Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Paystub generators are legal tools used by self-employed individuals, small business owners, and freelancers to document their own earnings, replace lost stubs, or produce records for tax preparation. What is not legal is using a generator to fabricate income you did not earn in order to deceive a lender, landlord, or government agency — that is fraud regardless of how the document is produced. This tool is intended for accurate record-keeping based on real earnings. See our Terms of Service for prohibited uses.

Acceptance varies. Some lenders, landlords, and verification services accept self-generated paystubs as part of a broader application — particularly for self-employed applicants who do not receive paystubs from an employer. Traditional banks issuing mortgages typically want bank statements and tax returns; smaller landlords and short-term rental platforms are usually more flexible. We recommend pairing a generated paystub with bank statements, 1099 forms, or tax returns for a complete income picture.

No. A paystub generated through this tool is a documentation artifact — useful for self-records, income verification, and tax-prep reference — but it is not an official payroll record produced by a payroll service or employer. If you have an actual employer, the paystubs from their payroll system are the authoritative record. If you are self-employed, your bank records, 1099 forms, and tax returns remain the primary financial documentation.

The generator uses publicly available federal tax brackets, FICA rates (6.2% Social Security up to the wage base, 1.45% Medicare), and state-level income tax rules. Calculations are approximations suitable for documentation and rough planning — they reflect standard withholding scenarios for typical filing statuses but cannot account for every individual factor (additional W-4 withholding, multiple jobs, large itemized deductions, etc.). For your actual tax liability, consult a tax professional or use the IRS withholding tools.

A W-2 paystub shows employer withholding: federal and state income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and any benefit deductions are subtracted before net pay. A 1099 paystub (for contractors) typically shows gross income only, with no employer-withheld taxes — the contractor is responsible for paying self-employment tax (15.3%, covering both halves of FICA) and estimated taxes directly. When generating a contractor paystub, you would typically zero out withholding and represent the full gross as the take-home.

When you generate multiple stubs in a single batch covering sequential pay periods, the generator automatically progresses the YTD totals across stubs. The first stub in a series shows YTD equal to that pay period's amounts; each subsequent stub adds to the running totals. This matches how a real payroll system tracks cumulative gross pay, taxes withheld, and net pay across the calendar year.

A paycheck is the actual payment — a physical check or direct deposit transfer of net pay (gross minus deductions). A paystub is the document explaining that payment: gross pay, taxes withheld, deductions, and net pay. Today most paychecks are direct deposits with no physical check at all, so the paystub is often the only piece of paper involved.

Employer name and address, employee name and address, pay rate (hourly or salary), pay frequency (weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly), and the pay period dates. The tool calculates federal, state, and FICA withholding automatically — you do not need to look up tax tables. Open the generator to see the full input form.

Yes. Self-employed individuals and 1099 contractors do not receive paystubs from an employer but often need them for income verification — apartments, loans, and some merchant accounts ask for them. Note: if you are a 1099 contractor, FICA appears as self-employment tax on your tax return (15.3%) rather than as employer-withheld FICA on a paystub. Generate stubs that reflect your actual gross income; tax-side record-keeping happens via your 1099 forms and Schedule SE.

Under a minute. Fill in employer and employee info, pay rate, pay period, and click generate. The PDF downloads instantly with all tax math computed. You can generate up to 10 stubs in a single batch with auto-calculated YTD progression.

No — PDFs are intentionally not editable to maintain document integrity. To make a change, re-generate the stub with corrected inputs. Inputs are not saved server-side after the PDF is delivered, so you will need to re-enter the values to produce a corrected version.

We store the bare minimum needed to operate: visit logs (IP and page) for rate limiting and abuse prevention, and — for paid stubs — a record of the order. We do not retain the form data you submit beyond generating your PDF; once your stub is delivered, your inputs are not kept on our servers for retrieval. See our Terms of Service for full details.

The first 2 paystubs each day are free. Additional stubs are $0.75 each, paid securely via Stripe. Pricing is shown live on the form before you commit — you will see exactly how many free stubs you have left and the total for any paid stubs in your batch.