Arkansas Paystub Generator

Which Arkansas Pay Stub Do You Need?

Before entering numbers, pick the situation that matches yours. The stub layout is the same in every case; the tax lines are not.

Hourly or Salaried Employee (Taxes Withheld)

The standard case. Federal income tax follows the W-4, Arkansas state tax follows the AR4EC, and Social Security and Medicare are withheld at fixed percentages. Overtime applies after 40 hours in a workweek for employers covered by the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act (four or more employees) or the federal FLSA.

Tipped Worker Paid $2.63 Plus Tips

Arkansas lets employers pay tipped employees a cash wage of $2.63 per hour and take a tip credit of up to $8.37, provided cash wages plus tips reach $11.00 for every hour worked. The stub should show the cash wage, reported tips and the combined hourly figure so the tip credit test is visible. If tips fall short, the employer owes the difference and it belongs on the stub as an additional earnings line.

Independent Contractor or Owner-Operator (No Withholding)

Trucking owner-operators out of Lowell or Fort Smith, poultry catchers paid per load, freelance tradespeople and gig drivers receive payments without withholding. The contractor option produces a payment statement with earnings, pay period and YTD totals and no tax lines. It documents 1099 income honestly and should not be dressed up as an employee stub.

Texarkana, Arkansas Resident (State Income Tax Exempt)

Residents of Texarkana, Arkansas are exempt from Arkansas individual income tax on all income, and residents of Texarkana, Texas are exempt on wages earned within Texarkana, Arkansas. Qualifying employees file Form AR4EC-TX with the employer, and the Arkansas state tax line on their stub reads zero. Withholding Arkansas tax from a Texarkana resident is one of the most common payroll errors in the southwest corner of the state.

Anatomy of an Arkansas Pay Stub, Field by Field

Read this section with the sample below it. Each field explains where the number comes from, which Arkansas rule applies and the mistake most often made there.

Employer and Employee Block: EIN, Address, Last Four of SSN

The header carries the employer's legal name and address (an Arkansas address if the work is performed here), the employee's name and a masked Social Security number showing only the last four digits. Arkansas law does not prescribe this block, but lenders and the FLSA recordkeeping rules both expect the employer to be identifiable. Never print a full SSN on a stub.

Pay Period and Pay Date: Arkansas Semimonthly Payday Rule

Arkansas requires corporations doing business in the state to pay employees at least semimonthly. Paying more often is allowed, and the sample below uses a daily pay period, which is common for per diem, temporary and day-labor work. The pay period shows the first and last day covered; the pay date is when the money moved. Discharged employees must receive final wages within seven days of demand. A stub whose pay period and pay date are identical, as in the sample, is a same-day payment, not an error.

Earnings Lines: Rate, Hours, Overtime After 40 Hours, Tips

Each type of pay gets its own row: regular, overtime at one and a half times the regular rate, tips, bonuses, commissions. Arkansas has no daily overtime threshold, so a 10-hour day earns overtime only once the workweek passes 40 hours. Folding overtime into regular hours is the most frequent earnings error because it hides the premium rate from the employee and from anyone auditing the stub.

Federal Income Tax: What the W-4 Controls

Federal withholding is the largest and most variable deduction. It is driven by the employee's W-4: filing status, dependents, other income and any extra amount requested. Two Arkansas workers at the same wage can show very different federal lines and both be correct. This figure comes from the federal withholding tables for the pay frequency, not from a percentage.

Arkansas State Tax: Brackets, $2,470 Standard Deduction and AR4EC Exemptions

The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration prescribes a formula: annualize the gross wages for the period, subtract the $2,470 standard deduction, apply the graduated brackets (0 percent on the first $5,599 of taxable income rising to 3.9 percent above $26,399, with a minus adjustment at each bracket so the tax is continuous), subtract $29 for each exemption claimed on the AR4EC, then divide by the number of pay periods in the year. Employees with low annual wages may fall under the separate low-income tables and owe nothing. The stub shows the result of that formula for the period. Applying a flat 3.9 percent to gross wages overstates withholding for every employee.

