Every year, a wave of panic ripples through the small business community. Tax season starts and employees and employers alike find themselves scrambling to find the documentation they need to file their returns.

Starting on the right foot with paystubs or something similar makes tax season a cinch down the road. A paycheck stub generator helps you stay on top of income and payroll. Take a look at this simple guide to getting started with a pay stub generator.

Organize Pay Rates and Hours

For a paycheck stub generator to work, you need to make sure you have all of your information in order. Getting organized before crunching payroll numbers is key to making paystubs as smooth and simple as possible.

Work up a spreadsheet or another kind of document to sort your staff based on pay rate. You should also keep close track of everyone’s hours, commission, and whatever other factors influence pay.

These might seem like obvious steps to financially-savvy professionals. Yet, many entrepreneurs seem to think they don’t need an organized procedure because their businesses are small. Making that mistake sets your business up for failure.

Once you have all your information double-checked and in order, you can move on to using the pay stub generator itself.

Fill in the Pay Stub Generator Form

The next step is finding the best pay stub generator for your company’s needs. Most businesses won’t have trouble finding one, but you might need to do a little digging if your business has unique or industry-specific payroll practices.

Various quality stub generators offer some different features, but all of them make using their tools clear. All you have to do is plug the information into the boxes.

Look for other software if you have to change your information or put numbers in boxes with labels that don’t match. These forms are more for reference than they are strict legal documents, but they should still be clear and accurate.

Download or Print the Check Stub and Be on Your Way

The last step of using a pay stub generator is the easiest: All you have to do is download or print the check stub. Sending copies to team members takes no more than a couple of minutes, and the process is done.

If you need to, you can replicate any check stub you create by entering the same figures into the form later on. Some stub generators let you create accounts, so you may also be able to access old records if you log in. 

Still, saving the file as well as printing a hard copy is a smart idea for your records. You might lose access to your account and still need the documents.

Shape Your Life Using Handy Tools and Advice

This guide on using a paycheck stub generator will cut down the time it takes for you to handle payroll and make tax time less painful.

You can use the time you save to read up on other tools and advice to improve your career and home life. We have a wide selection of quick-and-easy articles like this one for you to enjoy, so click on another and reap the benefits today.