Pay stub and payroll guides

How to make an accurate pay stub: what to enter, how 2026 withholding, Social Security and Medicare are figured, a worked biweekly example and a free preview.

Gross-to-net paycheck math with 2026 federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare and California or New York tax. Free preview, stubs from $6.99.

Build pay stubs free: a live watermarked preview recalculates taxes and YTD as you type. Make one stub or a run of 26, and pay only when you download.

Use our pay stub template free as a watermarked live preview with your own numbers and full tax math. See exactly what's free, what isn't, and what to fill in.

Make the check stub for a paper paycheck: gross pay, each tax, net pay that matches the check, and YTD totals. Print-ready PDF or JPEG, with no account.

Issue accurate stubs for your staff without payroll software: batch employees per pay date, add W-2s at year-end, and know which payroll duties remain.

Create a pay stub that shows your ITIN instead of a Social Security number. Only the last four digits print, taxes are calculated, and the preview is free.

A direct deposit slip, or deposit advice, is the non-negotiable record of where net pay went. What it shows, how to read it, and why it isn't a check.

How a bonus shows on a pay stub and how it's withheld in 2026: the IRS flat 22% rate vs. the aggregate method, with $1,500, $5,000 and $10,000 examples.

Hourly stubs show rate × hours and overtime; salary stubs show a fixed amount. What each must display, salaried overtime math, and how lenders read both.

Found a pay stub mistake? How employers fix wrong hours, rates, taxes or YTD, when a W-2c or wage claim applies, and how to get it right before you pay.

What a pay stub costs in 2026: per-stub pricing, add-on fees, percent-off list prices and subscriptions explained, and what a clear, all-in price looks like.

Read any pay stub section by section: header, earnings, taxes, deductions, net pay and YTD columns, with an annotated 2026 hourly stub and a checklist.

Decode pay stub codes: FIT, SIT, OASDI, MED, SDI, PFL, YTD, REG, OT, PTO, 401K, S125 and more, grouped by earnings, taxes and deductions, with examples.

YTD on a pay stub is the running total since January 1 at one employer, by pay date. How it carries between stubs, resets, caps Social Security, ties to W-2.

Gross pay is what you earn before deductions; net pay is what reaches your account. The 2026 math from one to the other, and which deductions cut which tax.

How each payroll tax on a stub is figured in 2026: the IRS percentage method step by step, the $184,500 Social Security cap, Additional Medicare, state lines.

The 2026 W-4 adds deductions for tips, overtime, car loan interest and seniors, a $2,200 child credit and an exempt checkbox. See the paycheck math.

The W-4 tells your employer how much tax to withhold; the W-2 reports what was paid and withheld. Who files each, when, and how pay stubs connect them.

What landlords look for in pay stubs: how many, YTD totals, employer details, how stubs are checked against deposits and employers, and how to get them fast.

What lenders want from pay stubs: a recent stub with YTD, W-2s, employer verification and IRS transcripts, plus how hourly, salary and overtime are counted.

What an employment verification letter includes, who asks for one, how lenders and landlords confirm it, and how employers prepare one on letterhead.

What a proof of income letter states, how landlords and lenders read it, and which documents prove income when you are self-employed or on benefits.

Send contractors a clearly labeled payment statement with each payment, with no fake payroll withholding, tied to the W-9 you collect and the 1099-NEC.

Need a 1099 pay stub? Get a clearly labeled contractor payment statement built from real invoices and deposits, with YTD that matches your 1099-NEC.

Owners, S corporation officers and 1099 contractors: when a pay stub is the right record, what to use for owner's draws, and 2026 self-employment tax.

Create detailed payment statements for contractors outside the U.S.: their address abroad, amounts in U.S. dollars, year-to-date totals. No payroll software.

W-2 or 1099? How the IRS separates employees from contractors, what each form reports, 2026 thresholds and deadlines, and what the same $52,000 costs each way.

Prepare W-2 employee copies from year-end payroll totals, with Boxes 1–6 mapped from pay stub YTD. Batch employees, then file Copy A with the SSA.

Prepare 1099-NEC recipient copies for contractors paid $2,000+ in 2026. Batch recipients, check who needs one, and see how filing Copy A through IRIS works.

1099-NEC covers contractor services; 1099-MISC covers rent, prizes, royalties and attorney proceeds. 2026 thresholds, box numbers and 2027 due dates compared.

Prepare 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC recipient copies for payees with an ITIN. Their TIN prints truncated as XXX-XX-5678, as IRS rules allow. Free preview.

What generated W-2 and 1099 recipient copies can and can't do: Copy A, SSA and IRIS e-filing, the 10-return rule, 2027 deadlines and penalties.

Prepare Form W-9: enter your details and get the March 2024 revision filled in, ready to sign, plus what each line means and who keeps the form.

Weekly pays 52 times a year, biweekly 26, semimonthly 24, monthly 12. Compare per-check pay, three-paycheck months, overtime, state rules and 2026 take-home.

Plan 2026 and 2027 paydays: three-paycheck months, the 27-paycheck year, semimonthly weekend shifts, bank holidays, and state rules on when wages are due.

Which states require pay stubs in 2026? A 50-state and DC map of wage statement laws: itemized statements, deduction-only rules and no-requirement states.

California Labor Code § 226(a) lists nine items every wage statement must show, plus sick leave balance. Retention, penalties, paydays and a 2026 example.

NY Labor Law § 195(3) requires a wage statement with every payment. The required items, the hiring pay notice, six-year records, penalties and an NYC example.

Does Texas require pay stubs? What Labor Code § 62.003 says, why most employers fall outside it, and the Payday Law rules on paydays, deductions, final pay.

When is a final paycheck due? 2026 state-by-state deadlines for employees who are fired or quit, from immediately to the next payday, with official sources.

Official IRS forms filled online, from the 1099 series and W-2 to Schedule C and Form 941.