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Choose a modern paystub design, then preview or generate when your details are complete.

Template Fields

Select a bank or Enter your own (not auto-generated). Account Type is Checking or Savings only. Check / account numbers can use Auto Generate.

Add people to this paystub

Select company and employee, or company and contractor. Document type is set by which worker you choose.

Employee Basic Info

Drives state tax, SDI, PFML, and other payroll rules. Can differ from the employee mailing address state.

The employee mailing address state differs from the payroll tax state. Verify this is intentional before finalizing.

ON fills This Period and YTD from payday (same as live production). Choose how the year starts in How should YTD start? below.

Optional. Off by default — modern USA stubs omit allowances unless you enable them.

Used only to derive salary overtime rates.

Payday sets the tax year. Choose how YTD starts in the box below — this week's pay is not automatically treated as the full year.

How should year-to-date (YTD) start?

Choose Auto Calculate for the original automatic YTD estimate, or choose a ledger setup method when you have real earlier payroll. Only one method can be active, so prior pay cannot be counted twice.

How to fill in this setup

Choose Auto Calculate when you want PaystubX to estimate YTD for you. If you have real earlier payroll, use one of the other three methods instead.

Which method to pick

  • Use PaystubX Auto Calculate — no manual YTD setup; estimates from the current pay, frequency and pay date.
  • Carry forward YTD balances — you have the totals. Quickest.
  • Import previous payroll history — you want every past payday listed.
  • Start at zero — you have not paid this worker yet this year.

Auto Calculate is an estimate, not imported payroll history. For entered balances, Net = Gross − employee taxes and deductions.

View more — exact figures, example and compliance notes

Where these numbers come from

Open the year-to-date payroll summary by employee from your previous provider, or the YTD column on the employee's last pay stub. Use only payroll run under this same employer/legal entity, from the start of this calendar year through the actual check/payment date of the last payroll processed by the previous provider. That payment date — not the work-period end date — is your cutoff date. Do not add wages from another employer the worker previously worked for.

Choosing between the methods

  • Auto Calculate keeps the original PaystubX behavior. It estimates YTD as the current payroll repeated through the selected pay date and writes no opening or historical ledger records.
  • Carry forward keeps stub and ledger YTD right without recreating each payday, and works best when you have the tax components too.
  • Import history uses actual payroll-by-payroll records. Never enter the same amounts as both opening balances and history.
  • Start at zero applies per employer — a worker's pay from a different employer does not belong in this employer's ledger.

Worked example

Today is Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Here is what each choice means.

1. Auto Calculate — PaystubX estimates it

If the current monthly payroll is $2,000 and this is the 8th monthly pay period, PaystubX estimates $16,000 gross YTD. Nothing is entered manually and no prior ledger record is created.

2. Switching from another provider — type the totals once

  • Previous payroll cutoff date 08/14/2026 (their last payday)
  • First PaystubX payroll date 08/21/2026 (your first payday)
  • Gross YTD 20,000.00
  • Taxes & deductions YTD 5,000.00
  • Net pay YTD 15,000.00  (20,000 − 5,000 — leave blank and PaystubX fills it)
  • Employer-paid amounts YTD: 1,530.00 for employer Social Security and Medicare in this simplified example if all 20,000 is Social Security/Medicare taxable; add actual FUTA and state unemployment from the prior report (reporting only; never subtract from employee net)

Your next payroll of $2,000 then shows 22,000.00 gross YTD on the stub.

3. Importing history — list the old paydays instead

Same worker, same $20,000, but each earlier payday gets its own row: 08/07/2026 and 08/14/2026, $10,000 gross and $2,500 deductions each. The rows add up to the same 20,000 gross and 5,000 deductions, so do not also fill the totals in method 1 — the pay would count twice.

4. Starting fresh — leave everything blank

If this employer has paid this worker nothing this year, skip the totals and the history. Your first PaystubX payday 08/21/2026 of $2,000 is the whole year so far, so the stub reads 2,000.00 gross YTD and grows from there.

Records and filings

For payroll-tax filings, also retain prior Forms 941, state/local returns, tax-payment records and quarter-to-date detail. Saving a PaystubX opening balance does not by itself transfer or prove which provider is responsible for prior tax filings, payments or year-end forms.

How should PaystubX initialize your payroll ledger?

Use PaystubX Auto CalculatePick this if you do not want to enter earlier payroll or starting balances. PaystubX turns Auto Calculator ON and estimates YTD from this payroll amount, the pay frequency and the pay date.

Example: if this payroll is $2,000 and the pay date is in the 8th monthly pay period, the estimated gross YTD is $16,000. This is a convenience estimate; it does not recreate the worker's actual earlier payroll or add opening/history records. If this worker already has finalized PaystubX ledger history, those actual records stay authoritative.

I'm switching from another payroll providerPick this if this worker was already paid this year by another payroll provider and you have the totals. You type the year-so-far totals once and PaystubX adds every new payroll on top.

