What Makes a Pay Stub Look Real? A Guide to Legitimate Paycheck Stubs

What makes a pay stub look real? Have you thought about this question? A pay stub is an important element, which you know how important it is with its usage and its implications.

This guide of real pay stubs will help you understand pay stubs and, if you need to spot a fake pay stub, how you can identify one.

Why do accurate pay stubs matter?

A real paystub, which in common terms is called a paycheck, is a valid document that is prepared by the employer each pay period.

A pay stub records all the working hours completed by each employee in a pay period, including their gross income, tax withholdings, deductions, and net pay.

Pay stubs are the oldest version of paycheck stubs, which did not come in paper; digital pay stubs rolled out just a few years ago.

Real pay stubs are available in both digital and paper formats, depending on the employee’s preference and the state’s governing requirements for pay stubs.

Anatomy of real pay stubs

The pay stub will contain a lot of information. Let us know what all these figures mean. Every paystub will look different from the other. If you’re a salaried employee, then your paystub will have the following information:

• Employer’s address
• Company name & information
• Your name
• Last four digits of your Social Security Number
• Starting and ending dates of the pay period 
• Gross earnings
• Net pay
• Total amount of deductions
• Year-to-date total 

Also Read: Are Online Paystub Generators Legal? Everything You Should Know

How to spot fake pay stubs?

When you spot fake pay stubs, you should get alarmed. Spotting a fake paystub is proved to be having attention to detail and will help your business dodge the hurdles of fake barriers. Below, we have curated a list of all the red flags that are to be found on a pay stub:

Wrong formatting

A real pay stub will always follow a typical pattern of pay stub pattern, while a fake pay stub will tweak with the formatting to make it look real. When a stub has the wrong formatting in it, it will get detected by someone who will correct it.

Wrong formatting will have the following pointers:

• Different font size and style.
• The spacing will be misaligned, and there will be some uppercase letters and other lowercase letters in the same document.
• The overall presentation of the document will be unprofessional.
• Personal information such as tax details, full legal name, and address will be missing on the paystub.
• Pay stubs that are not downloaded in PDF format are showing you sign of a fake paystub.

Misleading information

A fake paystub will have most of its information wrong on a stub. You will get to see rounded figures and wrong numbers in it. The common misleading information that can be found on a paystub is:

• Employee information: Misspellings or a wrong social security number

• Employer information: Full employer’s information which do not match the original

• Mismatched data: Personal details, such as employer name, which is different from the original name mentioned in the paystub.

• Inconsistent address: The address of the company will not match the address of the original employer’s address.

Also Read: Paystub Generator vs. Payroll Software: Which One Do You Need?

Bad figures

A false paystub will have some bad figures mentioned in the document. Contact information might be missing, or there will be a missing pay period date in the stub. You will likely get to see:

• Lacking contact information: A fake pay stub will lack the perfect contact information.

• Incorrect pay period: Pay periods are mentioned at the starting and ending dates of the week. A payday showing in mid-week is a sign of a fake paystub.

• Missing sections: A fake pay stub will be missing crucial information, such as retirement contributions and tax fields from the document.

What to do if you suspect a fake pay stub?

If you suspect a fake pay stub, then take the following steps:

• Note the error: When you see an error on the stub, you should note it down in a safe location. 
• Report to the authorized personnel: If you have noticed any signs of fake information on your paystub, you should immediately report it to your HR department.
• Rectify the process: Once you have submitted the error report to the authorized personnel, now is the time for you to clear those errors and submit a fresh document to your authorized personnel.

FAQs

1) How do real pay stubs look?

Real pay stubs will include employee name, address, pay rate, hourly working hours, gross pay, deductions, net pay, and social security number in an organized manner. 

2) Are legitimate pay stub generator secure?

Yes legitimate pay stub generator is 100% secure to use and generate professional pay stubs for your employees. No matter if you’re a freelancer or an accountant, with our Stubbuilder’s pay stub generator, you get an error-free pay stub at your disposal.

3) Why is it crucial to view my paystub?

It is a good thing to see your pay stub regularly, as it gives you an observation of your earnings, taxes, and deductions.

4) What is the easiest way to grab your pay stubs?

You can easily create a pay stub by using a legitimate pay stub generator, or you can always visit the bank to get your stubs in case you are receiving direct deposits from your employer.

Key Takeaways

Real pay stubs will always have correct information, a correct pattern, and won’t have any rounded figures on your pay stubs. 

If you are looking for an online real pay stub generator, then Stub Builder is your answer for a smooth pay stub experience.