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This free pay stub template will help you organize your information with ease. It includes tips on what to include in the report, as well as laws, that we have compiled for you!
A pay stub is a document that shows an employee’s paid earnings as well as any taxes and deductions that have been deducted. We’ve included free pay stub templates in this post to help you comply with the 41 states that require businesses to implement, even whether you pay with cash or direct deposit.
Free Pay Stub Templates to Download
Here’s a generic free pay stub template that you can access, fill up with your information, save, and/or print. It has all of the essential information fields you’ll need to keep track of your earnings and deductions. To make this work for your company, any terms or rows you don’t need may be left blank, altered, or omitted from the template.
Depending on the sector in which your company works, you may wish to personalize your pay stubs. Restaurants, for example, may need a system for recording and reporting tips, while domestic employers may want space to submit reimbursements.
Because pay stubs are prepared to operate with firms in a wide range of sectors, payroll software generally gives you the greatest flexibility. The catch is that you must utilize the system to handle payroll before generating a stub.
Here are two pay stub templates that you may download for certain industries:
Restaurant Pay Stub Template
Household Employers Pay Stub Template
What Should a Pay Stub Template Contain?
The information you should provide on a pay stub is usually dictated by state law. Employers are not required to disclose pay stubs to workers in several states, such as Arkansas and South Dakota. Providing a pay stub is a good practice in any case since it guarantees you have reliable backup information in the event of an audit.
Pay Stub Template Example
Pay stubs come in a variety of formats, but they always include some of the same information. A pay stub, for example, should always show the employee’s name and the employer’s name. The document is otherwise untrustworthy. It should also be dated and include calculations showing the employee’s final salary and any taxes deducted.
The following are some of the most popular data columns to add to your pay stub template:
- Name and address of your business
- The employee’s name and identification number
- The pay period that the payment was made for
- The date on which the employee was compensated.
- Regular and overtime pay
- Tips, commissions, and other sources of income
- The amount of money taken out of an employee’s paycheck before and after taxes.
- The net remuneration of the employee
Requirements for State Pay Stubs
Employers are required to produce pay stubs in 25 states, but only 12 states compel you to submit a physical copy. Businesses are not required to produce pay stubs in nine states. Workers may opt-in or out of obtaining pay stubs in the remaining states, which enable businesses and employees to decide jointly whether or not to supply them.
In California, for example, the employee’s paper pay stub includes information such as hours worked, pay period start and finish dates, and any piece of work—number of units and rate. You must provide utilized and available paid time off (PTO) or sick leave information in Nebraska. Unless your employees are members of a union, you are not obligated to furnish a pay stub in Florida.
To see whether your state requires you to send pay stubs to your workers, use the map below:
If your state is dark green, you may provide workers electronic pay stubs, but you must also give them a printed or written copy if they ask for one.
If you live in a state where employee pay stubs are strictly regulated, consider using a payroll software provider like Gusto. It’s a full-service payroll company that makes sure your pay stubs are computed accurately and include all of the information necessary by your state.
What Each Pay Stub Field Means
The number of hours worked during the pay period, year-to-date balances and paid time off taken are all included in many pay stub designs. They may also contain precise details of what pre- and post-tax payroll deductions are for, such as medical insurance, life insurance, commuting perks, or uniform fees.
When looking at free pay stub templates for your company, make sure there’s room for basic earnings and deductions information like:
- Pay period: This might be the start and end dates, or only the end date, depending on the state rules.
- Hours worked: While not all states need the hours to be mentioned on the pay stub, it’s a good idea since you’ll need to keep track of the data to guarantee overtime is paid accurately. In a pay period, for example, 40 hours regular + six hours overtime equals 46 hours overall.
- Hourly earnings, commission earnings, tips, and any piecework earnings are all included in gross pay, which is often presented as a distinct line item on the pay stub.
- Include a line to reflect each of the federal, state, unemployment, and municipal taxes (if applicable) taken from employee wages, as well as Social Security taxes.
- Taxable deductions: Distinct any taxable deductions, such as wage garnishments or uniform fees, into a separate line item.
- Include a line item for any pretax benefits or retirement plan contributions, such as health insurance, life insurance, FSA, HSA, or 401(k) contributions, on a separate line item.
- Balances of time off: This information is beneficial to the employee and is also necessary for places with statutory paid sick leave regulations, such as California and New York. Derek McIntyre, TimeClock Plus’s chief operating officer, stresses the significance of recording paid time off in order to comply with new legislation:
Online Pay Stub Providers
There are web-based pay stub generators that enable you to manually enter your pay stub information in addition to free pay stub templates.
Here are three Pay Stub Makers on the Internet you may find helpful:
- FormSwift: This free application lets you enter payroll information and creates a pay stub in either DOC or PDF format. You may join up for a monthly membership that begins at $39.95 and includes a seven-day free trial.
- ThePayStubs: This site offers ten pay stub templates as well as an online tool for filling in the gaps. For each pay stub, you make, you’ll have to spend about $9. You may create and print W-2s and 1099-NEC papers in addition to pay stubs.
- Pay stub generator: This free Shopify tool enables you to manually enter your payroll information and has it produce a pay stub for you. It next asks for your email address, after which it provides you with the finished pay stub to download or print.
Retention of Paystubs
The US Department of Labor (DOL) does not have any obligatory retention rules for particular documents such as pay stubs, but it does mandate that payroll data be kept for three years. Meanwhile, the IRS mandates that tax documents be kept for a period of four years. Employers in certain states, such as California, are required to keep payroll records for six years.
Conclusion
You may pay employees using handwritten checks or cash when you initially start your firm. If you don’t use a payroll provider, keep track of all payments as well as any taxes and deductions deducted. Even if they aren’t necessary, pay stubs are a wonderful method to fulfill the DOL’s payroll record preservation standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I make my own pay stubs for free?
You can either do it manually, or you can use a template and fill in the blanks.
Does Microsoft Word have a pay stub template?
Unfortunately, Microsoft does not offer a pay stub template for their word processor.
