This pay stub example is filled in with made-up figures on one of our own templates, so you can see where everything goes: earnings, taxes, deductions, net pay and year-to-date totals. Each section is explained below.
The employer, the employee and every amount on the samples are fictional, and each one carries a PREVIEW watermark. A pay stub is a record of a real payment: when you make your own, enter what was actually paid.
Your first pay stub each year is free · then $2.99 each · preview before you pay
Pay stub example, explained
Layouts differ, but nearly every pay stub is built from the same six parts. The numbers quoted here are the ones printed on the sample above.
The top of the stub says who paid whom. In the sample, the employer is Northwind Supply LLC of Austin, TX, and the employee is Jordan Rivera. A real stub carries the employer's real name and address, and usually an employee ID and the last four digits of the Social Security number.
The pay period is the stretch of work being paid: here September 1, 2026 to September 14, 2026. The pay date, September 18, 2026, is when the money was paid, and it is often a few days after the period ends. The check number (00107) appears when pay is by check.
Each kind of pay has its own row with hours, rate and amount. The sample shows 80 regular hours at $27.50 ($2,200.00), 6 overtime hours at $41.25 ($247.50) and a $150.00 bonus. Added together they make the gross pay: $2,597.50.
Federal income tax ($212.40), Social Security ($161.05) and Medicare ($37.66) each get a line. State income tax is $0.00 in the sample because the address is in Texas, which has no state income tax. In a state that has one, it appears as its own line.
Anything else taken out of the pay is listed by name: the sample has a $55.00 health plan deduction. Retirement contributions, insurance premiums and garnishments go here on a real stub.
Total deductions ($466.11) come off the gross to give net pay, the amount actually paid: $2,131.39. The year-to-date (YTD) column is the running total since January 1, including this period. The sample's YTD gross is $44,210.50.
Not sure what an abbreviation on your own stub means? The pay stub glossary lists them all.
More pay stub examples
What a pay stub looks like depends on the layout, not the content. These examples hold exactly the same pay, taxes and totals as the one above; only the arrangement changes.
Reading a stub
Net pay is the figure that should match the bank deposit or the check. If it does not, a deduction is missing from the stub or was entered wrongly.
Hours times rate, plus overtime and any bonus, should equal the gross. On a salaried stub the gross is the salary for that one period.
This period's YTD should equal last period's YTD plus this period's amount. A jump or a gap means a stub is missing or a figure was mistyped.
From sample to your own
Enter the employer, the pay period and the pay. The taxes are estimated for the state you pick, every line stays editable, and you see the finished stub before you pay. PayStubGo does not verify employment or income, so enter only what was actually paid.
Every layout the sample can be drawn on: twenty-eight pay stub templates, all included in the price.
Every term and abbreviation that can appear on a pay stub, explained.
The PayStubGo home page: make your own stub from your real pay details.
How each tax line on the stub is calculated before you check it.
For pay by paper check: the check number and a separate pay date.
A worked contractor example with no tax withheld.
A worked example for an owner paying themselves.
Several consecutive pay periods with year-to-date totals that add up.
A pay stub is a one-page statement. The top names the employer and the employee and gives the pay period and pay date. The middle lists earnings on one side and taxes and deductions on the other, each with a year-to-date column. The bottom shows gross pay, total deductions and net pay. The samples on this page show that same structure on several layouts.
Who paid whom, for which pay period, how gross pay was made up (hours and rate, or salary, plus overtime, bonus or tips), what was taken out for federal and state income tax, Social Security, Medicare and other deductions, the net pay, and running year-to-date totals.
YTD is year to date: the running total of an amount from January 1 through this pay period, including this period. A stub usually shows YTD gross, YTD for each tax and deduction, and YTD net pay.
Yes. Pay stub, paycheck stub, pay statement and earnings statement are different names for the same document. Several of the sample layouts on this page are titled "Earnings Statement".
The samples here are on-screen previews with made-up data and a PREVIEW watermark, so they cannot be mistaken for a real record. To get a PDF, enter your own real pay details in the builder: the finished stub is a clean PDF on the template you choose.
A contractor or self-employed stub has the same layout, but with no tax withheld: gross pay, any fees or deductions, and net. The 1099 contractor and self-employed pages each walk through a worked example.
No. The names, employer and amounts on a sample are fictional. A pay stub is a record of a real payment, so yours must show your real employer, dates and amounts. Presenting invented income to a landlord, lender or agency is fraud.
Didn't find what you needed? Visit the PayStubGo FAQ page for more answers.