Example: the old provider's report says $20,000 paid before tax so far, with $5,000 taken off in taxes and deductions. You type those two numbers, then your next PaystubX payroll of $2,000 makes the stub read $22,000 gross YTD.

Import my previous payroll historyPick this if you want every earlier payday listed one by one instead of one total. You add a row per payday — date, gross, taxes and deductions — copied from the old provider.

Example: two earlier paydays of $10,000 each add up to the same $20,000 gross YTD. Use this or the totals above, never both, or the same pay counts twice.

I'm starting payroll for the first time this yearPick this if this employer has not paid this worker at all this year — a new company, a new hire, or your very first payroll this year. Leave the boxes blank; there is nothing to carry over.

Example: today is Tuesday, August 18, 2026, and nobody has paid this worker this year. Your first PaystubX payday 08/21/2026 of $2,000 is the whole year so far, so the stub reads $2,000 gross YTD. Pay from a different employer does not belong here.

Previous payroll cutoff dateThe actual check/payment date of the last payroll this same employer processed with the previous provider — not the work-period end date. Imported payroll must be on or before this date; the first PaystubX payday must be after it, preventing the same payroll from being counted twice.

First PaystubX payroll dateThe actual check/payment date of your first payroll run inside PaystubX — not the work-period end date. It must be after the cutoff date and builds on the balances you enter here.

Enter YTD totals from the previous provider through the cutoff date. Tap beside a label to see exactly what belongs in it. The tip opens over the form — nothing moves — and closes with Hide, Esc, or a tap outside.

Net pay YTD should be 0.00

Gross YTDTotal gross earnings paid to this worker from the start of this calendar year through the cutoff date — regular pay, overtime, bonus, commission and other taxable pay. Copy it from the year-to-date payroll summary by employee from your previous provider, or the YTD column on the employee's last pay stub.

Taxes & deductions YTDEverything withheld from the worker so far: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and state or local income tax, plus pre-tax and post-tax deductions such as 401(k) or health premiums. Do not include employer-paid taxes here.

Net pay YTDTotal take-home pay so far. It must equal Gross YTD − Taxes & deductions YTD, which is how you prove the opening balances tie back to your previous provider's report. Leave it blank and PaystubX fills the difference for you.

Employer taxes YTDEmployer-paid amounts so far: employer Social Security and Medicare, FUTA, and state unemployment. Stored for reporting only — it never reduces the worker's net pay and is not part of the Gross − deductions check.

USA employer-tax and taxable-wage starting balances

Copy actual YTD values from the prior provider. FUTA/SUI taxable wages prevent annual wage bases from restarting.

Employer taxes and taxable wagesOptional, and only needed when annual caps are already partly used. Employer Social Security and Medicare normally match the employee amounts. Taxable wages used is the pay already charged against each annual wage base — read Social Security and Medicare wages from the prior provider's YTD summary, and FUTA/SUI taxable wages from their quarterly tax report. Filling these stops the wage bases from restarting at zero on your first PaystubX payroll.

Add each prior payroll (pay date / gross / deductions / net). Pay dates must be on or before the cutoff date, and leaving Net blank stores gross minus deductions. These become historical ledger rows, not PaystubX-generated pay.

Each prior payrollEnter one row per payday exactly as your previous provider paid it, oldest first, using the year-to-date payroll summary by employee from your previous provider, or the YTD column on the employee's last pay stub. Each row becomes a historical ledger entry rather than PaystubX-generated pay, so the totals below should match your old provider's year-to-date figures.

Gross 0.00 · Deductions 0.00 · Net 0.00

Start Fresh — $0 YTD. Previous payroll amounts will not be included. Do not use this if you are switching payroll providers mid-year.

Auto Calculate selected. Nothing else to enter here. PaystubX will use the current pay, pay frequency and pay date to estimate YTD when there is no saved ledger history. It does not create earlier payroll records; actual finalized PaystubX records still take priority.

Earning Statement
Total Gross
YTD Total Gross

Tap the padlock to edit a deduction label.

1099 contractor: payers generally do not withhold Social Security, Medicare, federal income tax, or state payroll tax from nonemployee compensation. Federal Backup Withholding (24%) appears only when the contractor’s W-9 / backup-withholding setting requires it. Use Add Deduction for agreed adjustments.

Taxes and deductions
YTD Deductions

Note: Deduction and tax calculations (including YTD) are automatically generated by the system while the Auto Calculator above is ON. Set it to OFF if you'd like to turn off the automatic math and input your own numbers instead.

Net Pay
YTD Net pay
Employer only · not deducted from employee pay

Employer Taxes & Payroll Cost

Optional

You may leave this section unchanged if it does not apply or you are unsure. It is for employer payroll-cost planning only and does not change employee take-home pay.

Employer Payroll Taxes: N/A — Independent Contractor
Employer-assigned state unemployment rate — enter the rate from your state tax-rate notice (e.g. 2.70). Rates are never assumed.
Enter payroll details, then refresh.
Employer liabilityThis payrollYTDTaxable wages
Total Employer Taxes$0.00$0.00
Total Employer Cost$0.00Gross pay + employer taxes

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