1. Title, stub number and logo or wordmark
The document’s name and its stub number. Number stubs in order, so each copy can be referred to.
Earnings statement design
Payroll Statement Template: Business Letter
A calm, letter-style statement. Your logo leads the page, the people and dates sit in two neat blocks, and there is white space around every number.
- Layout
- Portrait statements
- Type
- Earnings Statement
- Colors
- 8 included
Design
How the Business Letter is laid out
It reads like company letter paper. The title and stub number sit top left in the accent color; your logo sits top right, or your business name as a wordmark if you don’t upload one. Below that, two blocks face each other: Issued to (employee name, ID, masked SSN and address) and Issued by (business address, phone and EIN).
One soft, rounded header row holds the pay details: period, pay date, frequency, filing status and how it was paid. Earnings and taxes and deductions follow as two full-width tables on the same columns, each ending on a single rule and a total. Net pay closes the page at the bottom right, with year-to-date net pay under it.
Order
Top to bottom
- Title, stub number and logo or wordmark
- Issued to: name, ID, masked SSN, address
- Issued by: company address, phone, EIN
- Pay details under a rounded header row
- Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD
- Taxes and deductions table with the total
- Net pay with YTD, and a memo note
Good for
Who picks the Business Letter
Small businesses that want the stub to look like it came from them: logo first, plenty of space, nothing crowded. It also suits a stub with many deduction lines, because the rounded headers keep long tables tidy.
In short
The Business Letter as a payroll statement template
A payroll statement template is the employer-side name for the pay stub: a statement of one payroll run for one person. The Business Letter gives it the look of a business letter, so it sits well with other papers from your company.
All the payroll facts are still there: who issued it, who it was issued to, the period, every pay line, every tax and deduction, net pay and the year to date.
See also: every design · several stubs at once · how taxes are worked out · pricing
Block by block
Reading each part of the Business Letter
2. Issued to: name, ID, masked SSN, address
The person paid: name, address, an employee ID if there is one, and only the last four digits of the SSN.
3. Issued by: company address, phone, EIN
The business behind the pay: its name and address, plus the EIN and phone if you add them.
4. Pay details under a rounded header row
The pay period and the pay date. The pay date should match the day the money landed in the account.
5. Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD
Each kind of pay on its own line. Hours times rate should equal each amount, and the lines add up to gross pay.
6. Taxes and deductions table with the total
What came out: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state tax where it applies, then any other deductions by name.
7. Net pay with YTD, and a memo note
Net pay, the money actually paid: gross pay minus every tax and deduction. Match it to the deposit.
Where it prints
What you type, and where it lands
| What you type | Where it shows |
|---|---|
| Business name, address, EIN, phone and logo | Issued by: company address, phone, EIN |
| SSN (only the last four digits print) | Issued to: name, ID, masked SSN, address |
| Pay period, pay date and how often you’re paid | Pay details under a rounded header row |
| Filing status and payment method | Pay details under a rounded header row |
| Hourly rate and hours, or the salary | Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD |
| Overtime hours | Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD |
| Bonus, tips, commission and your own deductions (Extra earnings & deduction lines add-on) | Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD |
| Taxes, worked out for you | Taxes and deductions table with the total |
| Year-to-date totals | Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD |
| A memo | Net pay with YTD, and a memo note |
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 Business Letter
Pick from Midnight, Harbor blue, Lagoon, Spruce, Plum, Brick, Slate grey and Black & white. Midnight is the starting color. A color changes only the accents; the figures and the layout stay put.
The name
Earnings statement or pay stub?
The Business Letter is drawn as an earnings statement: a titled, formal page. It holds the same record as a pay stub: the business, the person paid, the period, the pay, each tax and deduction, net pay and the year so far.
Use it for
When the Business Letter fits
Documents that lead with a logo
The logo takes the top right corner, the place a reader looks first on letter paper.
Long deduction lists
Rounded header rows and shared columns keep many lines readable.
Formal paperwork
Issued-to and issued-by blocks make the two parties clear, the way a business letter does.
Checking top to bottom
Each section of the Business Letter runs full width, so you can check it line by line against your records.
Payroll statements
What a payroll statement holds
A payroll statement is one person’s slice of a payroll run. It lists gross pay, each tax withheld (federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, plus state and local taxes where they apply), other deductions and net pay, usually with year-to-date totals.
Employers who run payroll also keep records for each worker. The Department of Labor’s recordkeeping fact sheet lists what those records hold and says payroll records are kept for at least three years. The statement you hand over is the worker’s copy of part of that record.
Family
Business Letter vs similar designs
Same family (Portrait statements): Long Statement, Detailed Summary, Two-Column Summary and Striped Rows. They keep the facts in the same order. What marks out the Business Letter: letter-style: title and stub number top left, logo top right, then issued-to and issued-by blocks.
Open: Long Statement · Detailed Summary · Two-Column Summary · Striped Rows
On paper and on screen
Every table runs full width, so it scrolls well on a phone and prints on one portrait page for a normal pay period. The PDF is made from the same layout as the preview, so what you check is what you get.
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 table with rate, hours, current and YTD”: hours times rate matches each line, and the lines add up to gross pay.
- “Taxes and deductions table with the total”: each tax and deduction you expect is there once, under the right name.
- “Net pay with YTD, and a memo note”: net pay is gross pay minus the deductions, and it matches the deposit.
- “Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD”: 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.
Steps
Making a stub with the Business Letter
1
Tap “Use this design”. The builder opens with the Business Letter picked.
2
Type the business and the person paid. The business prints in “Issued by: company address, phone, EIN”.
3
Add the dates and the pay: hours and rate, or a salary. Overtime goes on its own line, in “Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD”.
4
Look over the taxes the builder works out; they print in “Taxes and deductions table with the total”. 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
Upload a logo with a clear background. Without one, the business name prints as a wordmark in the same spot.
7
Fill in the EIN and phone if you have them; they print under Issued by.
8
Read the Issued to block first in the preview. The name and masked SSN there should match the employee’s records.
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
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
Portrait statements
Striped Rows
Title and dates on the left, business and employee in a tinted box, striped tables and a pay summary.
8 colors
Portrait statements
Ruled Statement
A plain title, then ruled sections for earnings, taxes and deductions, each with its total, and a shaded net payment row.
8 colors
Portrait statements
Grid Cells
A centered title, labeled details in two columns, a tinted pay period band, and each line label in a soft cell.
8 colors
FAQ
Questions about the Business Letter
What does the Business Letter cost?
$3.49 a stub, the same as every other design. Previewing it costs nothing.
Does the Business Letter print year-to-date totals?
Yes, in “Earnings table with rate, hours, current and YTD”. Make several stubs in a row and the totals carry forward.
Can a contractor use the Business Letter?
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 Business Letter, 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 a payroll statement the same as a pay stub?
Yes, for one employee and one pay date. Some people use “payroll statement” for a report of a whole payroll run; the Business Letter is the per-person version.
What prints if I don’t have a logo?
Your business name, set as a wordmark in the top right corner.
Start with the Business Letter
Switch designs any time before you download; your details stay.