Professional Paystub Generator for All Types of Businesses

A paystub is a document that reflects the total amount of earnings, tax withholdings, and deductions on employee salaries and wages.

The paystub indicates each employee’s pay rate, and it is applicable to both salaried and hourly employees.

For hourly workers, the number of hours they’ve worked is enumerated on the pay stub. For salaried employees, the pay stub declares their total earnings equivalent to a specific pay period. Pay stubs also indicate both the gross pay and net pay of each employee.

The gross pay refers to the total earnings before deductions, while the net pay shows employee wages and salaries after taxes, deductions for benefits such as health insurance and retirement, and other remunerations are withheld from their gross pay.

Tax withholdings that are mandatorily included in a paystub include federal and state income taxes, employee’s share of FICA tax, and FUTA or SUTA.

Typical deductions in employee paystubs are insurance premiums, retirement plans, and other voluntary deductions.

If employees used paid time off or are entitled to other work-related coverage such as travel expenses, then it will also be included in the paystub. At the same time, employer contributions and taxes are itemized.

Pay stubs are regularly created and released based on the pay cycle that the company or employer follows.

A pay stub is an essential document in any work arrangement. It benefits employers and employees, and even freelancers and independent contractors.

Employers


Firstly, employers need pay stubs to track all accruals or compensation owed to their employees. Paystubs also enable a systematic process to check whether employee salaries are accurately calculated, taxes and benefits are duly settled, and payments are disbursed on time. If there are discrepancies in an employee’s net pay, a paystub is a quick and reliable reference that employers can use to trace any errors.

Employees

Employees use their pay stubs to monitor all payments they receive for the hours and days that they’ve worked. More importantly, it gives them proof that their taxes, insurance premiums, retirement plans, and all other commissions and benefits are properly accounted for.

Self-Employed

Managing transactions and payments for self-employed individuals is challenging and time-consuming. If you are self-employed, you know how crucial it is to produce consistently error-free pay stubs and maintain a clean and reliable record for all accounting purposes. Pay stubs show all past expenses that you have paid and pending payments that you are yet to process.

Contractors and Freelancers

Like employees, contractors and freelancers can use their pay stub as proof of income. Creating pay stubs is a must for contractors and freelancers since they work independently and do not rely on an employer to withhold earnings for their taxes.

Enumerated below is the essential information that a pay stub must contain:

• Employer information. Paystubs contain the name of the employer or the company name, contact information, address, and bank details.
• Employee information. Besides your information, a paystub should also include the name, address, contact information, and bank information of the worker.
• Pay rate. The pay rate specifies how much an employee is paid for every hour they work. It is also the basis for calculating their earnings in each pay period.
• Gross wages. Gross wages are the total earnings of an employee before taxes and benefits are deducted from their salary.
• Net wages. Net wages refer to the total amount of earnings received by an employee after taxes, benefits, and all other deductions are subtracted from their gross salary. The net pay is the amount disbursed by employers and companies to their employees.
• Federal taxes withheld. Federal taxes include personal income taxes based on employees’ tax brackets.
• State taxes withheld. State taxes are similar to federal taxes but vary depending on where the company, business, or individual is located.
• Local taxes withheld. Local taxes withheld are usually common in large cities or metropolitan areas.
• FICA. FICA includes Social Security and Medicare taxes. A 12.4% tax rate is shared between employers and employees for Social Security taxes, while a 2.9% tax rate is shared by both parties for Medicare.
• Insurance deductions. Insurance deductions refer to health insurance premiums offered by the company to its employees. Some companies also cover group-term life insurance on top of existing insurance offers.
• Retirement benefits. Retirement benefits can either be 401(k) or IRA (Roth Individual Retirement Accounts), depending on the employer.
• Wage garnishments. Wage garnishments on employee paychecks are mandated by the court or the IRS and can either be in the form of alimony, child support, or loan defaults.

• 401k—Retirement benefits or contributions
• Add Pay—Additional pay
• BRVMT—Bereavement pay
• Check No—Check number
• Cmp Pyot—Compensatory time payout, or time off given by employers in place of paid overtime hours.
• Current—Earnings for the current pay period
• EIN—Employee Identification Number
• FED—Federal Tax Withholdings
• FICA—Federal Insurance Contribution Act
• FMLA—Family and Medical Leave Act
• GARN—Wage garnishments
• Gross—Gross earnings before taxes and deductions
• HOL—Holiday hours when employee rendered work
• INS—Insurance premium deductions
• Life—Life insurance deductions
• LT—Tax withholdings imposed per locality or city
• MED—Medicare tax
• Misc—Miscellaneous pay or deductions that do not fall under any categories, such as awards and one-time bonuses
• Net—Net pay after tax withholdings and deductions
• PTO—Paid time off
• REG—Regular work hours rendered
• Severanc—Severance pay
• SICK—Sick leave
• SignOn—Sign on bonus
• SSN—Social security number
• SWT—State tax withholdings
• VAC—Vacation leave
• WC—Worker’s compensation contribution
• YTD—Year-to-date

There is no federal law that obliges employers to issue payslips to their employees. However, there are many benefits to pay stubs, regardless of whether you’re an employer or a self-employed individual.

