Interpreting pay stubs
This is a basic looking check stub. Look at the picture to be able to define and understand what happens to the money that you earn at a job.
Let’s start at the top. It has the companies name, your name, and the payroll ending date. This means this is the last day that they were paying you for. Normally you will get your checks a week behind. You will get paid this Friday for last week’s worth of work. The check number is for the company to know which check was issued to you. Your employee number is the number they assign to you in payroll. The amount is how much your check is for.
In the chart, the left hand side lists the earnings. It has the regular hours that you have worked. In this case the person earns $6 an hour times 20 equals 120.00. If you had overtime they would list it under the word regular. You generally get paid more for overtime. Current lists how much the current earnings is for and YTD means Year to date. This is the total amount of earnings that you have earned up till this point. That is your earnings. Now we take a look at your deductions.
Under taxes withheld, it lists the four taxes that every company is required to take out. It is based on your tax bracket and the number of exemptions you chose when filling out your W4 forms. You did this when you got hired in, probably with your parents help. They take out for federal tax, state tax, Medicare, and social security. Federal pays the federal government. State goes to your state to pay for libraries, roads, etc. Medicare helps the elderly with medical care . Social security goes to a trust fund that pays monthly benefits to retirees and their families and to widowers and children of workers who have died. It also goes to a trust fund that pays benefits to people with disabilities and their families. Some employers will take out for local taxes as well if required.
Other deductions includes any extra deductions. This might be for meals, uniforms, equipment, etc.
You take your earnings(gross pay) and subtract your deductions. This is how much your net check is worth.
