Paycheck proof is something that many self-employed people struggle with.
When you’re self-employed, it’s normal to receive payments in the form of paychecks and cash. However, this isn’t enough to prove that you’ve been paid for work. While a paycheck shows that you’ve received money, it doesn’t detail who you’ve earned from and what for.
With a pay stub, you can prove your income by including all of the important information that comes with getting paid. From gross pay to net pay, a pay stub provides you with all of the necessary information for paycheck proof.
Keep on reading to learn more about how to prove your income with pay stubs.
What’s a Pay Stub?
A pay stub is one of the best ways to prove your income, it essentially outlines everything you’ve earned. In most cases, people receive pay stubs from their employers whenever they get paid. They can still be used by those that are self-employed, but they’ll need to be made by themselves.
An independent contractor pay stub will show just as much information as one that’s provided by an employer. Providing that you have the correct info, you can start filling out pay stubs that can be used as legal proof of income.
Pay stubs are often used when people want to apply for things like loans. Lenders will want to see how much money you’re earning and how much of it is being deducted.
Here are some of the common loans people get:
Mortgage
A mortgage is a loan that’s taken out to purchase a property. The lender will provide you with money to purchase a home and they’ll use it as collateral if you neglect to make payments.
Auto finance
Auto financing is something that many people are familiar with. Similar to a mortgage, financing a vehicle involves borrowing money to purchase a vehicle. Instead of using a house as collateral, the lender will use the vehicle.
Line of credit
Most people get a line of credit in the form of a credit card. A line of credit essentially allows you to continue borrowing money as long as you pay it back. You don’t need to keep applying for a new loan because a line of credit is revolving debt.
How to Make a Pay Stub
Making a pay stub is a simple process and only requires either a spreadsheet program or a pay stub generator. After you’ve got access to either of these, you can start filling out the necessary information to make the pay stub complete.
Before you can start making it, you’ll need to go over several calculations. The main things to calculate are your gross pay, deductions, and net pay. Each of these needs to be accurate or else the pay stub won’t be considered legal.
Gross Pay
Gross pay is the total amount of money that you’ve earned in any given pay period. It’s easier for those that work in full-time jobs to calculate this because their income is consistent. However, as someone self-employed, your gross pay will vary depending on what kind of work you do.
Those that are self-employed and are paid different amounts each project will have a different gross pay on each stub. For example, you could earn $5,000 upon completion of a project in one month and $3,500 the next. It’s best to make a pay stub each time you’re paid so that you can keep track of everything.
Keep in mind that gross pay does not include deductions. If you don’t have taxes automatically taken out of your pay, the amount you’ve received should be the gross pay.
Deductions
Deductions count as anything that comes out of your paycheck. It’s rare for people that are self-employed to have deductions in their paychecks, so you’ll have to calculate these. The most common deductions are Social Security, state, and local taxes.
You can check out the IRS Employer’s Tax Guide to find out how much you’ll need to deduct from your pay. Depending on where you live, you may not have to deduct anything for local taxes.
Net Pay
Net pay is the total amount of money after you’ve made deductions. For example, if you’ve earned $5,000 in a pay period and 14% of it was deducted, your net pay would be $4,300. If deductions are automatically made in your paychecks, the total amount you receive should be the net pay.
Generate a Pay Stub
If you don’t think you can make a pay stub with spreadsheet software, you can always use a pay stub generator to make one. With a generator, you can find a paycheck stub template that you like and start inserting your information.
This takes a lot less time than making one with a spreadsheet program because you don’t need to worry about formatting. The only downside to this is that you won’t have many personalization options, but all of the templates will look professional.
Provide Paycheck Proof with Pay Stubs Today
Anyone self-employed should start making pay stubs so that they can prove their income. With a 1099 pay stub, you can start taking out loans and efficiently keep records of how much you earn. Whether you use a generator or a program like Google Spreadsheets, paycheck proof with a pay stub can be done within minutes.
All you’ll need to do is start calculating your pay and deductions so that you can properly fill out the pay stub. From there, you can print it and make copies for record-keeping.
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