Frequently Asked Questions

A pay stub is the document that shows how a worker's pay was calculated for one pay period. It lists gross earnings, every tax withheld, every deduction taken out and net pay, the amount the worker actually receives. Most stubs also show year-to-date totals. For a full walkthrough, read our guide on what a paystub is and how it works.

Enter your company details, add the employee or contractor information, then enter pay rate, hours and pay dates. Our generator calculates taxes, deductions and net pay automatically and shows you a full preview. When everything looks right, complete your order and download the PDF. Our step-by-step guide to making a paystub covers each field in detail.

You will need the company name, address and EIN, the worker's name, address and the last four digits of their SSN, their pay type (hourly or salary), pay rate, hours worked, pay frequency and the pay period dates. If the worker was paid earlier in the year through another system, have their prior year-to-date figures ready so the totals continue correctly.

No. Online Paystub runs entirely in your browser on desktop, tablet or phone. There is nothing to install and no account required to create a pay stub.

Most customers finish in a few minutes. The time depends mainly on how much information you need to enter for the first stub. Once you know your numbers, repeat stubs go faster.

Yes. Enter the pay period dates you need and the generator applies the correct tax rules for that period, including prior year-to-date amounts if you provide them.

You can add pre-tax deductions such as retirement contributions, health insurance premiums, HSA and FSA contributions, along with post-tax deductions and custom line items. Each deduction is applied in the correct order so gross pay, taxable wages and net pay stay consistent.

Yes. Choose the contractor option and the generator produces a 1099-style pay stub without automatic tax withholding, since contractors pay their own taxes. Learn more in our guide on creating paystubs for independent contractors.

You can create pay stubs for as many workers as you need, one document at a time. Each one is priced separately.

Your pay stub is delivered as a print-ready PDF that you can download, save, print or email.

Right away. The PDF is available to download as soon as your payment is complete and a copy is sent to the email address you enter at checkout.

You can make unlimited edits before checkout. Every change recalculates taxes, deductions and net pay instantly. If you notice an error after your purchase, contact our support team and we will help you correct it.

Pay stubs are one of the most common documents used to verify income for apartments, loans and benefit applications, because they show current earnings, pay frequency and year-to-date totals in one place. Whether a specific document is accepted is always up to the organization reviewing it.

Filling in the form and previewing your W-2 is free. You pay $9.99 per form only when you download the finished PDF. There is no subscription.

The generator currently produces the tax year 2025 form, which is the latest year with a filing deadline that has passed. The 2026 form, with its new Box 14a and 14b layout, is due to employees by February 1, 2027.

Yes, one employee at a time. Complete and download a W-2 for the first employee, then start the next one. A bulk mode is planned.

Yes. Social Security tax is calculated at 6.2% of wages up to the annual wage base and Medicare at 1.45%. You can overwrite any box so the form matches your payroll records.

Yes. Take the year-to-date totals from the last pay stub of the year: taxable wages for Box 1, federal income tax for Box 2, Social Security and Medicare for Boxes 4 and 6. Enter them and the form is built around those numbers.

A print-ready PDF with six copies of your W-2: Copy A, Copy 1, Copy B, Copy C, Copy 2 and Copy D. Each one is labelled with who it is for. The file is available right after checkout and is also sent to the email address you enter.

Employees attach Copy B to a paper federal return or enter its figures when e-filing. Employers send Copy A to the Social Security Administration rather than the IRS. The SSA accepts only e-filed reports or the official red-ink form. Use SSA Business Services Online for that step.

Check every box in the free preview first. If something is still wrong, contact support with your order details. For a W-2 that was already filed with the SSA, the correction is made on Form W-2c.

The employee completes a W-4 so the employer knows how much federal income tax to withhold. The employer completes a W-2 after the year ends to report what was actually paid and withheld.

Filling in the form and previewing it is free. You pay $9.99 per form only when you download the PDF. There is no subscription.

$2,000. A 1099-NEC is required when payments to a nonemployee for services total $2,000 or more in 2026. For payments made in 2025 the threshold was $600.

The generator currently produces the calendar year 2026 form on the December 2026 revision. Forms for 2025 payments were due on February 2, 2026.

Yes, one contractor at a time. Complete and download the first form, then start the next. A bulk mode is planned.

Pay for services from someone who is not your employee: fees, commissions and similar payments to freelancers and independent contractors. No payroll tax is withheld from it.

Give the recipient copy to your contractor and keep one for your records. Copy A for the IRS should be e-filed, for example through the free IRIS Taxpayer Portal, because a Copy A printed from a PDF cannot be scanned by the IRS.

No 1099-NEC is required for 2026 payments below $2,000 unless you withheld federal income tax under the backup withholding rules. The contractor still reports the income. You can create the form for your own records.

