Printable Paycheck Stubs & Templates That are Free to Use

Pay check stubs are written statements that provide information about an employee’s salary or wages for each pay period. This file can also be referred to as pay stubs, wage statements, or pay slips.

If your company prints out physical paychecks, a paycheck stub is usually an attachment that goes along with the check. On the other hand, employees may need to get their pay stubs through an app or portal if your business uses direct deposit.

It’s also crucial to note that federal law only requires employers to keep payroll records for their employees in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). However, it doesn’t automatically entail that the former should distribute the document to their workers. As such, it largely depends on the regulations set by your local government.

There are 25 states that require employers to give pay stub access to their employees. Out of the 25, 12 states mandate that the document should be printed. Conversely, you don’t need to worry about pay stubs if you operate or work in the following states:

• Alabama

• Arkansas

• Florida

• Georgia

• Louisiana

• Mississippi

• Ohio

• South Dakota

• Tennessee 

Who needs pay check stubs?

As mentioned, employers still have to create some form of official pay record for their workers. Fortunately, you can find an array of editable pay stub templates online that you can customize according to your company’s needs.

Meanwhile, as an employee, you might be asking yourself if you need to keep your pay stub since you aren’t legally required to do so. Whether you’re self-employed or working under a company, though, you need to have a record of the pay that you’re receiving each month.

Aside from your credit history, proof of income is one general requirement when applying for personal loans or other types of loans. Banks, lenders, and other financial institutions subject borrowers to background checks to make sure that the latter has the capability to repay their debts. 

These lenders also have varying minimum income requirements. Acceptable documents include recent tax returns, bank account statements, and paycheck stubs. Those who are self-employed can show their tax returns as well as bank deposits. 

Besides loans, pay stubs are required for major purchases like homes and cars. Unless you can pay for these items in spot cash, you will need proof that you are capable of fulfilling your financial obligations to the real estate or auto company. This is where pay stubs come in handy.

Moreover, even if you aren’t planning to take out a loan or make large purchases, it’s still prudent to keep track of exactly how much you’re earning each day, week, or month. As such, if your employer doesn’t provide access or printed pay stubs, you can make your own through fillable pay stub templates and W2 form generators online.

Also read: Do You Need Multiple W2 Forms From The Same Employer?

Pay stub templates

There are lots of free printable pay check stub templates to choose from online. If you’re just looking to record your payment details, you can go for a basic template that contains the general parts of a stub.

General parts of a paycheck stub

A pay check stub must contain an employee’s financial records while working at a particular company. The file must be comprehensive enough to give lenders and other institutions an overview of your financial capabilities.

Personal information

Personal information—such as the worker’s name, address, contact number, and email address—should be present in the document. Additionally, you must also print the dates covered in the stub, whether the professional is paid hourly, daily, weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, or annually. 

Your federal and state filing status should be displayed in the paycheck stub as well. If you’re using a free fillable pay stub template, you look for this section to avoid problems when submitting your document for loan approval or other financial requests.

Gross wages

The employee’s gross wages must also be displayed on the file. The term pertains to the amount paid to them before taxes and deductions. It should also encompass overtime pay, paid time off, bonuses, and payroll advances.

There are different processes when calculating the gross wages of hourly workers and salaried employees. For the former, you need to multiply the individual’s hourly pay rate by the hours rendered. Pay stubs for hourly employees typically show the number of hours worked.

Calculating for the latter, on the other hand, entails dividing their annual salary by the total number of pay periods in a year. It’s how you can get their specific gross pay for a single pay period.

Nonetheless, if salaried employees track their time, their pay stubs may also show the number of hours worked. If they work more than 40 hours per week and are eligible for overtime pay, those hours must be reflected on their pay check stub for that pay period.

Deductions

Deductions are another part of a basic pay stub. This section includes taxes, voluntary and involuntary contributions, and allowances.  

Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes, for instance, are a government-mandated deduction. The program funds Social Security and Medicare to help the community—particularly retirees, people with disabilities, and children of deceased workers.

Generally, 6.2% of an employee’s gross wages goes to Social Security tax, while 1.45% is allocated to Medicare. Employers are obligated to match these figures for a total of 15.3% of contribution on your behalf. 

Additionally, some cities and states impose an income tax while others don’t. If your local government requires income tax, you’ll see an amount deducted from each paycheck labeled ‘local’ or with the name of your city or town. If your earnings remain constant, you will generally pay the same amount for both state and local income taxes each pay period.

While taxes are government mandated, contributions come from the company you’re working for. The most common type is 401(k) contributions. For example, you may have agreed to have 3% deducted from your pay to fund your retirement, and just like FICA taxes, your employer can match that percentage. As such, the contribution would be deducted from the worker’s paycheck but included in the calculation of their gross wages.

Of course, 401(k) contributions and other employer-directed programs, such as an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), benefit the employee. So you can think of this type of deduction as mandatory savings since the funds will be credited back to you when you resign or retire. That’s why you must have a copy of your pay stubs so you can keep track of how much you can expect to receive later on.

Deductions are typically presented in two categories. First, there are current deductions, which are made during the pay period that’s covered by the stub. The second category is year-to-date deductions, which display the total deductions made on your salary or wages so far. Plus, separate lines should be used to show tax-free and taxable deductions.

Net pay

Net pay is the exact amount that you can take home during payday. It’s recorded on the employee’s stub both for the pay period and cumulatively for the year.

You can include information about vacation time if you want as well. This will serve as a reminder to the employee how much time they have available for the year. In some states, this is a required field.

You could also include the employee’s number of exemptions to keep things simple. A basic pay check stub contains all the general information that your employee is likely to want or require.

Also read: What Are the Main Differences Between Salary and Hourly Paystubs?

Other pay stub template factors

Meanwhile, there are also other factors to consider such as the following:

Design

Being particular about the design is valuable if you run a small business or startup since it can help your branding efforts. Even if you’re giving the pay stub to your employees, you still need to establish your brand to them.

Some editable pay stub templates allow you to customize the colors of the file, while others offer multiple color choices, so you can choose which one aligns with your brand colors. 

You can also choose the orientation of the file, whether portrait or landscape. Aside from the design, it can also help you save resources—particularly paper—if your state requires you to print pay stubs for your employees.

File type

This one boils down to your preference and which one is easier for your human resources or accounting team to create and edit. Spreadsheets, word documents, and PDFs are the most common formats since they can be easily generated, published, and printed. Moreover, all computers and even smartphones can open these files through specific apps or programs.

Takeaway

If you’re looking for free printable pay stub templates, you can check our wide selection of templates or have one customized for your business. Keeping track of you and your employee’s salaries doesn’t have to be a challenge since we have the tool to help you. You just have to type in the details, and our pay stub generator will fill in the fields for you in seconds. 

Also read: Why Not to Use A Fake Pay Stub Generator?