What this form is for
Small business owners, employers, and self-employed individuals preparing bank loan packages use this pay stub to document employee or owner compensation with full withholding detail. Lenders require at least two recent consecutive pay stubs to verify income stability and consistency before approving commercial credit.
Before you start
- Current gross pay amount for this pay period and the pay period start/end dates
- Year-to-date gross earnings, withholdings, and net pay totals from your most recent prior stub or payroll register
- Federal W-4 filing status and allowances for the employee, plus Pennsylvania withholding information (PA-40 form details)
- List of all pre-tax deductions such as health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, HSA, and any post-tax deductions like garnishments or union dues
- Employer contribution amounts for benefits such as 401(k) match, health insurance employer portion, and company-paid life insurance if applicable
Step-by-step
1. Enter employee identification details at the top including full legal name, address, Social Security number, and the specific pay period covered by this stub with beginning and ending dates.
2. Input current period earnings by entering gross wages, salary, overtime, bonuses, or commissions. The form will display this period's total gross pay prominently.
3. Record all pre-tax deductions that reduce taxable income before withholding calculations, including health insurance premiums, traditional 401(k) contributions, flexible spending accounts, and commuter benefits.
4. The form auto-calculates federal income tax withholding using IRS Publication 15-T tables based on the W-4 data you provided, FICA taxes at current rates (Social Security 6.2 percent up to wage base, Medicare 1.45 percent), and Pennsylvania state income tax at the flat 3.07 percent rate with local Earned Income Tax if applicable to the work location.
5. Enter any post-tax deductions such as Roth retirement contributions, wage garnishments, charitable contributions, or loan repayments that come out after tax withholding.
6. Add employer-paid contributions including retirement plan matching, employer health insurance portion, and other fringe benefits to show total compensation package.
7. Review the auto-calculated net pay figure, which equals gross pay minus all pre-tax deductions, tax withholdings, and post-tax deductions. This is the actual check or direct deposit amount.
8. Verify all year-to-date columns populate correctly by adding current period amounts to prior YTD totals for gross pay, each tax, each deduction, and net pay.
9. Upload your business logo and ensure company name, address, and federal Employer Identification Number appear correctly before generating the final pay stub.
What lenders look for
- Underwriters compare gross pay across multiple stubs checking for consistency and match YTD figures to tax returns, so never round or estimate YTD totals; they must reconcile mathematically from period to period.
- Pennsylvania requires local Earned Income Tax withholding in most municipalities; missing this jurisdiction-specific tax signals the stub may not be authentic or compliant.
- Banks reject stubs with generic formatting, missing employer EIN, or tax withholdings that do not match current IRS and state tables, so use the auto-calculation features rather than manual entry.