How to Choose a Pay Stub Generator: The Ultimate Guide

There are three main details that you must cross out if you want to know how to choose a pay stub generator: Your budget, business size, and the types of features that come with your preferred pay stub generator.

If you are wondering how to choose a pay stub generator that adheres to your company’s work structure and employees’ needs, then this article will give you all the pointers you need.

Let’s begin!

Key Takeaways

• A pay stub generator is an online tool that lets businesses, employees, and self-employed individuals produce multiple professional-looking pay stubs in one sitting.
• Some key considerations when deciding how to choose a pay stub generator include your budget, company size, and your employees’ needs.
• A reliable pay stub generator offers customizable pay stub templates and underscores user security and convenience.
• Pay stub generators enable businesses to save time and money, maximize their workforce, and boost employee security and satisfaction.

What Are Pay Stubs?

Pay stubs, also called paychecks or pay slips, are documents that summarize an employee’s earnings in a pay period. They detail the regular or hourly rates of an employee, the number of work hours they completed in a pay cycle, and the amount they earned before and after taxes.

Other key information reported on employee paychecks includes the amount of taxes withheld from employees’ salaries and wages, contributions to retirement plan accounts and insurance premiums, and accumulated paid time off.

Employers routinely send pay stubs to their employees on their company’s scheduled payday. They can either send the paychecks through direct deposit or issue a printed copy of the said document, depending on the governing pay stub requirements in their state.

Alternatively, independent contractors and freelancers can generate their own pay stubs using a paystub generator to track all payments sent by their clients.

What is a Pay Stub Generator?

A pay stub generator is an online tool that lets users create their own pay stubs instantly. Some pay stub generators are available as free tools, while others are paid software.

Most pay stub generators come with a selection of templates with all the necessary paycheck information, such as the employee and employer’s names, contact information, employee’s rates, check stub number, gross and net pay, year-to-date, and salary deductions.

Aside from built-in templates, online generators for pay slips also come with built-in calculators that help make calculating employee salaries, taxes, and voluntary deductions a breeze.

Employers of small to mid-sized enterprises and self-employed individuals use pay stub generators due to their convenience and practicality.

In some instances, individuals who recently left their jobs also take advantage of pay stub generators to create copies of their paychecks and apply for emergency or personal loans.

Since pay stub generators are hassle-free and easy to use for businesses and individuals, it can be daunting to decide how to choose a pay stub generator that perfectly adheres to your expectations and needs.

How to Choose a Pay Stub Generator

With the growing availability of various tools for pay stubs online, you need to be clear with your preferences for must-have features if you want to know how to choose a pay stub generator.

Use the following checklist of excellent pay stub generator features as your guide:

#1. Determine Your Company Size & Needs

First things first—what is your company size? How many employees are currently included in your payroll? Are you planning on expanding your workforce? One of the biggest appeals of an online pay stub generator is that it can cater to startups and bigger companies.

Employers with limited human resources and payroll personnel will effectively save on time and labor costs with the help of an online generator for pay stubs.

It speeds up the process of preparing employee paychecks and creates more leeway to focus on other important processes for sustaining employee satisfaction in the workplace.

Meanwhile, mid-sized and even large companies also benefit from pay stub generators since creating multiple paychecks in a short time is made possible. This is especially true when companies pair the use of pay stub generators with their payroll software.

#2. Allocate a Budget

While there are free pay stub generators available, they may not be the ideal choice for long-term commercial use. Eventually, you will find the need to acquire more useful features to accommodate your business needs, but not without paying additional fees in exchange.

Review your labor costs and operational expenses, then set aside a budget for using online tools in the form of pay stub generators and software for processing employee salaries and employment data.

#3. Prioritize Security

Banks and lenders consider pay stubs as valid documents for verifying a debtor’s income and employment status. For that matter, it is crucial to keep copies of your pay stubs from the most recent 30 days to the last three to six months.

Check whether your pay stub generator enables you to download and save electronic copies of your pay stubs. Electronic or paperless pay stubs are convenient, secure, and less prone to physical damage.

You can also store electronic pay stubs for longer and prevent any tampering.

#4. Verify Pay Stub Generator Reliability & Accuracy

Not all pay stub generators are reliable in that they may not be as consistent with the features that they offer. All businesses, including those that offer online tools and services in the form of pay stub generators, must see to it that they operate legally.

Take the time to check reviews and feedback on your pay stub generator provider. If you see any negative comment or review that may raise your doubts about the tool’s accuracy, then seek other options until you find one that meets your expectations.

#5. Look for a Variety of Templates

An excellent pay stub generator should offer a variety of templates that you can choose from depending on your business needs or preferences.