FICA: Social Security 6.2% and Medicare 1.45%

Social Security is 6.2 percent of covered wages until the annual wage base is reached; Medicare is 1.45 percent with no cap, plus 0.9 percent on wages above $200,000. Because both are flat percentages, the YTD amount should always be a clean multiple of the current amount when pay is constant. That relationship is the fastest way to check whether a stub was edited by hand.

What You Will Not See: No Local Tax, No Employee Unemployment, No SDI

Arkansas cities and counties levy no income tax on wages. Unemployment insurance is funded by employers on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages and never appears as an employee deduction. There is no state disability insurance or paid family leave payroll tax. A correct Arkansas stub therefore has exactly four tax lines: federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Arkansas state tax. A fifth state or local line means the wrong state's template was used.

Voluntary Deductions: Health, Retirement, Garnishments

Health insurance premiums, 401(k) or 403(b) contributions, union dues and similar items are listed individually after the tax lines. Court-ordered child support and other garnishments appear here as well. Each deduction needs its own row with the current and YTD amount; lumping them as "other" leaves the employee unable to reconcile the stub against their benefits elections.

Summary Block: Gross, Total Deductions, Net Pay, YTD

The footer restates gross pay, total deductions and net pay for the period and for the year to date. Net pay must equal gross minus total deductions in both columns. YTD figures accumulate from January 1 and should come from actual payroll records; estimated YTD numbers are the second most common reason a lender rejects a stub.

Sample Arkansas Paystub Generator Output

Here is a real preview from the generator for an Arkansas worker paid daily. It is the statement you see on screen before downloading; the final PDF shows every current deduction in full.

Scenario: Alexander Calwell, hourly employee of a company in North Little Rock, paid daily. Pay record Sep 15, 2026 to Sep 15, 2026, pay date Sep 15, 2026. Regular rate $34.00, 8 hours, no overtime. Zero exemptions claimed on Form AR4EC. This is the 258th paid day of the year.

Reading the sample against the field guide above:

• Header. Employer name and a North Little Rock address, employee name, pay record, pay frequency (Daily) and pay date. The Employee ID field is blank, which is acceptable; it is an internal reference, not a legal requirement.
• Pay period. Start and end are the same day because this worker is paid at the end of each shift. Arkansas allows any frequency at or above semimonthly.
• Earnings. One row: 8 hours at $34.00 equals $272.00. No overtime row because the workweek has not passed 40 hours.
• Arkansas state tax is $8.62, an effective 3.17 percent, not 3.9. Annualizing $272.00 over 260 working days gives $70,720. Subtract the $2,470 standard deduction, apply the brackets with the minus adjustment and no exemption credit, and the annual tax comes to about $2,242, or $8.62 per day. A flat 3.9 percent would have taken $10.61. The gap is the standard deduction and the lower brackets doing their work.
• FICA lines are exact multiples. $272.00 x 6.2% = $16.86 and $272.00 x 1.45% = $3.94; each YTD figure equals the current amount times 258 paid days. The federal line follows the same pattern ($25.88 x 258 = $6,677.04) because pay has been constant all year.
• Four tax lines, nothing else. No local tax, no unemployment, no disability deduction, because Arkansas employees do not pay any.
• The footer closes. $272.00 minus $55.30 equals $216.70; $70,176.00 minus $14,267.40 equals $55,908.60.

To reproduce this stub, select Arkansas as the work state, choose a daily pay period, enter $34.00 and 8 hours, set the AR4EC exemptions and the generator completes the tax lines and the summary.

