1. Company block with phone and EIN
The business behind the pay: its name and address, plus the EIN and phone if you add them.
Pay stub design
Basic Pay Stub Template: the Standard Design
The plainest design we have. One header row, one table, one summary at the bottom. If you need a clean stub that anyone can read, start here.
- Style
- Standard
- Type
- Pay Stub
- Colors
- 6 included
Design
How the Standard is laid out
At the top: your business name, address, phone and EIN on the left, and the title on the right with the stub number, how often you’re paid and the filing status. Under that, a single ruled row lists the employee and their address, the last four digits of the SSN, the pay period and the pay date.
Then one wide table. Pay lines (description, rate, hours, this period) fill the left side; taxes and deductions fill the right. Each line shows its year-to-date figure just below it. Gross pay and total deductions close each side, and a small grid at the foot sets this period’s gross, deductions and net pay next to the same three figures for the year.
Order
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
Good for
Who picks the Standard
People who want a stub with no learning curve: a first stub, a single salary line, or hourly pay with some overtime. It is the easiest design to check by eye, and it prints cleanly on a plain office printer.
In short
The Standard as a basic pay stub template
A basic pay stub template should show who paid, who was paid, the dates, the pay, what came out and what was left. The Standard design does exactly that, in the order most people expect from a payroll stub, and nothing more.
Basic doesn’t mean missing pieces. The masked SSN, stub number, pay frequency, filing status and year-to-date totals are all there. They just sit in fewer boxes.
See also: every design · several stubs at once · how taxes are worked out · pricing
Block by block
Reading each part of the Standard
2. Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status
The document’s name and its stub number. Number stubs in order, so each copy can be referred to.
3. Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date
The pay period and the pay date. The pay date should match the day the money landed in the account.
4. Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line
Pay lines and deductions face each other, so what was earned and what came out read across the same rows.
5. Gross pay and total deductions
Where the lines add up: gross pay from the earnings, total deductions from the taxes and deductions. Net pay is the gap.
6. Summary grid: YTD gross, deductions and net pay beside this period’s
Running totals for the calendar year, this stub included. From one stub to the next they should rise by exactly that period’s amounts.
Where it prints
What you type, and where it lands
| What you type | Where it shows |
|---|---|
| Business 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 |
| SSN (only the last four digits print) | Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date |
| Pay period, pay date and how often you’re paid | Header row: employee and address, SSN, pay period, pay date |
| Filing status and payment method | Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status |
| Hourly rate and hours, or the salary | Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status |
| Overtime hours | Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status |
| Bonus, tips, commission and your own deductions (Extra earnings & deduction lines add-on) | Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status |
| Taxes, worked out for you | Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line |
| Year-to-date totals | Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line |
Taxes are estimated from the pay, how often you’re paid, the filing status and the state. Typing your own amounts is the Tax & W-4 withholding edits add-on. How we calculate each line.
Color
Colors for the Standard
Pick from Classic grey, Sky, Iris, Mint, Sand and Apricot. Classic grey is the starting color. A color changes only the accents; the figures and the layout stay put.
The name
A pay stub, plainly
The Standard is laid out as a pay stub, the short record that comes with each payment. Some call it a check stub or a pay slip; the facts on it are the same.
Use it for
When the Standard fits
Your first stub
Every standard part is in its usual place, so you can hold it next to an old stub and compare line by line.
One salary line
A salary prints as one earnings line with no hours. The table stays short and the year-to-date grid does the rest.
Hourly with some overtime
Regular and overtime hours print as two lines, each with its own rate and hours.
Black-and-white printing
Thin rules and plain type. Nothing is lost when the page comes off a mono printer or gets scanned.
A familiar payroll look
The Standard keeps the grid order most payroll stubs use, so nobody has to learn it.
Basic or detailed?
When a basic pay stub is enough
Pick basic when the pay is simple: one job, one rate or one salary, the usual taxes. Pick a fuller design when someone has asked for year-to-date figures in a table of their own, or when the stub has many deduction lines that need room.
- Basic is enough: one pay rate or a salary, a few deductions, a stub for your own records.