Some pay stub templates are suitable for employees who are paid hourly, while other templates include additional details that suit salaried employees or specific industries.

Moreover, having options is always better when deciding how to choose a pay stub generator for your business and employees.

#6. Opt for Customizable & User-Friendly Features

Ideally, pay stub generators should help reduce errors and typos in preparing pay stubs, maximize your existing resources, and enable your team to save time and effort.

If the generator comes with too many complicated steps that make it challenging for your employees to use, then it may not be the best choice.

How Do Pay Stub Generators Work?

Now that you know which features to keep an eye out for when choosing a pay stub generator, here’s a brief overview of how pay stub generators work:

Step #1: Choose a Template

Choose a template for your business. When choosing a template, consider the must-have details about your employees’ salaries and wages.

For instance, if they are paid an hourly or fixed rate, then each pay arrangement requires specific information to reflect on employee pay stubs.

Step #2: Enter the Required Information

Input all the information on the templates, from your company’s name, address, and contact information, to your employees’ basic information, employee number, rates, number of hours completed, and the dates covered by the pay period.

Some generators will ask you to specify the number of pay stub copies you need.

Step #3: Review the Final Pay Stub

Review all the information you have input and ensure all is correct and accurate. Make sure that the rates, hours worked, tax amounts, and other salary adjustments for each employee are correct, in particular.

Step #4: Download Your Pay Stub

Generate your pay stubs, then download and save them or print the copies to distribute to your staff if required by your state’s pay stub regulations.

Who Can Use Pay Stub Generators?

Employers, employees, and freelancers can all use pay stub generators. The best thing about pay stub generators is that most are accessible and easy to use. It doesn’t require specialized skills or additional training for people to learn how to use it.

Small businesses can use it to maximize their resources and cut down on labor costs when preparing employee pay stubs and managing payroll.

In the same manner, businesses with a larger workforce can take advantage of online generators for pay stubs to ensure they prepare payslips for all employees and meet the deadline or cutoff for each pay period.

Pay stub generators enable employees to present proof of income when applying for a loan or mortgage.

Finally, self-employed individuals can choose a pay stub generator to simplify how they monitor and record all their earnings. Doing so effectively organizes their schedule and records, especially if they work with different clients and complete a variety of short- and long-term projects.

5 Top Benefits of Using a Pay Stub Generator

Knowing how to choose a pay stub generator also means underscoring the following benefits coupled with using this handy online tool:

#1. Accuracy

Miscalculating wages and salary deductions is a common human error in mid-sized enterprises and even in startups. Pay stub generators minimize errors in calculating salaries, taxes, and contributions to insurance premiums.

Accuracy is crucial in generating pay stubs because these documents must reflect all the hard work put in by each employee, down to the last penny. Moreover, correctly calculating employee wages and salaries boosts their trust and satisfaction.

#2. Practicality

Payroll management is an arduous task, and pay stub generators enhance the efficiency of your team when it comes to handling your company’s payroll processes. All you have to do is input your employee’s information, pay rates, and hours worked.

The pay stub generator takes care of calculating your employees’ gross and net wages and the amount of taxes to withhold from their earnings. You need not hire additional staff because one or two people can manage to handle a pay stub generator.

#3. Professional Appearance

Professional-looking pay stubs instantly enhance your company’s image and trustworthiness. Some pay stub templates are customizable in that you can add your company logo and align the template’s color and theme with your branding.

Fabricating pay stubs is rampant these days. Fraudsters often target companies that are inconsistent with featuring their brand on all their business documents.

On the other hand, pay stubs and other important financial documents bearing your business logo are more difficult for scammers to replicate.

#4. Security

The problem with paper pay stubs is that they are more prone to damage and wear and tear. Printed pay slips are also easier to misplace and get tampered with.

In contrast, electronic pay stub copies are more secure and easier to store and disseminate. You can also save as many digital copies as you need and not worry about taking up additional space in your office.

You can send pay stubs directly to your employees through their email or upload the document into your payroll software and seamlessly update your employee’s employment and salary information.

#5. Transparency

Transparency is an essential factor in reinforcing trust between employers and their staff. Employees want a hassle-free way to access their paycheck records and all other information related to their employment status.

You can set up payroll software and integrate your employees’ digital pay stub copies and other records related to their work, taxes, and voluntary contributions. As a result, your employees can review their data and report any discrepancies promptly.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know the essential factors and considerations in choosing a pay stub generator, you can narrow down your options and find a pay stub generator that’s perfect for your budget and business or employment needs.

If you’re still undecided, look no further. Paystub.org offers an easy-to-use pay stub generator complete with a range of templates to choose from, a built-in calculator to handle all your payroll and tax-related calculations, and reasonable pricing that won’t drain your wallet.