A pay stub breaks your paycheck into four parts: your personal and employer information, your gross pay before deductions, everything withheld from that pay, and your net pay, the amount that actually lands in your bank account. To read one correctly, check each section against your actual hours, rate, and agreed deductions, rather than just glancing at the final number.
Most pay stub confusion comes from not knowing which numbers to check first. Once you know what each field represents, spotting an error, like a missing overtime hour or an unexpected deduction, takes seconds instead of a phone call to payroll.
What’s on a Pay Stub, Field by Field
A standard pay stub includes six sections: identifying information, the pay period, gross pay, deductions, net pay, and year-to-date totals. Each section answers a different question about your paycheck, and most disputes trace back to a misread field rather than an actual error.
Employee and Employer Information
This section confirms the stub belongs to you and comes from the right employer. Look for your name, address, and employee ID number, along with your employer’s name and address. In some states, this section also shows the last four digits of your Social Security number for identification purposes.
Pay Period Dates
The pay period shows the exact start and end dates the paycheck covers, not the date you’re being paid. For example, a biweekly employee might see a pay period of July 6 to July 19 with a pay date of July 24. Confirm these dates line up with hours you actually worked, since a shifted pay period is a common source of confusion when a schedule changes mid-month.
Gross Pay
Gross pay is your total earnings before any deductions come out, including regular wages, overtime, bonuses, and commissions. For hourly employees, this equals your hourly rate multiplied by hours worked, plus 1.5 times your rate for any overtime hours. For salaried employees, divide your annual salary by the number of pay periods in the year to get this figure.
Deductions
Deductions fall into two categories: pre-tax and post-tax. Pre-tax deductions, like health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and flexible spending or health savings account contributions, come out before taxes get calculated, which lowers your taxable income. Post-tax deductions, including federal and state payroll taxes, Social Security and Medicare tax, wage garnishments, and any voluntary post-tax benefits, come out afterward.
Employees pay 6.2% of gross wages toward Social Security and 1.45% toward Medicare, the same rates your employer matches. Federal income tax withholding depends on your W-4 filing status, and state income tax varies by state and sometimes by city, so two employees earning the same gross pay can see different withholding amounts.
Net Pay
Net pay is what’s left after every deduction comes out, the actual amount deposited into your account or printed on your check. If you receive direct deposit, this figure should match your bank statement for that pay date.
Year-to-Date Totals
Year-to-date, or YTD, totals track your cumulative earnings and deductions for the calendar year, not just the current pay period. These numbers matter most at tax time, since your YTD federal and state tax withholding should match what appears on your W-2. Checking YTD totals periodically, rather than waiting until January, catches a running error before it compounds across dozens of pay periods.
How to Check Your Pay Stub for Errors
Checking a pay stub for accuracy takes four steps: verify your personal details, confirm your hours and pay rate match your records, review each deduction, and compare your YTD totals against your own running count.
The Four-Step Check
- Confirm personal details. Your name, address, and employee ID should be current and correctly spelled.
- Match hours and pay rate. Compare your hours worked and pay rate against your own timesheet or schedule, especially in a pay period with overtime.
- Review each deduction. Every line should correspond to something you actually enrolled in or authorized. If you see an unfamiliar deduction code, ask payroll to explain it rather than assuming it’s correct.
- Check YTD totals. These should increase by roughly the same amount each pay period unless your hours, rate, or deductions changed.
Warning Signs Worth Catching Early
Common warning signs include missing or incorrect overtime pay, a deduction that doesn’t match what you signed up for, or a YTD total that doesn’t grow the way you’d expect based on your regular paycheck. Catching these early usually means a quick correction. Catching them at tax time, however, means untangling months of records.
Employer Responsibilities Around Pay Stubs
No federal law requires employers to issue pay stubs. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to keep accurate payroll records, but the actual requirement to provide a stub to employees comes from state law, not federal law.
State requirements vary significantly, and several states have updated their electronic pay stub rules recently, so a general answer isn’t reliable for every situation. Some states require a written or printable stub every pay period. Others only require that employees have access to their pay information on request, and a handful have no requirement at all. Because these rules keep changing, check your specific state’s labor department for current requirements rather than relying on a general list.
Employers must generally keep payroll records for at least three years under the FLSA, and the IRS recommends four years for employment tax records specifically. For a broader overview of pay stub contents and legal context, see FRIDAY’s guide to understanding pay stubs.
A Worked Example: Reading a Real Pay Stub
Consider a nine-person dental practice where a dental hygienist earning $22 an hour works 76 regular hours and 4 overtime hours in one biweekly pay period.
| Field | Value |
| Regular pay | 76 hrs x $22.00 = $1,672.00 |
| Overtime pay | 4 hrs x $33.00 = $132.00 |
| Gross pay | $1,804.00 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | -$111.85 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | -$26.16 |
| Federal income tax (est.) | -$145.00 |
| Health insurance (pre-tax) | -$60.00 |
| Net pay | ~$1,460.99 |
To read this stub correctly, first confirm that 76 regular and 4 overtime hours match her actual schedule. Then check that the $60 health insurance deduction matches her enrollment, and that gross pay reflects her correct hourly rate before moving on to net pay. This example is illustrative, using round figures for clarity rather than an actual FRIDAY customer’s pay stub.
Why FRIDAY Makes Small Business Payroll Simple
Most pay stub confusion comes from unclear formatting, not complicated math. FRIDAY generates a clear, itemized pay stub automatically with every payroll run, showing gross pay, every deduction, net pay, and year-to-date totals in a consistent layout employees can check in seconds. Employees can access current and past pay stubs anytime through self-service, without waiting on a request to HR.
If you’re setting up payroll for the first time, FRIDAY’s guide to running payroll for a small business covers the full process, from calculating gross pay through issuing net pay.
FAQs
How much tax comes out of a $300 paycheck?
For illustration, a $300 gross paycheck would have roughly $18.60 withheld for Social Security (6.2%) and $4.35 for Medicare (1.45%), plus federal and state income tax based on your W-4 and filing status. Because the exact federal and state amounts vary by individual, treat this as an estimate rather than a fixed figure.
How do I know if my pay stub is correct?
Compare your hours worked and pay rate against your own records, confirm each deduction matches something you authorized, and check that your year-to-date totals are increasing consistently. If something looks off, ask your payroll department to explain the specific line before assuming it’s an error.
How do I read my YTD pay stub totals?
Year-to-date totals show your cumulative earnings and deductions for the calendar year, not just the current pay period. They should grow by a consistent amount each pay period and should match the totals on your W-2 at tax time.
Is there a visual way to understand my pay stub?
Yes. Most pay stubs follow the same layout: identifying information at the top, gross pay and hours in the middle, deductions itemized below that, and net pay at the bottom, with year-to-date totals typically shown in a separate column or section.
What should I do if my pay stub doesn’t match my hours or pay rate?
Contact your payroll department as soon as you notice the discrepancy, and bring your own timesheet or schedule records for comparison. Most errors are simple to correct if caught within the same pay period, before they carry into your YTD totals.
Disclaimer: All information on or distributed by this site is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Consult a licensed CPA, EA, or employment attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
Pincus Schiff is a payroll software specialist at Friday App, where he helps businesses simplify payroll, stay compliant, and automate their workflows. He writes about payroll best practices, compliance, and the latest in workforce technology.
