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Availability. The generator is not yet live on lexsalim.com. United Kingdom support is in development; United States and Canada are planned.
A payslip is built from two columns: what was earned and what was deducted. This article explains the common lines in each so that you can read a payslip, or prepare one, with confidence. Which lines appear, and how they are calculated, depends on the country and the employer.
Earnings lines
| Line | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Basic pay | Salary for the period, or hours worked × hourly rate |
| Overtime | Extra hours, often at a higher rate agreed in the contract |
| Bonus / commission | Variable pay for the period |
| Allowances | Fixed additions such as a shift or travel allowance, where taxable |
| Statutory pay | Sick, maternity, paternity or similar pay routed through payroll, where it applies |
| Holiday pay | Pay for leave taken, where shown separately |
| Back pay / adjustments | Corrections for earlier periods |
The total of the earnings lines is the gross pay.
Deduction lines
| Line | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Income tax | Tax withheld by the employer under the country's pay-as-you-earn system (PAYE in the UK; federal and state withholding in the US; federal and provincial tax in Canada) |
| Social contributions | National Insurance (UK); Social Security and Medicare, together called FICA (US); CPP or QPP and EI (Canada) |
| Pension | The employee's own contribution to a workplace or personal pension, where one is set up |
| Student loan or similar | Repayments collected through payroll in some countries |
| Other agreed deductions | Union fees, salary-sacrifice arrangements, repayment of advances |
| Ordered deductions | Amounts an employer must deduct under a court or authority order |
The total of the deduction lines, taken from gross pay, gives the net pay.
Information lines
Some payslips also show figures that are neither earned nor deducted: employer contributions (the employer's National Insurance or pension contribution, for example), year-to-date totals, and the identifiers the employer uses to apply the right rules (a UK tax code, for instance). They help the employee check the calculation.
In the free generator
When the generator opens, earnings and agreed deductions are entered by you; statutory deductions are calculated by the selected country's verified rule pack and shown for review. The generator never asks for a National Insurance, Social Security or Social Insurance number, and never asks for bank details. Rates, bands and thresholds are not stated in this help centre because they change each tax year; the official source for your country is authoritative.
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Related articles
- Gross pay versus net payGross pay is what an employee earns before deductions; net pay is what they receive after them. The difference is the deductions shown on the payslip.
- How payroll calculations workThe order in which a payroll calculation runs: gross pay, pre-tax deductions, statutory deductions, post-tax deductions, net pay; and why each country needs a verified rule pack.
- What is a payslip?A payslip is a record of one payment to an employee: what was earned, what was deducted and what was paid. It is not a tax return and not a government filing.
- Contacting supportUse the contact form, email [email protected] or call +44 333 011 8207. A person replies, usually within a few working days. Do not send case documents or financial records.