up. For more rows, copy a formula row down and widen the totals.
- Keep one sheet per year. Adding up a quarter's rows gives the wages, tips and taxes you report on Form 941; the year's rows give each employee's W-2 totals.
What a payroll register has to record
- The FLSA asks for each non-exempt employee's hours each workday and workweek, the basis of pay and regular rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, additions to and deductions from pay, and the total paid each period with the pay date and the period covered.
- The Department of Labor says the law requires no particular form, so a spreadsheet is fine. Keep payroll records for at least 3 years, and time cards for 2.
- The IRS asks for the dates and amounts of every wage payment, reported tips, the fair market value of non-cash pay, each employee's Form W-4, and your tax deposits. Keep employment tax records for at least 4 years after the fourth-quarter return for the year.
What this template doesn't do
- Federal, state and local income tax: the template doesn't work them out. Use IRS Publication 15-T and your state's tables, or a paycheck calculator, and type the figures in.
- The Social Security wage base: in 2026 the 6.2% stops at $184,500 of wages for the year. The formula doesn't stop, so for anyone near that figure, overwrite column O.
- Additional Medicare Tax: the extra 0.9% withheld on an employee's wages over $200,000 in the year isn't in the formula.
- The overtime rate: column J uses the hourly rate × 1.5. Non-discretionary bonuses and other pay raise the FLSA regular rate, so in those weeks work overtime out with the overtime calculator and type it into Other earnings.
- Employer taxes beyond FICA: FUTA, state unemployment and workers' compensation aren't in the file.
- A pay stub: the register is your record. Most states require you to give employees a wage statement each payday, which is what the pay stub generator makes from the same row.
Sources: IRS — Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide; IRS — Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods; IRS — Employment tax recordkeeping; U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping requirements under the FLSA; U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #23: Overtime pay requirements of the FLSA (read October 8, 2026). General information, not tax or legal advice.
From the register to a pay stub
A row in the register has every figure a pay stub needs: the period, hours and rate, each earning, each tax and deduction, and net pay. Enter them in the pay stub generator and it adds the year-to-date totals and lays the stub out in one of six layouts, with a free preview.
Payroll template: common questions
Is this payroll template free?
Yes. The CSV downloads straight away with no email, account or card. It is yours to change. PayDocs charges only for finished pay stub PDFs made in the generator.
Does the payroll template work in Excel?
Yes. Open the CSV in Excel and the formulas calculate. Save it as an .xlsx workbook to keep formatting. In Google Sheets, use File → Import with formula conversion switched on.
What is a payroll register?
A payroll register is the employer's record of each payroll run: for every employee, the hours, rate, gross pay, each tax and deduction, and net pay. It is the source for pay stubs, tax deposits, Form 941 and the W-2.
Does the template calculate federal income tax?
No. Income tax withholding depends on each employee's Form W-4 and the IRS tables in Publication 15-T, so you type it in. The template works out Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45%.
How long do I have to keep payroll records?
The Department of Labor asks for payroll records to be kept for at least 3 years and time cards for 2. The IRS asks for employment tax records for at least 4 years after the year's fourth-quarter return is filed.
Can I make pay stubs from the template?
Not inside the spreadsheet. Each row holds the figures a pay stub needs, so you can enter them in the PayDocs pay stub generator, which lays them out with year-to-date totals in one of six layouts.
Payroll done? Make the pay stubs
Free to create and preview. No account or card.