Working For Tips? Here's How To Create Paystubs For Proof Of Employment And Other Documentation

Did you know there are over 2 million people that work in the restaurant industry? No wonder many people find it hard to prove their income because they mainly receive tips. If you're working for tips, it could be hard for you to show proof of payment when you need to make a big purchase such as a car or a home. Keep reading to learn how to create pay stubs for situations like yours.

Working For Tips? How To Create Pay Stubs For Proof Of Employment

A pay stub is what most employees receive with their paychecks showing what they earned. After they cash their checks or have their direct deposit, they are left with a stub as a proof of payment. It's a great way to keep a record for tax purposes. Learning how to create pay stubs isn't difficult.

Pay Stub Generator

If you earn tips in addition to an hourly wage, your pay stubs might not reflect your tip earnings. Thankfully, there's a way for you to show the extra income you earn from your tips, thanks to online pay stub creator services. Most are user-friendly and simple to use. It will ask you for general information such as your employer's name and address.
It will also have you input your personal information plus your pay. This gives you the chance to enter your tips in your wages plus your hourly pay.

Information On A Pay Stub

Keep in mind that every state has its own requirements. There are states that require their employers to provide pay stubs and other states that have no requirements.

Common Fields

The most common fields you will find on a pay stub are:

• Employer Name
• Employer Address
• Employee Name
• Employee Address
• Pay Period dates
• Pay Date
• Gross Wages
• Overtime Hours
• Tips or Commissions
• Taxes
• Pre-Tax Deductions
• Post-Tax Deductions
• Net Pay
• Year to Date

If you're confused about what some of these fields are, we will answer your question below.

Pay Stub Field Meanings

Not every field is self-explanatory. If you've never done payroll before, or aren't familiar with taxes, some fields, might be confusing at first.

Pay Period Dates

This depends on the state that you live in. It might be the pay period end date only or the start and end date.

Gross Wages

Here, you can include all of your earnings totals. Add up your hourly wages, your tips, any commissions, etc. Depending on the pay stub creator you use these can be on separate lines or one line totaled up.

Taxes

These will be on separate lines including, federal taxes and state taxes, that is if your state has taxes, unemployment taxes, local taxes, and social security taxes. Most pay stubs have each tax listed on their own separate line.

Deductions

There are pre-tax and post-tax deductions. Taxable deductions include uniform fees or wage garnishment. There are also tax-free deductions which include health insurance, 401k contributions, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, etc.

Net Pay

This is the total after your deductions and taxes. This line will include the Gross wages minus taxes and deductions.

Year to Date

This line has the total earned all year. It's a line in your pay stub, that most banks look at when you're applying for some type of finance or loan. This line also comes in handy when you have a certain annual income amount you want to achieve. If you're not on track you can calculate what you need to do to get to your end goal.
If you are on track, then you can easily see it thanks to the year to date line (YTD).

Staying Compliant

Please keep in mind that you always want to stay legal to avoid getting in serious trouble. It might seem easy to use an online service to make your own pay stubs and possibly exaggerate your earnings when you really want to make a purchase. The bottom line is, don't do it. State only true amounts of earnings because it's the legal thing to do. and the repercussions are just not worth it.
Banks do check for fraud and you don't want to end up with millions in fines or even jail time. Make sure that when you choose your online pay stub creator, they are produced by accountants because they know what they're doing when it comes to the legalities of such documents.

Prepare the Information

Although most pay stub creators are simple to use and tend to be straightforward, before you use one for the first time, take a look at the site and explore what documents you need. Make a list of all the data you require so that you can enter it when you first get started. 
Once you have all the information prepared it will take probably take you less than two minutes to enter everything in.

Choose Your Format

You have options when it comes to the format you want your paystubs to be. You can choose the traditional way to print them out. You can also choose a digital format like a PDF file. Choose the best option for you.

Create Your Own Pay Stub Like A Pro

If you're ready to create your own pay stub, all of the knowledge above will make you feel like a pro. You can now tackle creating your own stubs to show proof of how much you make even when if make tips. As you can see learning how to create pay stubs isn't very difficult.
Now let's get you started on your paystubs with the paystub creator and see for yourself how easy it really is!