What Information Belongs on a Pay Stub?
A useful pay stub explains how the employer moved from the employee’s verified earnings to the amount paid for one period. The exact required fields can vary, but the document should remain traceable to payroll records.
Employer, employee, and period details
Identify the employer and employee clearly enough to connect the statement with the correct payroll record. Include the payment date and the beginning and ending dates of the period covered.
Limit sensitive identifiers to what is necessary. PayRecordly accepts only the last four digits of an employee Social Security number and masks them in the document; an employer should still follow its own privacy and access-control requirements.
Earnings and the wage basis
Show the wage basis and the earnings that produced gross pay. For an hourly worker, that generally means the applicable hours and rates; for a salaried worker, it means the salary amount allocated to the actual pay frequency plus documented adjustments.
List overtime, bonuses, commissions, or other additions separately when they are part of the period. The labels should match the employer’s payroll records rather than hide unlike items in one total.
Taxes, deductions, net pay, and YTD
Itemize federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and reviewed state or local withholding. Show benefit deductions or other authorized reductions with labels that a reviewer can reconcile.
Net pay is the result after deductions, while year-to-date figures place the current statement in the calendar-year sequence. Validate both current and cumulative amounts before delivery.
Sources reviewed
Primary government material used to verify the factual guidance on this page:
- Fact Sheet #21: FLSA Recordkeeping RequirementsU.S. Department of Labor
- Publication 15 (2026), Employer’s Tax GuideInternal Revenue Service
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