Create Your Salary Pay Stub in 2022: Step-by-Step Guide

A salary pay stub is an important document that has multiple benefits for both you, the employer, and your employees. Like all legal papers, even this one seems difficult to grasp at first, but don’t worry—you’ve come to the right place!

Paystub.org will help you get familiar with salary pay stubs, and not only that, but you’ll also learn how to create one effortlessly!

So, without further ado, let’s jump straight into the action!

What is a Salary Pay Stub?

Also known as a “payslip,” “paycheck stub,” “wage statement,” or “check stub,” a salary pay stub is a document that contains key details regarding the employee’s pay.

A salary pay stub lists all the wages that the employee earns during a pay period, as well as year-to-date payroll information. Most importantly, the document breaks down all taxes and deductions taken from the employee’s gross salary.

In most cases, HR and payroll staff are the ones who create, manage, and hand out pay stubs. Employees receive them each pay period, separately from the paycheck.

Pay stubs used to be printed on paper and included in a wage envelope. Yet, most employers nowadays opt for electronic forms, which can easily be emailed to employees.

Are Employers Obligated to Provide Pay Stubs?

Yes—as an employer, you are obligated to provide your employees with pay stubs. They fall under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires you to keep records of your employees’ work hours and payments.

Other than for legal reasons, you should also create pay stubs because they provide you with an exact record of your employees’ wages. These documents also ensure you pay your contributions and taxes correctly.

Lastly, pay stubs are also important for your employees, as they can serve as proof of their income and employment. This means that with this document, your employees can apply for housing, loans, or any other form of credit.

How to Create a Salary Pay Stub

Although you can create a salary pay stub on your own, you should note that it’s a delicate and time-consuming process. That’s why your best bet would be to use an online pay stub generator.

With our pay stub maker, the process of creating this important document is really simple, as all you have to do is complete the following steps:

Step #1. Pick a Template

The first thing you need to do is customize your pay stub by choosing one of the six available templates. The templates vary based on how much information they show about your business and the way they display information.

For example, Template 1 is great for larger businesses, as it allows you to display your company, file, department, clock, and voucher numbers.

On the other hand, Template 3 is more compact and displays only the basic information, such as gross wages, deductions, taxes, etc.

Meanwhile, templates 4, 5, and 6 allow you to choose between a gray, green, or blue color pattern.

You should play around with this feature a bit and choose a template that’s most suitable for your company. After all, providing your employees with a professional-looking pay stub goes a long way.

Step #2. General Information

Once you’ve chosen a salary pay stub template, you need to state:

• Whether you want an auto calculator. Auto Calculator does all the math instead of you and automatically calculates your employees’ deduction total and net pay. You can turn it on or do the numbers on your own if you prefer.
• Who the pay stub is for. As you need a pay stub for salaried workers and not contractors, proceed to select the “Employee” option.
• What the receiving party’s payment type is. Choose the “Salary” option here.
• How often you Pay your employee. Select whether you are paying your employee daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually.
• Whether you want a YTD calculator. A YTD calculator is a feature that lets you determine your employees’ annual salary based on how much work they completed, how many days off they had, etc.
• The number of pay stubs needed. You can choose how many copies of the pay stub you need. It’s always smart to have one copy for yourself and one copy for your employee.

Step #3. Company Information

Next, you need to enter the required information regarding your company, such as:

• Employer (Company) Name
• Employer Telephone Number
• Street Address 1
• Street Address 2
• City
• State
• Zip Code

You can also add the payroll processor logo or the logo of your company.

Step #4. Employee Information

After providing your company’s information, you need to fill in your employee’s details, including:

• Employee Name
• Employee Telephone Number
• Employee Social
• Employee ID
• Employee Address 1
• Employee Address 2
• City
• State
• Zip Code
• Marital Status (Single/Married)
• Dependents Amount
• Direct Deposit (Yes/No)

Step #5. Earnings Statement

In the “Earnings Statement'' section of the pay stub template, you first need to specify the pay period and pay date. The former specifies the length of time during which an employee works to earn their salary. The latter is the exact date when the employee receives their paycheck.

After entering the exact pay period and pay date, you can enter your employee’s earnings, which count toward their gross pay. For this, you need to specify whether they have received any tips or went on vacation, how many days off they had, etc.

Then, you need to fill in the deductions, including:

• FICA-Medicare
• Fica-Social Security
• Federal Payroll Tax (FICA)
• State Tax
• State Disability Insurance (SDI)
• State Unemployment Tax (SUI)
• Workers Compensation Insurance (WC)
• Family Leave Insurance (FLI)

Lastly, if you’ve turned on the automatic calculator in Step #2, the deduction total and net pay will be calculated automatically, as you can see in the picture below:

Step #6. Preview Salary Pay Stub

After you’ve filled out all the previous fields, you can review your pay stub!