Pay stubs are quite handy, particularly for:

• Applying for a loan. Loan approval officers typically ask applicants to provide proof of income, which the pay stubs are perfect for.
• Accident compensation. Your pay stub shows your regular income prior to the accident, thereby providing an accurate reference in calculating your missed earnings while recovering from your injury.
• Renting. Rental agencies and landlords usually require several months’ worth of pay stubs as proof of your financial capacity to pay rent.
• Settle inaccurate payments. If you notice some discrepancies in your latest pay, your previous pay stubs serve as a solid basis to compare your previous compensation with your current one and identify any inconsistencies.
• Filing taxes. Your paycheck should indicate your tax withholdings, such as your federal and state taxes, FUTA or SUTA, and FICA.
• Business transparency. Businesses that maintain a well-managed payroll, submit tax documents on time, and know how to invoice properly for each transaction show that they are a trustworthy entity whose operations adhere to federal and state regulations.

Employees can receive their pay stubs through the following means:

• Earnings. Receiving a pay stub through earnings means receiving salaries or wages in cash, often enclosed in an envelope. The pay stub is attached outside the envelope, with a complete breakdown of the gross and net earnings plus withholdings and deductions.
• Direct Deposit. A direct deposit pertains to the electronic transfer of salaries or wages into their bank accounts. It is the most convenient way to issue a pay stub because employers can send employee earnings and have their staff receive them instantly.
• Previous employer. An employee may also reach out to their previous employer to request an electronic or hard copy of their previous paychecks in the company. They may contact their supervisor or the personnel in charge of their payroll.

The ideal way for any business to be consistent when issuing paystubs is to switch to generating paystubs online.

What makes online pay stubs better than physical pay stubs? They are:

• Eco-friendly. Online pay stubs significantly reduce paper waste, making them an eco-friendly alternative for big and small businesses.
• Convenient. With an online paystub generator, it is easy to create paystubs for every payroll as all you have to do is fill empty fields and download your document.
• Time saving. Forget generating paystubs from scratch! Online paystubs are easy to create and take less than five minutes to produce.

According to the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), employers are obliged to keep records of employees’ hours worked along with all salaries or wages paid to their workers. They are also expected to maintain accurate and transparent records of employee earnings.

While regularly issuing pay stubs is not mandated by federal law, state laws are a different story.

Some states, such as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and Tennessee, do not have any laws concerning pay stubs. In contrast, Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are among several states that demand pay stub access from employers.

Meanwhile, states that require access to pay stubs have different regulations in terms of the following:

• Should pay stubs be in written or electronic format?
• What information is required to be included in the paystub?
• Do employees have the option to opt-in or opt-out of receiving electronic paystubs?

For instance, Massachusetts only requires the usual details that you would normally have on a paystub, which include the names of both the employer and employee, the payment date, the number of hours worked for a particular pay period, the hourly rate, and all deductions and increases applied to the employee’s wage.

California’s pay stubs are more detailed because employers must declare the pay period dates covered in the paystub, gross and net wages, piece-rate units or payments (if applicable), mandatory and voluntary deductions, and the last four digits of the employee’s Social Security Number.

Why should you use a pay stub generator? Here are some of the reasons!

1. Accurate Data

   Human error is common when manually making pay stubs, especially when it comes to calculating taxes, deductions, etc. Paystub uses the latest payroll accounting software that provides you with 100% accurate calculations.

   Human error is common when manually making pay stubs, especially when it comes to calculating taxes, deductions, etc. Paystub uses the latest payroll accounting software that provides you with 100% accurate calculations.

   Forget about missing deductions or miscalculating earnings. All you have to do is input the correct figures, and our online pay stub generator will do all the math for you.

2. Time-Saving

   If you have more than 20 employees, creating pay stubs every month can be time consuming.

   A pay stub generator lessens the workload for you. The necessary empty fields are already laid out for you, and all you have to do is enter the required information. You can forget all about creating pay stubs from scratch with 3rd-party software!

3. Organized Record Keeping

   Paper-based pay stubs pile up and take up more space in your office in the long run. Eventually, you will have to dispose of old records to make way for new ones.

