Anyone applying for a mortgage or a loan may need to show their most recent pay stubs. If you recently had an employee or independent contractor ask for one, you may be wondering, “What is a pay stub?”
That’s not surprising. However, if you find yourself asking, “What is a pay stub?” then it’s likely because you need proof of your income for one reason or another.
Full-time, W2 employees get a pay stub every time they get paid. This record of payment contains data that’s important among all of those pay stub abbreviations, and it basically tells the story of how much a person has been paid to that point in the year. Pay stub deductions are also included, and that can help an employee keep track of taxes paid and other things.
However, if you’re a business owner who frequently works with 1099 contractors, pay stubs may not be on your radar. “What is a pay stub?” may still be a valid and important question for you that you need answered.
A pay stub is simply a record of how much you paid your employee or independent contractor, and on what date. Some employees and contractors need pay stubs for a variety of reasons. But many contractors are paid in cash, and this fails to leave a record of their pay. Additionally, if you pay via direct deposit, your payroll company may not offer digital pay stubs.
What Does a Pay Stub Look Like?
What does a pay stub look like? That seems like a logical question if you’re still wondering what it is in the first place. A pay stub provides a host of financial information that shows how much an employee is paid, how much of that money the employee keeps, and other details that help interested parties – such as banks underwriting loans – make an informed decision about the person’s employment status and income.
A pay stub typically shows the following information:
- Employee’s name, address, and social security number
- Employer’s name and business address
- Gross earnings for that pay period
- How wages are paid (salaried or hourly)
- Hours worked
- Withholding taxes
- Exemptions
- Any pre-tax deductions such as healthcare
- YTD pay (gross and net)
These often appear in those pay stub abbreviations you see on the breakdown. In short, a pay stub includes all the details about an employee or contractor’s payment for any given pay period, as well as cumulative totals for the year.
How Pay Stubs Have Changed with the Times
Back when most employees were paid with paper checks, the pay stub would often come attached, which the employee would tear off and keep before cashing the check. Today, if an employee is paid via direct deposit, they may be able to access their pay stub online through the online payroll system. Some companies use tools such as Paystubs 365 to generate paystubs online. What does a pay stub from Paystubs 365 look like? It looks like something that was done professionally, and it’s also something that you can count on for keeping accurate records of payments for the people you work with.
The answer to, “What Is a Pay Stub” has evolved, but today’s digital documents still offer the same information as the pay stubs of yesterday. If your payroll company doesn’t provide pay stubs, or you pay your contractors in cash, you can generate pay stubs online at paystubs365.com.