All the information you have previously entered will be displayed in this section on a pay stub so that you can check that everything’s in order. We advise you to go over all of the details twice and make sure you haven’t missed anything.

You can also change the salary pay stub template again and see how it looks in a different color pattern or change the order of displayed information.

To get a better idea of what the final result should look like, here’s a salary pay stub example:

Step #7. Download Your Pay Stub

Once you’re fully satisfied with your pay stub, you can go ahead and download it.

First, you must agree that you won’t use Paystub.org for any illegal purposes and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Then, you can proceed to checkout and download your brand-new pay stub!

What Goes on a Salary Pay Stub?

Typically, a pay stub includes the following:

• Employer Information. This section specifies the company name, employer’s phone number, company location, and similar information on the employer’s business. It also needs to show the relationship and tenure of engagement the employee has with the employer.
• Employee Information. This section needs to contain the employee’s name and ID, phone number, Social Security number, place of residence, and other vital information.
• Date of the Pay Stub. Here, employers need to specify the date when they issued the pay stub as well as the employee's pay date.
• Pay Rate. This section should specify the amount of money the employee is paid per hour and whether they’re paid weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.
• Hours Worked. A salary pay stub needs to display the exact number of hours an employee has worked during the pay period.
• Gross Wages. “Gross wages” is a term that refers to an employee’s full pay before taxes and deductions are taken into consideration. The easiest way to calculate your employee’s gross pay is to simply divide their annual salary by the number of pay periods in the year. Don’t forget to include other compensations they’ve received, such as bonuses, commissions, overtime, tips, etc.
• Deductions. The most common deductions include federal tax, state tax, SDI, SUI, FLI, and other similar taxes and types of insurance.
• Employer Contribution. Employees usually have to pay their own payroll taxes, which this section needs to include. They aren’t deducted from the employee’s gross wage and can include national insurance, 401(k) plans, health insurance premiums, etc.
• Direct Deposit Information. 94% of employees in the U.S. receive their paychecks via direct deposit. That’s why most salary pay stubs need to contain direct deposit details, such as bank account numbers, bank routing numbers, and other information if necessary.

Salary Pay Stub FAQ

#1. How long should I keep my salary pay stubs?

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), you should keep your salary pay stubs for at least one year.

On the other hand, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) require you to hold onto your records for three years.

According to the IRS, you are required to keep your salary pay stubs for a minimum of four years. Besides this institution, there are also a few other laws that require you to keep these documents for a specific amount of time.

For example, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), you should keep your salary pay stubs for at least one year, while Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) require you to hold onto them for three years.

#2. What can salary pay stubs be used for?

Salary pay stubs are generally used for providing employees with an accurate account of their working hours and wages. This information also allows employers to keep track of everything related to their payment processes and provide tax documentation and information more easily.

#3. Can I make changes to my salary pay stub?

If you create a salary pay stub via Paystub.org, our service agents can un-finalize your document in no time, so you can edit it however you wish.

#4. How do I create my salary pay stub?

You can create a salary pay stub on your own from scratch, but this method is quite hard and takes a lot of time. The best way to do it is to use a salary pay stub generator.

#5. How do I read my salary pay stub?

When reading a salary pay stub, you should subtract pre-tax deductions, employee taxes, and employee contributions from gross pay. This way, you’ll get the exact amount of the salary your employee should receive.

#6. Are Pay Stub Generators Legal?

Yes, pay stub generators are legal and safe as long as you don’t use them for illegal activities such as fraud. After all, pay stub generators are designed to help businesses prepare employee paycheck records quickly and accurately.

Final Thoughts

Even though it can be quite tedious to create it on your own, providing a salary pay stub to your employees is incredibly important. It will save you from a potential legal headache you don’t want to experience and make sure your business runs as smoothly as butter.

Luckily, nowadays you can use a salary pay stub generator to create this document hassle-free and customize it according to your needs and preferences.

If you’re looking for an affordable solution, feel free to visit Paystubs.org and see what we have to offer. You can also contact us for any information regarding salary pay stubs or any other documents, such as the W-2 form or 1099 MISC.

Key Takeaways

In this article, you’ll find out that:

• A pay stub is a document that lists the crucial details regarding the employee’s pay, such as work hours, wages earned, year-to-date information, etc.
• Employers are obligated to provide their employees with a pay stub and keep it for at least 4 years.
• Creating a salary pay stub with a generator is easy, and all you need to do is pick a template, enter the required information, and download your document.
• A salary pay stub will usually contain information on the employer and employee, the date, pay rate, hours worked, gross wages, deductions, employer contribution, and direct deposit information.