What a payslip should show, and how to read one
A payslip shows who was paid, for which period, what was earned, what was taken off, and what reached the bank. Those 5 parts appear on almost every payslip in the world, even though the deductions differ by country. This guide explains each line, using the worked example from the payslip generator.
The lines on a payslip, from top to bottom
Payslips vary in layout, but the information tends to follow the same order. Reading from the top down answers the questions most employees have, in roughly the order they have them.
- Employer details. The business name and address, and often a tax or payroll reference.
- Employee details. Name and employee number, and sometimes a job title, a department, and a tax code or identity number.
- Pay period and pay date. The dates the pay covers and the day it was paid. These often differ. A salary for October might be paid on 29 October.
- Earnings. Each type of pay on its own line, such as basic salary, overtime, bonus, commission, or an allowance.
- Deductions. Each amount taken off, with its name next to it.
- Net pay. What is left after the deductions, which is the amount paid into the bank account.
- Year to date totals. Running totals of pay and deductions since the start of the tax year.
- Employer costs. On some payslips, amounts the employer pays on top of wages, such as an employer pension contribution.
Gross pay and net pay, with a worked example
Gross pay is the total earned before anything is taken off. Net pay is the total after deductions. The gap between them is every deduction added together, and nothing else sits in between.
The payslip generator's example follows Jane Okafor, a designer at Harbour Studio Ltd, for October 2026. All figures are GBP. Every deduction came from the employer's payroll records, and the tool did not work out any tax.
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Basic salary | Fixed monthly amount | GBP 3,000.00 |
| Overtime | 10 hours x 25.00 | GBP 250.00 |
| Gross pay | 3,000.00 + 250.00 | GBP 3,250.00 |
| Income tax | From payroll records | GBP 480.00 |
| National Insurance | From payroll records | GBP 162.50 |
| Total deductions | 480.00 + 162.50 | GBP 642.50 |
| Net pay | 3,250.00 minus 642.50 | GBP 2,607.50 |
Jane receives GBP 2,607.50. Her payslip also shows GBP 310.00 of employer National Insurance and GBP 97.50 of employer pension, GBP 407.50 in total. Those amounts are not taken from her pay. The employer pays them on top, so the full cost of employing Jane that month is GBP 3,657.50.
Common deductions, explained in general terms
The names and rates change from country to country, but most deductions fall into a few groups. The descriptions below are general and do not describe the rules of any one country.
- Income tax. A tax on earnings, usually taken by the employer and passed to the tax authority on the employee's behalf. The amount often depends on total yearly pay and on allowances or a tax code.
- Social insurance. Contributions that fund state pensions, healthcare, or unemployment support. Many countries charge both the employee and the employer, which is why one amount may appear under deductions and a second under employer costs.
- Pension. Payments into a workplace or private pension. Some are set by law, and some are a choice the employee made.
- Health insurance. In some countries, a share of a health plan's cost comes out of pay.
- Loans and advances. Repayments of a salary advance or a company loan, and in some countries a student loan collected through payroll.
- Other deductions. Union dues, giving to charity, or a meal plan, where the employee has agreed to them.
A clear payslip prints each deduction on its own line. A single line labeled deductions with one figure makes it hard to check anything at all.
How to check your payslip each month
A quick check takes a few minutes and catches most mistakes. Work through these steps with last month's payslip and your bank statement side by side.
- Confirm that the name, employee number, and pay period are yours and current.
- Add up the earnings lines and compare the sum with gross pay.
- Compare the hours and rates on any overtime or hourly line with your own record.
- Add up the deductions and take them away from gross pay. The result is net pay.
- Compare net pay with the amount that arrived in your bank account.
- Look at the year to date figures. A sudden jump in one deduction is worth a question.
If a figure looks wrong, ask the person who runs payroll which number they used and where it came from. Most errors turn out to be a missed hour, a wrong tax code, or a change that was never entered.
Why payslip rules differ between countries
Each country decides what a payslip has to show, how often it is issued, and whether it can be sent by email. Some require the hours worked for hourly staff. Some require the employer's registration number or year to date totals. A few have no written payslip rule at all. Deductions differ even more, because each one follows national tax and social insurance law.
For that reason, the payslip generator holds no tax rates. You type each deduction from your payroll software, an accountant, or your tax authority's own calculator, and the tool adds and subtracts. The labor ministry or tax authority in your country publishes what a payslip must include there, and that source is the one to check before relying on any template.
PayCalculus also has a UK salary pack that works out income tax, National Insurance, student loans, and pension from published rates, with the tax year and the source named on each page. It is a separate set of tools from the generator, which stays a blank form for every country, the UK included, and takes whatever figures you type.
Comparing a salary with an hourly rate
A payslip shows pay for a period, but people weighing a job against freelance work often want an hourly figure. The freelance rate calculator has a mode that turns a yearly salary into an hourly equivalent, and an hourly rate back into a salary. Its main mode starts from a yearly income target and works out an hourly rate after expenses, time off, and hours that cannot be billed. The guide on how to set a freelance hourly rate works through that method with numbers. For a plain conversion between yearly, monthly, weekly, daily and hourly pay, with an optional flat tax rate of your own, the salary converter shows every period side by side. For a UK job, the UK salary calculator works out the income tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension lines a payslip carries, so the deductions can be checked against the published rates. The take home pay calculator starts from the net figure that reaches the bank each month, and the income tax calculator splits the tax line into its bands.
Payslip questions people often ask
Why is my net pay lower than my salary? A salary is usually quoted as gross pay. Net pay is gross pay minus income tax, social insurance, pension, and any other deductions, so it is lower unless nothing was taken off.
How long do people keep their payslips? There is no single rule. Lenders and landlords often ask for the last few payslips, and tax authorities can review past years, so many people keep them for several years. Your tax authority publishes the period that applies where you live.
Is a payslip the same as a pay stub? Yes, in most uses. Pay stub is the usual name in the United States and Canada, payslip in the UK and many other countries, and salary slip in much of South Asia. They carry the same information.