Yes. Ask each contractor for a Form W-9 before you pay them. It gives you the legal name and taxpayer identification number that go on the 1099-NEC.

Check every field in the free preview first. If a downloaded form is wrong, contact support with your order details. A form already filed with the IRS is fixed by filing a corrected 1099-NEC.

No. Since tax year 2020 pay for services by a nonemployee goes on Form 1099-NEC. The 1099-MISC is for rent, prizes, royalties and the other payments listed above.

$2,000 for most boxes, including rent, prizes and other income and medical payments. Royalties are reported from $10 and gross proceeds paid to an attorney from $600. For 2025 payments the general threshold was $600.

No. Personal payments are not reportable. The form is required only when the rent is paid in the course of a trade or business, for example for an office or a shop.

Yes. If you paid someone rent and also paid them for services, the rent goes on a 1099-MISC and the fees go on a 1099-NEC. Each form is created separately.

Box 7 used to hold nonemployee compensation. That moved to the 1099-NEC in 2020. Box 7 is now a checkbox for direct sales of $5,000 or more of consumer products for resale.

Give the recipient copy to the payee and keep one for your records. Copy A for the IRS should be e-filed or sent on the official red-ink form, because a Copy A printed from a PDF cannot be scanned.

The generator currently produces the calendar year 2026 form on the December 2026 revision. That revision must not be used for earlier years.

Every document is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If something is wrong, contact us within 30 days of your purchase. We first correct or regenerate the document at no charge. If we cannot resolve the issue, we refund your payment in full. The full terms are in our Refund Policy.

Email [email protected] or use our contact form with your order number and the email address you used at checkout. Tell us what went wrong so we can offer a fix first. We respond within 2 business days.

We issue approved refunds immediately to your original payment method. Your bank or card issuer typically takes 5 to 10 business days to show it on your statement.

When your document was not delivered within 24 hours and a resend did not solve it, when you were charged twice for the same order, when a technical error stopped us from generating your document, when we confirmed a calculation error we could not correct or when the correction we offered did not resolve your issue.

Preferences about design or layout that were visible in the free preview, errors in the information you entered (we correct those for free), documents you no longer need or that a third party chose not to accept and orders that violate our Terms of Service.

A mistake in the details you typed is not grounds for a refund, but you do not need one. Tell us what to change and we will correct the document at no charge.

Please contact us first. A card dispute can take weeks to resolve. We can usually fix the problem or refund you within 2 business days.

We accept major credit and debit cards, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Payments go through a secure, PCI-compliant payment processor.

Each pay stub costs $6.99. There is no subscription, no plan and no recurring charge. You pay per document.

Each W-2, 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC form costs $9.99. As with pay stubs, the preview is free and you pay only when you download.

Building and previewing your pay stub is free. You can fill in every field, review the calculations and see the finished document without paying. Payment is required only to download the final PDF.

No. Every document is a one-time purchase. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel.

No. You can complete your order as a guest.

Every pay stub is the same flat $6.99, whether you order one or several.

Yes. Every page is served over an encrypted SSL connection and payments are handled by a PCI-compliant payment processor, so your card details never touch our servers.

Federal income tax is calculated using the methods in IRS Publication 15-T, based on filing status, pay frequency and the current Form W-4. Social Security is applied at 6.2% up to the annual wage base and Medicare at 1.45%, with the Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% once year-to-date wages pass the IRS threshold. State tax rules are built in for all 50 states. Accuracy also depends on the information you enter, so review the preview carefully before you pay.

Yes. Our tax logic follows IRS Publication 15-T, the current Form W-4 method and official state tax tables. Every update is tested against payroll scenarios across all 50 states before it goes live. Our guides and calculation references are prepared and reviewed by our editorial team, including Alexander Caldwell, Olivia Bennett and Ethan Reynolds, who cover payroll, tax and small business topics.

Yes. State income tax rules are built in for all 50 states, including the states with no income tax. You can also start from our state paystub pages to see the rules and tax details for a specific state.

Tax tables are updated for each new tax year and whenever a state publishes a mid-year change. Updates are tested against a scenario matrix covering all 50 states before they go live.

Yes, as long as the information is accurate and reflects real employment and real payments. Employers, contractors and self-employed people create their own pay stubs every day for payroll records and income documentation. Creating a pay stub with false information to mislead a landlord, lender or agency is fraud and is prohibited under our Terms of Service.

No. We use the information you enter only to generate your documents and to provide support. We never sell your personal information. See our Privacy Policy for details on what we collect and how long we keep it.

Use live chat on any page, email [email protected] or send a message through our Contact Us page. Our team typically responds between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time.