   This isn’t the case with electronic paystubs!

   Upon generating a pay stub, you can save a copy in PDF format. Save your previous and current pay stubs in separate folders on your computer.

4. Lower Costs

   Compared to hiring payroll personnel to manually create pay stubs, relying on an online generator is significantly more affordable. You don’t have to factor in expenses for office equipment, nor do you have to calculate expenses and taxes for additional staff.

   Our pricing packages are budget-friendly and suitable for businesses, freelancers, and independent contractors. Among our other amazing offers, there is a 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee for creating a single document.

5. Increased Confidentiality

   You can send electronic pay stubs directly to your employees’ email addresses. That means all the information on their pay stub remains confidential and highly secured.

   At the same time, there are fewer instances of losing or misplacing employee records, especially if you save your electronic pay stubs on the cloud.

6. Flexible Setup

   You have the freedom to generate as many invoices and pay stubs as you want without the need for additional manpower or expensive resources.

   Process your payroll in advance and calculate taxes, gross and net pay, and invoices with ease. Also, you can take advantage of our W-2 form to assist employees who have yet to submit their W-2.

Fake pay stubs contain inaccurate, inconsistent, or false information.

Unfortunately, some individuals whose income does not meet the minimum requirements set for their loan and rental applications resort to using fake pay stubs instead.

They manipulate the data originally stipulated in their pay stubs in an attempt to persuade landlords and loan approval personnel that they are qualified to rent or loan the desired amount.

The danger with using fake pay stubs is that they can look convincingly authentic and are a lot easier to make than you’d think.

How to Recognize Fake Pay Stubs

There are four easy ways to pinpoint fake pay stubs.

1. Background Check

   It is common for fake pay stubs to also bear fake names and business names and non-existent contact information, so it is best to start there. Conduct your own research. Verify the legitimacy of the company or employer name indicated in the pay stub.

2. Clarity & Appearance

   Real paystubs are neat and look consistent, while fake ones have visible irregularities. So, take a good, hard look at the pay stub. Are the texts visible and clear? Are the fonts used consistent from top to bottom? Does the document seem well put-together or do you spot blurred areas as well as inconsistent fonts and spaces in between?

3. Missing Information

   Real pay stubs have complete information, from the employer and employee’s names to the pay period dates, gross wages, deductions, and withheld taxes. Employers know how crucial it is to produce pay stubs with all necessary details intact; hence, if you notice any missing information, then it could be a sign that you were given a falsified document.

4. Whole Numbers

   Although whole numbers do come up in payroll computations, it happens rarely. If you see any rounded or whole numbers in the document, chances are the pay stub is forged.

Penalties For Using Fake Pay Stubs

According to 18 U.S.C. 1344, or Section 1344 of the U.S. Criminal Code, using fake pay stubs, qualifies as bank fraud and is subject to penalties if an individual deliberately carries out or attempts to commit an action with the intention of obtaining money, assets, credits, or funds using fraudulent means.

Violators are subject to a fine of not less than $USD 1,000,000 or up to 30 years of imprisonment.

The law requires employers to keep records of all documents that contain employee information, and pay stubs are no exception.

Ideally, pay stubs should be kept for at least 1–3 years, or until the employee's Form W-2 has been filed. It is important to store employee pay stubs in a secure location in case you need to backtrack your records, conduct extensive audits, or cooperate with authorities for any investigation.

For example, when filing employees’ income tax returns, you can use their pay stubs as supporting documents.

On the other hand, keeping pay stubs will also prove beneficial to employees should they need to use them as proof of income in the future. Often, banks and realtors will ask for at least three months’ worth of pay stubs to check the financial capacity of an individual to cover the amount or goods they want to borrow.

The privacy of employee data is a must when creating pay stubs.

Pay stubs contain sensitive information such as their social security number, full name, birthdate, address, and contact information. Their pay rates, tax information, and benefits are also enumerated in their pay stub.

When not secured properly, pay stubs might fall into the wrong hands and use employee’s personal data to execute scams. It could also compromise the employer and the bank, as they may also fall victim to fraud.

What is the safest and proper way to dispose of pay stubs?

Let’s say you’ve already stored your pay stubs for over three years. It’s time to dispose of them to make space for new pay stubs.

If you are using paper-based pay stubs, it is best to run them through a paper shredder first before compiling them all together in one bag. In this manner, any attempt to retrieve the document or steal personal information from the document will be unsuccessful.

You can also take the eco-friendly route and have your shredded paystubs recycled.

If you are using electronic pay stubs, you will need to perform a thorough data-wipe on your hard disk or storage or overwrite the data to prevent the files from being retrieved.

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