What do you do with your pay stub each payday? Many people toss it away without much thought, but this is a big mistake!
Your pay stub contains plenty of fascinating information about your earnings and financial information. Plus, if you’ve been paid the incorrect amount, you can catch this by reading your pay stub carefully.
Do you understand what your pay sub is all about? If not, keep reading to learn more about how to read your pay stub—and why it’s important.
Table of Contents
Total Amount Paid
The first feature that you’ll notice on your pay stub template is the total amount of money paid. This will generally be the amount of money you earned during this pay period, minus any taxes and deductions.
If you work in a salaried role, you’re likely to get paid the same amount each week. However, for hourly employees, you’ll want to check out how much you were paid, to ensure it matches your records and is correct.
Hours Worked
Another key number on your pay stub is the number of hours you worked. This should include your total amount of billable hours, along with any overtime or hours eligible for additional bonus pay.
If you’re an employer, it’s essential to make sure each employee’s pay stub is accurate, so staff are paid the right amount. You can make the process faster by using a pay stub maker to create templates for each pay run.
Tax and Withholdings
Your pay stub will also include a breakdown of all of your taxes and withholdings. Generally, most companies will withhold both state and federal tax, so it helps to know the difference between both.
Although it can be painful to see so much money withheld from your pay, it’s actually a good thing, since it makes it much easier when tax time comes around. If money wasn’t held back each week, you’d face a huge tax bill at the end up of the year.
The pay stub will also indicate any deductions from your pay, which might include health insurance or retirement plans.
Leave Balances
Check out your leave balance on your pay stub, as it indicates how many days of annual and sick leave you’ve used throughout the year. It will also show how many days you have left.
This can help with planning purposes, so you know how much leave you have left to use for a vacation or a medical procedure.
Understand Your Pay Stub With These Tips
Your pay stub is a more interesting document than you may have first realized! Next payday, use the tips above to read over your pay stub and ensure everything looks correct.
If anything looks off, speak to your manager or your company’s HR team, as they should be able to correct any errors. Get started today and take your pay stubs seriously!
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