Free Pay Stub Template (Excel, CSV) — With Built-In Calculations

What is a pay stub?

A pay stub — also called an earnings statement, wage statement, or check stub — is the document that comes with (or replaces) a paycheck and shows exactly how an employee's pay was calculated for a given period. It lists gross pay, every tax and deduction taken out, and the resulting net pay, plus running year-to-date (YTD) totals so both employer and employee can track earnings over the year.

A pay stub is different from a paycheck: the paycheck is the actual payment (a check or a direct deposit), while the pay stub is the itemized record that explains it. Employees commonly need pay stubs as proof of income for loan applications, apartment leases, and other financial paperwork.

What should a pay stub include?

Whatever the layout, a complete pay stub needs the same core information: employer details (company name, address, contact info), employee details (name, address, employee ID, and Social Security number — most templates only show the last 4 digits for privacy), the reporting period and pay date, hours worked and hourly rate (with overtime broken out separately), any bonuses or commissions, a full deductions breakdown (federal tax, state tax, Social Security, Medicare, and any other withholdings), and the total net pay.

Almost every serious template — including the ones we reviewed from payroll and template sites — uses side-by-side "Current" and "Year-to-date" columns for gross pay, each deduction line, and net pay. That's the convention our free template follows too.

How to fill out the free pay stub template

1. Download the Excel or CSV file below and add your company details (name, address, phone/EIN) at the top.

2. Fill in the employee's name, ID, address, and the last 4 digits of their Social Security number, plus the pay period start/end and the pay date.

3. In the Earnings table, enter the hourly rate and hours worked for Regular and Overtime pay, and any Bonus amount. In the Excel version, Current Regular/Overtime pay (rate × hours) and Gross Pay calculate automatically.

4. In the Deductions table, Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) calculate automatically from gross pay. Enter Federal income tax, State income tax, and any other withholdings manually — these depend on the employee's W-4 and state tax tables, so there's no universal formula for them.

5. Net Pay (gross pay minus total deductions) calculates automatically for both the current period and year-to-date.

2026 FICA rates used in this template

FICA is two flat statutory taxes on wages. Social Security is 6.2% of gross pay up to the annual Social Security wage base (an income cap set each year by the SSA — check the current figure on the SSA contribution and benefit base page linked below, since wages above the cap stop owing Social Security tax for the rest of the year). Medicare is 1.45% of all wages with no cap, plus an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly), per IRS guidance.

This template applies the flat 6.2% and 1.45% rates automatically to gross pay. If an employee's year-to-date wages are near or above the Social Security wage base, or above the Additional Medicare Tax threshold, adjust the Social Security and Medicare lines manually to reflect the cap.

Is a pay stub legally required?

There's no federal law requiring US employers to issue pay stubs, but most states have their own rules. Broadly, states fall into a few categories: no requirement at all, access states (employer must make a pay stub available, paper or electronic), access & print states (a written or printable copy must be available), an opt-in state where paper is the default unless the employee agrees to electronic (Hawaii), and opt-out states where electronic is the default unless the employee requests paper (for example Delaware, Minnesota, Oregon).

Because requirements vary by state — and change over time — always confirm your state's current pay stub law before relying on any template for compliance. This page and template are for general recordkeeping, not legal advice.

Pay stub vs. paycheck vs. invoice

A paycheck is the payment itself (a physical check or a direct deposit); the pay stub is the itemized statement that explains how that payment was calculated. They're often issued together but aren't the same document — a pay stub can also exist on its own when an employee is paid by direct deposit.

An invoice is different again: independent contractors typically bill clients with invoices, not pay stubs, since they aren't on a company's payroll. A contractor-style earnings statement (sometimes called a 1099 pay stub) can still be useful for a contractor's own recordkeeping, but it isn't the same as the Form 1099-NEC filed with the IRS.

Excel vs. CSV: which download should I use?

The Excel (.xlsx) version is the fully-formatted template with the calculations described above (gross pay, Social Security, Medicare, net pay) built in as live formulas — use this if you're editing in Excel, Google Sheets, or another spreadsheet app.

The CSV version is a plain, formula-free file with the same fields and one example pay period filled in — useful if you just need to import the structure into other payroll or accounting software, or you want a lightweight starting point without spreadsheet formulas.

Related tools

Want to check the net pay figures you enter on the template? Use our Paycheck Calculator for a full per-paycheck breakdown, or our Salary to Hourly Calculator to convert an annual salary into the hourly rate this template asks for.