Arkansas Minimum Wage in 2026: Still $11.00, and What That Means for Your Stub

Why the Rate Has Not Changed Since 2021

Arkansas voters approved Issue 5 in 2018, raising the minimum wage in steps to $11.00 on January 1, 2021. The measure contained no inflation indexing and no further steps. Unlike Arizona or Alaska, where the rate moves every year, Arkansas stays at $11.00 in 2026 and will stay there until the legislature or another ballot initiative changes it. Any hourly stub for a non-exempt Arkansas employee should show a regular rate of at least $11.00.

Tipped Minimum Wage $2.63 and the Tip Credit Test

Employers may pay tipped employees $2.63 per hour in cash and credit up to $8.37 in tips toward the $11.00 minimum. The test is applied per pay period: cash wages plus tips divided by hours worked must reach $11.00. A tipped stub that shows only the $2.63 cash wage, without reported tips, cannot demonstrate compliance and will be questioned by a landlord or lender trying to establish real income.

Who Is Exempt From the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act

The Act covers employers with four or more employees. Exempt categories include bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees on salary, outside sales, certain agricultural and seasonal workers, and independent contractors. Exempt salaried employees still receive a stub, but it shows salary rather than hours and rate, and no overtime row.

Does Arkansas Require Pay Stubs? No Law, Three Reasons to Issue Them Anyway

Arkansas is one of a handful of states with no statute requiring employers to give employees a pay statement. That does not make stubs optional in practice.

Federal Recordkeeping Under the FLSA

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered employers to keep records of hours worked, regular rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, deductions and net pay for each employee, retained for at least three years. A pay stub is the simplest way to create that record every pay period and hand a copy to the worker at the same time.

Proof of Income for Rentals, Loans and Benefits

Apartment applications in Bentonville and Rogers, auto loans, mortgages and eligibility reviews for assistance programs all ask for recent pay stubs. Employees without them lose time and sometimes the apartment. Issuing stubs is a low-cost way for an employer to keep staff from that problem.

Wage Dispute Protection for Employers

When an employee files a wage claim with the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, the employer's records decide the outcome. A stub the employee received and did not dispute at the time is strong evidence of what was paid and why. Without it, the employee's account of hours and pay is often accepted.

Arkansas Payroll Numbers That Changed for 2026 (and Ones That Did Not)

Common Mistakes on Arkansas Pay Stubs and How the Generator Prevents Them

1. Applying a flat 3.9 percent. The rate is the top bracket, not the effective rate. The generator runs the DFA formula with the standard deduction and brackets.
2. Ignoring AR4EC exemptions. Each exemption cuts annual withholding by $29. The generator asks for the exemption count and applies the credit.
3. Withholding from Texarkana residents. Employees who filed AR4EC-TX owe no Arkansas tax. Select the exemption and the state line reads zero.
4. Showing $2.63 with no tips. A tipped stub needs reported tips to pass the $11.00 test. The generator provides a tips earnings row.
5. Estimating YTD. YTD must come from real records. The generator lets you enter cumulative figures directly rather than guessing.

Create Your Arkansas Pay Stub in Three Steps

1. Enter employer and employee details, choose Arkansas as the work state and select the pay frequency (daily through semimonthly).
2. Add rate, hours, overtime and tips, set W-4 status and AR4EC exemptions.
3. Review the free preview, fix anything that looks off and download the PDF.

Create Your Arkansas Paystub

Estimate Take-Home Pay First With the Arkansas Paycheck Calculator

If you know the gross wage but not the deductions, start with the Arkansas paycheck calculator. Enter gross pay, pay frequency, W-4 details and AR4EC exemptions to estimate federal and Arkansas withholding and net pay. Then carry the figures into the generator to produce the statement.

Responsible Use of Pay Stubs

A pay stub documents wages actually earned and paid. Use the generator to record real payroll, replace a lost stub with matching figures or give employees a statement Arkansas law does not require but every lender does. Do not create stubs for employment that did not happen, inflate income for a rental or loan or alter figures after the fact. Lenders verify stubs against bank records and employer confirmation, and falsified income documents carry criminal exposure under Arkansas and federal law. You are responsible for every figure entered.