A paycheck, also spelled paycheque, pay check or pay cheque, is traditionally a paper document (a cheque) issued by an employer to pay an employee for services rendered. In recent times, the physical paycheck has been increasingly replaced by electronic direct deposits to the employee's designated bank account or loaded onto a payroll card. Employees may still receive a pay slip to detail the calculations of the final payment amount.
A salary statement, commonly called a payslip, pay stub, paystub, pay advice, or sometimes paycheck stub or wage slip, is a document received by an employee that either includes a notice that the direct deposit transaction has gone through or that is attached to the paycheck. Each country has laws as to what must be included on a payslip, but this typically includes details of the gross wages for the pay period and the taxes and any other deductions the employer is required to make by law as well as other personal deductions such as retirement plan or pension contributions, insurances, garnishments, or charitable contributions taken out of the gross amount to arrive at the final net amount of the pay, also including the year to date totals in some circumstances.
In most countries with a developed wire transfer system, payment of wages and salaries is increasingly being effected by electronic means, rather than by the use of a physical cheque. This saves the company money on printing and processing cheques and reduce the problem of fraud. However, vocabulary referring to the figurative "pay cheque" persists in some languages, but this commonly refers to a payslip or stub rather than an actual cheque. Some company payrolls have eliminated both the paper cheque and stub, in which case an electronic image of the stub is available on a website. Most of the provinces and territories in Canada allow employers to issue electronic payslips if the employees have confidential access to it and are able to print it.
For employees that do not have access to a personal bank account, most major payroll service providers can arrange for the net pay of an employee to be loaded onto a payroll card, which is a plastic card similar to a debit card. A payroll card functions like a debit card and allows an employee to access their pay.[1] A payroll card is typically less convenient than cashing a paper paycheck, because the card can be used at participating automatic teller machines to withdraw cash (which usually requires the employee to pay a hefty fee to access their own money and always have daily limits for how much of their own money an employee can access daily) or in stores to make purchases. Most payroll cards will charge a fee if used at an ATM more than once per pay period.
The payroll card account may be held as a single bank account in the employer's name. In that case, the bank account holds the payroll funds for all employees of that company using the payroll card system, and an intermediary limits each employee's draw to an amount specified by the company for a specified pay period. Some payroll card programs establish a separate account for each employee. Most payroll card accounts in the United States are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Before a company can give a payroll card to a worker, the business must first contract with a payroll card program manager. The payroll card company performs required "know-your-customer" due diligence as a condition of accepting the application.
In the United States, payroll cards are regulated by state wage-and-hour-laws and by a variety of federal laws including the Electronic Funds Transfer Act[2] and the Consumer Financial Protection Act.[3]
Businesses may elect to use a payroll card program in order to reduce payroll expense. According to Visa, it costs an employer about 35 cents to issue pay electronically but two dollars to write a paper paycheck.[4]
Payroll warrants look like cheques and clear through the banking system like checks and are therefore often called paychecks by their recipients. But they are not checks because they are not drawn against a checking account. Instead they are drawn against "available funds" that are not in a bank account so the issuer can delay redemption. In the U.S., warrants are issued by government entities such as the military and state and county governments for payroll to individuals and for accounts payable to vendors.[5] Deposited warrants are routed to a collecting bank which processes them as collection items like maturing treasury bills and presents the warrants to the government entity's treasury department for payment each business day.
When your employer calculates your take-home pay, they will withhold money for federal and state income taxes and two federal programs: Social Security and Medicare. The amount withheld from each of your paychecks to cover the federal expenses will depend on several factors, including your income, number of dependents and filing status.
Tax withholding is the money that comes out of your paycheck in order to pay taxes, with the biggest one being income taxes. The federal government collects your income tax payments gradually throughout the year by taking directly from each of your paychecks. It's your employer's responsibility to withhold this money based on the information you provide in your Form W-4. You have to fill out this form and submit it to your employer whenever you start a new job, but you may also need to re-submit it after a major life change, like a marriage.
If you do make any changes, your employer has to update your paychecks to reflect those changes. Most people working for a U.S. employer have federal income taxes withheld from their paychecks, but some people are exempt. To be exempt, you must meet both of the following criteria:
When it comes to tax withholdings, employees face a trade-off between bigger paychecks and a smaller tax bill. It's important to note that while past versions of the W-4 allowed you to claim allowances, the current version doesn't. Additionally, it removes the option to claim personal and/or dependency exemptions. Instead, filers are required to enter annual dollar amounts for things such as total annual taxable wages, non-wage income and itemized and other deductions. The new version also includes a five-step process for indicating additional income, entering dollar amounts, claiming dependents and entering personal information.
One way to manage your tax bill is by adjusting your withholdings. The downside to maximizing each paycheck is that you might end up with a bigger tax bill if, come April, you haven't had enough withheld to cover your tax liability for the year. That would mean that instead of getting a tax refund, you would owe money.
When you fill out your W-4, there are worksheets that will walk you through withholdings based on your marital status, the number of children you have, the number of jobs you have, your filing status, whether someone else claims you as your dependent, whether you plan to itemize your tax deductions and whether you plan to claim certain tax credits. You can also fine-tune your tax withholding by requesting a certain dollar amount of additional withholding from each paycheck on your W-4.
There is no income limit on Medicare taxes. 1.45% of each of your paychecks is withheld for Medicare taxes and your employer contributes another 1.45%. If you make more than a certain amount, you'll be on the hook for an extra 0.9% in Medicare taxes. Here's a breakdown of these amounts for the current tax year:
If you work for yourself, you need to pay the self-employment tax, which is equal to both the employee and employer portions of the FICA taxes (15.3% total). Luckily, when you file your taxes, there is a deduction that allows you to deduct the half of the FICA taxes that your employer would typically pay. The result is that the FICA taxes you pay are still only 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.
Some people get monthly paychecks (12 per year), while some are paid twice a month on set dates (24 paychecks per year) and others are paid bi-weekly (26 paychecks per year). The frequency of your paychecks will affect their size. The more paychecks you get each year, the smaller each paycheck is, assuming the same salary.
If you live in a state or city with income taxes, those taxes will also affect your take-home pay. Just like with your federal income taxes, your employer will withhold part of each of your paychecks to cover state and local taxes.
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A paycheck is how businesses compensate employees for their work. The most common delivery schedules are bi-weekly and semi-monthly, though this varies based on employer preferences and applicable state laws and regulations. Business-specific requirements, such as collective bargaining agreements covering union employees, may also dictate paycheck frequency.
Traditionally, employees received printed checks in person or by mail, but more often today, the money is electronically deposited into a bank account. Some employers may also offer optional alternatives to paychecks, such as paycards, which can be advantageous to unbanked workers.
Actual pay stubs vary based on individual circumstances and the state. Some have specific requirements about the information that has to be included on the pay statement and when it must be delivered to employees.
When reviewing their first paycheck, those who are new to the workforce may wonder why their take home pay is less than their gross pay. The reason is because of taxes, withholdings and deductions such as these:
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