Paystub Template: What to Include and Free Options

What a template does, and what it does not

A paystub template is a blank layout for a pay statement, with labeled spaces for who was paid, for which period, what was earned, what was withheld and what was paid out. Small employers use one to give workers a clear record each payday. Contractors and owners use one to document pay they actually received.

A paystub template does not calculate taxes, pay anyone or make a document official. It is only as accurate as the payroll records you copy into it. For a line-by-line tour of a finished stub, read What Is a Pay Stub? Every Line Explained.

What every paystub template should include

There is no single federal pay stub format. The U.S. Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #21 lists what employers must record under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for non-exempt workers, and a good template mirrors those records:

Employer and employee: the employer's legal name and address, and the worker's name, with an employee ID or only the last four digits of a Social Security number.
Pay period and pay date: the dates worked and the date paid.
Hours and rate: regular hours, overtime hours and each rate, or the salary for the period.
Gross pay: all earnings before deductions, including overtime, bonuses, commissions and tips.
Each tax: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state or local income tax where it applies, each on its own line.
Each deduction: pre-tax items such as health premiums or a traditional 401(k), and after-tax items such as Roth contributions, union dues or garnishments.
Net pay: the amount actually paid.
Year-to-date (YTD) totals for earnings, each tax and each deduction.

Federal law does not require employers to hand out stubs. The Labor Department's FLSA questions and answers say the law requires accurate records of hours and wages, but not pay stubs. Many states do require a wage statement. California, for example, requires an itemized statement each payday showing gross and net wages, hours, deductions and the pay period, among other items. Find your state's rule through the list of state labor offices.

Gross vs net pay: a worked example

Gross pay is everything earned in the period before anything is taken out. Net pay, or take-home pay, is what is left after taxes and deductions. This fictional biweekly paycheck uses invented figures:

Regular pay: 80 hours × $20.00 = $1,600.00
Overtime: 5 hours × $30.00 = $150.00, at time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek
Gross pay: $1,750.00
Health premium, pre-tax: −$50.00
Traditional 401(k), 5% of gross: −$87.50
Social Security, 6.2% of $1,700.00: −$105.40
Medicare, 1.45% of $1,700.00: −$24.65
Federal income tax, invented for this example: −$112.00
State income tax, invented for this example: −$48.00
Union dues, after tax: −$15.00
Net pay: $1,307.45

Social Security and Medicare are figured on $1,700.00, not $1,750.00, because a health premium paid through a cafeteria plan usually lowers those wages; traditional 401(k) deferrals do not. Both lower the wages used for federal income tax, here $1,612.50. The IRS sets Social Security at 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 in 2026 and Medicare at 1.45% of all wages, plus 0.9% withheld on wages over $200,000 in a year.

Paystub template vs pay stub generator vs payroll software

Paystub template (spreadsheet, document or fillable PDF): free and flexible, but every formula and year-to-date total is yours to build and check, and one wrong cell carries forward.
Pay stub generator or check stub maker: a form that does the arithmetic and produces a PDF. Free ones exist. Check where your data goes, whether an account is required and whether tax figures are labeled as estimates.
Payroll software or a payroll provider: calculates withholding, pays workers and often deposits taxes and files payroll returns. It usually costs money, but for regular employees it handles duties a document cannot.

Whichever you use, an employer still has to withhold, deposit and report employment taxes, as IRS Publication 15 explains. A stub records payroll; it does not satisfy those duties.

How to fill in a free pay stub template accurately

Start from source records: time records, the pay rate, benefit and retirement elections, garnishment orders, and the worker's Form W-4 and any state withholding form.
Figure gross pay, then subtract pre-tax deductions to get each taxable wage amount.
Figure federal income tax withholding from the W-4 with the IRS methods in Publication 15-T, and Social Security and Medicare at the rates above.
Use your state's own withholding method. State rules vary, some states do not tax wages, and some cities or counties add their own tax.
Subtract after-tax deductions to reach net pay, and confirm it matches the payment actually made.
Update year-to-date totals: the last stub's YTD plus this period.
Label a stub you prepare yourself as self-prepared, and keep the source records with it.

A paystub template with perfect arithmetic is still wrong if the withholding was guessed. For more checks before you export a PDF, see Make a Pay Stub PDF from Accurate Payroll Records.

Never use a paystub template to misstate income

A pay stub is a record of money that was actually paid. Using a template to invent wages, hours or an employer, editing a stub an employer issued, or passing off a stub you made as employer-issued can be treated as fraud under federal and state law when it is given to a landlord, lender, agency or court.

Never enter pay that was not received, or round figures up.
Never show an estimated tax as tax that was actually withheld.
If an employer's stub is wrong, ask payroll for a corrected one.
If someone needs to confirm your earnings, offer what they ask for, such as a letter from your employer, an IRS tax transcript or bank statements.

How long to keep pay stubs and payroll records

Keep each stub with the records behind it. Under the FLSA, employers keep payroll records for at least three years, and the records wages are figured from, such as time cards, for two years. The IRS says to keep employment tax records for at least four years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later. State rules can differ.

Save each stub as a PDF named by worker and pay date.
Keep time records, W-4s and deduction elections with the stubs.
Store files where only authorized people can open them, and show only the last four digits of a Social Security number.
When you correct a stub, keep the original and mark the new one as a correction.

Where StubSafe fits

StubSafe is a free pay stub maker from Auto Secure Login for people who would rather use a generator than a blank template. It needs no account to make a stub, keeps payroll information on your device and exports a PDF.

The quick builder is one page: employer and worker, pay period, regular and overtime hours, other earnings, five deduction fields, live totals and a PDF.
The full app adds worker types, categorized deductions, year-to-date figures that roll forward and corrections. It stops an export when deductions exceed gross pay unless you are deliberately marking the statement voided.
The full app's optional tax adviser gives estimates to confirm against the official sources it cites. They are not tax advice.

Every document is printed as self-generated and independently unverified. StubSafe does not verify employment or income, and it is not a payroll provider: it does not move money or file taxes.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free pay stub template?

Yes. Spreadsheet and document templates are free, and so are some generators. A free pay stub template still needs real payroll figures and correctly figured withholding; the price does not change who is responsible for the numbers.

Gross vs net pay: what is the difference?

Gross pay is total earnings before deductions. Net pay is what is left after taxes and deductions, the amount actually paid. In the example above, $1,750.00 gross became $1,307.45 net.

Does my employer have to give me a pay stub?

Not under federal law, but many states require a wage statement each payday. The rules vary, so check with your state labor office.

Is there a check stub maker free to use?

Yes. StubSafe, for example, is free and needs no account to make a stub. Like any generator, it formats the numbers you enter and does not confirm them.

Can I make a pay stub for myself?

You can document pay you actually received, for example as a contractor or owner, if you label it as self-prepared and keep the records behind it. Never use it to misstate income or present it as employer-issued.

What should a paystub template include?

Employer and worker details, the pay period and pay date, hours and rates, gross pay, each tax and deduction, net pay and year-to-date totals.

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Paystub Template: Every Field to Include, Gross vs Net Pay and Free Options