A paycheck typically comes with a pay stub template. The stub lists information about the check like the pay period, the date the employee received their pay, information about deductions, gross earnings, and the issued amount.
Pay Stub Templates
What is a pay stub template?
A pay stub template is a document attached to a paycheck, which contains information pertaining to a payment made. This is usually a piece of paper needed when you need proof of income or as a reference for tax deductions.
As an employer, it’s your responsibility to provide this document that confirms your employees’ earnings for a certain period of time. Never issue a fake pay stub template as this will cause a lot of issues for you.
This document should be diligently kept by yourself as the employer and your employees to ensure a legal work relationship. Today, many companies refuse to use paper documents as they have opted for a digital workflow.
This method saves effort, money, and time as you won’t have to print out documents. For this document, you can complete a blank stub then file it for your employees right away after sending them a copy through email.
Fake Pay Stub Templates
What to include?
Most employees know what a pay stub example is – it is a small piece of paper attached to their paycheck. Each employee should keep a copy of this document in their personal files as it allows them to have records of the payments they received.
Upon getting their paycheck, employees can detach the check or check stub template from their paycheck then file it. Most stubs contain basic information that you can divide into three main components. Here are the things to include in your pay stub template:
- Information about your company
The information here includes your company’s business name and address. Generally, you would place this either at the bottom or the top of the stub. - Information about the employee
This section includes the employee’s complete name and ID number. It could also include their Social Security information. If you will mail the paycheck to an employee, it should also contain the employee’s address. The easiest way to organize the information is to place it along the stub’s top row. - Payment Details
Because of the information in this section, it is the most extensive part of the stub. This is a summary of how much your employee has earned throughout the applicable pay period and how much they have earned so far for the current tax year. This part includes the following information:
Check Number
This is the number of the check you issued to an employee. This becomes useful when you need to track down or cancel a check.
Pay Date and Pay Period
The pay date lists the date on which you issued the check. In most cases, this is a couple of days after the end of the pay period. The pay period lists the start and end date of the applicable pay period.
Types of Income and Amounts
This is the most important information on the sub. This section provides the number of hours your employee worked. It should specify the amounts they have earned for each income type.
Income types include regular or wages and tips for tippable workers like food service employees. You must provide amounts and hours for both the particular pay period and the total tax year-to-date (YTD). The section must also state the hourly rate that the employee earned.
Deductions
This section of the stub lists the deductions for both the YTD and the current pay period. The most common deductions are State Tax, Federal Tax, Social Security, and Medicare. The stub must contain both an itemized list of amounts deducted and the total amount of all the deductions.
How do I create a pay stub?
A pay stub template can help you and your employees to manage your finances better. You can compare the pay stub to a receipt provided you during each payday. You can create this short document in either of two ways – by downloading or making one.
Whichever way after its creation, you as the employer can set up computers that allow your employees to print their pay stub or payroll check template whenever they want. Here are the steps you can use as a guide when creating this template:
- Select a program
The first thing you will deal with is the math involved in calculating your employees’ paychecks. For this, you can choose a spreadsheet program you’re comfortable with. Start by creating columns for deductions, net pay, and gross pay. This allows you to create a template to keep records. - Calculate the gross pay
This is the easiest number to calculate. Just divide the annual salary of the employee by the number of paydays in a year. - Calculate the deductions
Deductions refer to anything that comes out of your employee’s paycheck. The deduction amounts may vary depending on whether the employee is the head of the household or married. You might not need to charge local taxes. Make sure to check this out with the rules of your locale. - FICA Tax Withholding
Going through these deductions requires much work in determining how much to take out of your employee’s salary. - Calculate the net pay
This is the amount left after you make additions and deductions to your employee’s salary. It is the amount that the employee will receive. - Create a template for your employees’ pay stubs
Making your own template is okay, although it will take more effort and time. If you want an easier way to do this, you can create stubs online using a generator. These generators require you to enter all of the necessary information.
After entering these, the generator will produce a professional stub that you can legally use as proof of income. You can also choose to download a template and input the information manually.
Check Stub Templates
How can I get my pay stubs?
Even employees who get their salaries using direct deposit can still get their pay stub template from you. As an employer, you can either give the stub directly to your employee or email it to them. You would choose the latter if your company has decided to go paperless.