1. Company block with phone and EIN
It opens the Default. The Default names the business here: company name, address, and the EIN and phone if you give them. A logo, when you upload one, sits in this block.
Paystub Template
Simple Pay Stub Template: the Default Layout
A simple pay stub template: company and employee details, earnings beside deductions, YTD under each line and net pay. Fill it in online, preview, get the PDF.
- Style
- Default
- Type
- Pay Stub
- Colors
- 6 included
Color · Classic grey
Sample data, shown for illustration. Colors are included in the price.
Use it in Classic grey →The layout
What the Default layout looks like
Your company name, address, phone and EIN sit at the top left, with an “Earnings Statement” title on the right over the stub number, pay frequency and filing status. A ruled header row follows with four columns: the employee’s name and address, the masked SSN, the pay period and the pay date.
The body is one wide table. Earnings (description, rate, hours, current pay) fill the left half and deductions with their amounts fill the right half, with each line’s year-to-date figure printed under it. Gross pay and total deductions close the two halves, and a summary grid at the foot shows YTD gross, YTD deductions and YTD net pay beside this period’s total, deductions and net pay.
On the stub
Sections, top to bottom
- Company block with phone and EIN
- Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status
- Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date
- Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line
- Gross pay and total deductions
- Summary grid: YTD gross, deductions and net pay beside this period’s
Best for
Who this template suits
Anyone who wants a familiar, no-surprises payroll layout: one table, every line where people expect it, and the year-to-date summary at the bottom. It is the plainest design to read on paper and the easiest to check line by line.
Overview
About this simple pay stub template
The Default is our simple pay stub template: one company block, one header row for the employee and the dates, one table with earnings beside deductions, and a summary grid at the foot. There is nothing to learn. Every line sits where a payroll stub normally puts it, which is why it is the layout most people start with.
Simple does not mean thin. The template still prints the masked SSN, the stub number, pay frequency and filing status, year-to-date figures under every earnings and deduction line, and a this-period and year-to-date summary, so it holds everything a fuller stub does in less space.
Related: all pay stub templates · free pay stub generator · paystub generator
Section by section
What each part of the Default shows
2. Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status
The second block on the Default. The document’s name and reference: the title the Default prints, with the stub number and, where the layout has them here, the pay frequency and filing status. A unique stub number makes each copy easy to refer to.
3. Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date
The third block on the Default. Period start and end, pay date and frequency. On the Default these read as the stub’s facts, so a reader can match it to a bank deposit before reading the figures.
4. Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line
The fourth block on the Default. Earnings and deductions read across from each other. Each pay line (hours × rate, salary, overtime, bonus) sits on one side and each tax or deduction on the other, so on the Default you can see what was earned and what came out in one row.
5. Gross pay and total deductions
The fifth block on the Default. Where the lines are added up. Gross pay should equal the earnings lines, total deductions the tax and deduction lines; the gap between them is net pay.
6. Summary grid: YTD gross, deductions and net pay beside this period’s
It closes the Default. Year-to-date figures: the running totals for the calendar year, including this stub. They should grow by exactly this period’s amounts from one stub to the next.
Fields
What you enter, and where it prints on the Default
| You enter | It prints in |
|---|---|
| Company name, address, EIN, phone and logo | Company block with phone and EIN |
| Employee name, address and ID | Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date |
| Last four digits of the SSN | Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date |
| Pay period, pay date and pay frequency | Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date |
| Filing status and how the pay was made | Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status |
| Hours and rate, or the salary for the period | Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status |
| Overtime, bonus, commission and tips lines | Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status |
| Federal, state, Social Security and Medicare (estimated) | Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line |
| Your own deductions (health plan, retirement, garnishment) | Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line |
| Year-to-date totals | Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line |
The tax lines are estimated from the pay, frequency, filing status and state you enter, and you can change any of them. How paycheck taxes are calculated explains each one, and the pay stub glossary defines every abbreviation on the stub.
Colours
Default colours
The Default comes in Classic grey, Sky, Iris, Mint, Sand and Apricot, with Classic grey as its standard colour. The colour you choose recolours the accents (header bars and section rules); the figures and layout stay the same, and every colour is included in the price.
Document type
What makes the Default a pay stub layout
The Default is laid out as a pay stub: the short, practical record that comes with a paycheck or direct deposit. Payroll systems also call the same record an earnings statement or pay slip; the contents do not change with the name: who was paid, for which period, gross pay, each tax and deduction, net pay and the year to date.
Best use
When to choose the Default
A first pay stub
If you have never made a stub, the Default shows every standard part in the usual order, so it is easy to check against a stub you received before.
Hourly pay with a few extras
Regular hours, overtime and a bonus fit as separate earnings lines with rate and hours, and the deductions column stays level beside them.
Salaried employees
A single salary line with no hours still fills the table neatly, and the YTD grid shows the year so far at a glance.
Household and small employers
A plain, black-and-white-friendly page prints well on any office printer and reads clearly as a payroll record.
What makes it simple
What a simple pay stub template should and should not leave out
A simple template removes decoration, not information. The federal rules do not set a pay stub format: the Department of Labor’s recordkeeping fact sheet says the Fair Labor Standards Act “requires no particular form for the records”. Many states do set what a pay statement must show, so the safe simple stub keeps the standard lines below.
- Who paid and who was paid: company name and address, employee name and address.
- When: the pay period and the pay date.