- Go fuller: a form asks for income so far this year. The Detailed Summary design gives the year its own column.
- Go fuller: many deductions or several kinds of pay. A statement design with separate tables keeps them apart.
Family
Standard vs similar designs
Same family (Classic grid): Banded Header, Boxed Rows and Dark Header. They keep the facts in the same order. What marks out the Standard: one table with earnings beside deductions, and a year-to-date grid at the foot.
Open: Banded Header · Boxed Rows · Dark Header
On paper and on screen
The grid fills the page edge to edge and holds up in black and white or on a scan. The PDF is drawn on our server, so it is the same file on any device.
Making a run of stubs? The multi-stub builder makes consecutive pay periods in this design and carries the year-to-date totals forward.
Last look
Check these before you download
- “Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status”: hours times rate matches each line, and the lines add up to gross pay.
- “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line”: each tax and deduction you expect is there once, under the right name.
- “Summary grid: YTD gross, deductions and net pay beside this period’s”: net pay is gross pay minus the deductions, and it matches the deposit.
- “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line”: the year-to-date totals include this period and rise correctly from the last stub.
- Names, addresses and dates match your own records.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping under the FLSA; IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide; IRS Publication 926, Household Employer’s Tax Guide.
Steps
Making a stub with the Standard
1
Tap “Use this design”. The builder opens with the Standard picked.
2
Type the business and the person paid. The business prints in “Company block with phone and EIN”.
3
Add the dates and the pay: hours and rate, or a salary. Overtime goes on its own line, in “Earnings Statement title, stub number, pay frequency and filing status”.
4
Look over the taxes the builder works out; they print in “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line”. Typing your own amounts is the Tax & W-4 withholding edits add-on.
5
Pick a color, read the whole preview, then pay and download the PDF.
6
Type the business name the way it shows on your bank deposit. On the Standard it is the biggest text on the page.
7
Pick the real pay frequency. It sets the tax estimate and prints in the title block.
8
Keep overtime on its own line instead of adding it to regular hours, so the rate and hours stay true.
Real pay only
The stub shows what you type
PayStubs349 turns your details into a document. It doesn’t run payroll or check your figures, so match them to your pay records before you download.
More designs
Other designs to compare
Classic grid
Top pickBanded Header
Colored label bands over the business, employee and pay facts, then one table and a year-to-date grid.
6 colors
Classic grid
Top pickBoxed Rows
Labeled boxes for every ID and date, two ledgers side by side, and a this-period and year-to-date strip.
7 colors
Classic grid
Dark Header
A dark header with the stub number in a pill, three info columns, and a solid net pay bar.
8 colors
Portrait statements
Top pickLong Statement
A letter-style statement with the address placed for a window envelope and every total at the foot.
4 colors
Portrait statements
Top pickDetailed Summary
Ruled sections for earnings, deductions and pay details, then one this-period and year-to-date summary table.
5 colors
Portrait statements
Top pickTwo-Column Summary
Employee and pay period panels, full-width tables, then matching this-period and year-to-date boxes.
8 colors
FAQ
Questions about the Standard
What does the Standard cost?
$3.49 a stub, the same as every other design. Previewing it costs nothing.
Does the Standard print year-to-date totals?
Yes, in “Earnings and deductions side by side, YTD under each line”. Make several stubs in a row and the totals carry forward.
Can a contractor use the Standard?
Contractor / 1099 mode works on every design and turns off withholding. For a payee heading that reads Contractor, pick Side Rail.
If I fill in the Standard, can I switch designs later?
Yes. Your details stay in the builder, so you can try other designs with your own numbers before you download.
Is the Standard the same as a simple pay stub template?
Yes. Basic and simple mean the same thing here: one table and the standard lines, nothing extra.
Is the Standard good for a household employee, like a nanny?
It works well: one rate, one set of taxes and a clear net pay. The builder estimates the usual withholding. Household employment tax rules are in IRS Publication 926, so check them for your situation.
Start with the Standard
Switch designs any time before you download; your details stay.