- How it was worked out: hours and rate, or the salary for the period.
- What came out: each tax and each deduction on its own line.
- What was paid: gross pay, total deductions and net pay.
- The year so far: YTD gross, deductions and net pay.
Compare
How the Default compares
The Default belongs to the Classic grid family, with Professional Classic, Refined Blue, Minimal Professional and Two Band Header. They share the same overall order; what sets the Default apart is simple payroll-style layout with company and employee details, earnings, deductions and net pay.
Compare them: Professional Classic · Refined Blue · Minimal Professional · Two Band Header
Print and PDF
Printing and reading the Default
The full-width grid fills a letter page edge to edge, so it prints clearly in black and white and stays readable when photocopied or scanned. The Default PDF is drawn on our server, so the file is the same on every device.
Need several periods? The multi-stub builder makes consecutive stubs in this layout with year-to-date totals carried forward, and the sample pay stub walks through every line with real figures.
Before you download
Checks on a finished Default
- In “Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status”, rate × hours equals each line, and the lines add up to gross pay.
- In “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line”, every tax and deduction you expect is listed once, with its correct name.
- In “Summary grid: YTD gross, deductions and net pay beside this period’s”, net pay equals gross pay minus total deductions (plus any reimbursement) and matches the deposit.
- In “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line”, year-to-date totals include this period and step up correctly from the previous stub.
- Names, addresses and the pay date are spelled and dated as on your records.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping under the FLSA; IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide.
How it works
How to fill in the Default template
1
Open the builder with the Default already selected (the “Use This Template” button does this).
2
Enter the company and the person paid; the business prints in the “Company block with phone and EIN” block.
3
Add the pay period, pay date and each kind of pay; the lines fill “Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status”.
4
Check the estimated taxes and add your own deductions (they print in “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line”); every amount can be edited.
5
Pick a colour (Classic grey, Sky and Iris or another), preview the whole stub, then download the PDF.
6
Enter the company name exactly as it appears on your bank deposit or offer letter; the Default prints it largest, top left.
7
Use the pay frequency the job really uses (weekly, biweekly, semimonthly or monthly): it drives the tax estimate and prints in the title block.
8
Add overtime and bonus as their own lines rather than folding them into regular pay, so each has its own rate, hours and YTD.
9
If you have pre-tax deductions such as a health plan or 401(k), the Default also prints the taxable wages line, so the tax figures can be followed.
Before download
Paystubs are generated from the information you enter
PayStubGo is an online paystub generator, not a payroll service. Your paystub is created from the information you provide. Review all details carefully before exporting your final PDF and use generated documents responsibly.
Related templates
Compare more paystub template layouts
Classic grid
Professional Classic
Payroll-table layout built on the Default, with blue section headers over the earnings and deductions tables.
8 colors
Classic grid
Refined Blue
Polished blue payroll statement with a compact detail row and strong summary band.
8 colors
Classic grid
Minimal Professional
Minimal professional paystub with bordered information cells and a strong net pay block.
7 colors
Classic grid
Two Band Header
Colored header bands over the company, employee and pay details, grid tables, and a this-period and year-to-date summary grid.
6 colors
Classic grid
Boxed Row
One row of labeled boxes for the pay details, earnings and deductions ledgers side by side, and a this-period and year-to-date summary strip.
7 colors
Classic grid
Pill Header
A dark header with the stub number in a pill, three underlined info columns, earnings beside deductions, a year-to-date strip and a solid net pay bar.
8 colors
FAQ
Default Pay Stub Template questions
Is the Default a pay stub or an earnings statement?
It is titled as a pay stub, and it holds the same record either way: who was paid, for which period, gross pay, taxes and deductions, net pay and the year to date.
What colours does the Default come in?
Classic grey, Sky, Iris, Mint, Sand and Apricot. The colour changes the accents only, and every colour is included.
Does the Default show year-to-date totals?
Yes. The “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line” part carries the year-to-date figures. Make several consecutive stubs at once and the builder carries the totals forward from one period to the next.
Can I use the Default for a 1099 contractor?
Contractor / 1099 mode works with every template and turns off withholding. For headings that read Payer and Contractor, pick a template tagged Contractor-ready, such as Stacked Ledger.
Is there a free Default template for Word or Excel?
No. The Default is filled in online and delivered as a finished PDF, with the taxes and totals worked out. You can preview it free before you pay.
Can I preview the Default Pay Stub Template before creating a paystub?
Yes. This page shows a sample of the template, and the builder shows your own figures in it live before anything is paid for.
Can I switch from the Default to another template later?
Yes. Your details stay in the builder when you change templates, so you can compare layouts with your own figures before you download.
Can I edit the pay details before export?
Yes. PayStubGo lets you enter company, employee, earnings, deductions, pay period, and optional YTD details before previewing the final paystub.
Is the Default a free pay stub template for Word or Excel?
No. It is not a file you download and type into. You fill in the Default online, the builder works out the taxes and totals, and you get a finished PDF. You can preview it free before you pay, and the free pay stub generator explains the first-stub offer.
What is the difference between the Default and the Professional Classic?
Professional Classic is built on the Default: same header and order, but earnings and deductions are split into two tables under blue header bars, with a separate year-to-date block. Pick the Default for the most compact page, Professional Classic for clearer section breaks.
Ready to create a paystub with this template?
Preview the layout, enter your pay details, and download the finished PDF.