Teaching · Personal Finance
Read a Pay Stub
The number on the job offer is never the number that reaches the bank. This pack turns a pay stub into something students can name, compute, check, and question: every part labeled, gross pay worked all the way down to take-home, and a real payroll error caught before it costs them. Grades 7–12 and adult ed, no prep, answer key included.
How It Works
Name it, compute it, then question it
The pack moves in one deliberate arc: first students learn what every part of a pay stub is called, then they practice finding information on one, then they build the whole thing themselves from the hours up — and finally they catch three stubs that are wrong. Pages work in order or on their own.
Name every part
A labeled pay stub with fourteen numbered callouts — pay period vs. pay date, gross vs. net, FICA, the YTD column — plus a plain-language glossary of what each part means and why it matters.
Find it & check it
One worksheet asks students to locate information with no math at all. The next prints a stub with the amounts blank: work out regular pay, overtime at 1.5×, gross, every deduction, and net.
Catch the mistake
Three stubs, three real payroll errors — five hours missing, a deductions total that does not match its own list, and overtime quietly paid at straight time. Students find each and say what to do.
What’s Inside
Twelve pages, from diagram to answer key
- Anatomy of a Pay Stub — the labeled reference page, all 14 parts
- Parts of a Pay Stub — what each part means and why it matters
- Find It on the Pay Stub — 12 questions, reading only, no math
- Check the Math — hours to gross to every deduction to net pay
- Spot the Error — three stubs, three real payroll mistakes
- Label the Pay Stub — a quiz or exit ticket, with a word bank
- Why Check Your Pay Stub? — five reasons + what one stub means in a year
- Pay Stub Scavenger Hunt — a privacy-first home connection
- Two-page answer key — every figure worked out
- Low-ink version — the whole pack in black and white
Get It
Try the free sample, or get the full pack
Free with a free account
Free sample — the labeled diagram
Four pages that stand on their own: the how-to, the full Anatomy of a Pay Stub reference page with all fourteen parts labeled, and the Find It on the Pay Stub worksheet. Enough for a complete lesson today. Create a free Money Instructor account to download — already a member? Just log in.
Included with paid membership
The complete pack
All 12 pages — the glossary, Check the Math, the three Spot the Error stubs, Label the Pay Stub, Why Check Your Pay Stub, the Scavenger Hunt, and a two-page answer key — with a low-ink black-and-white version too. Free and logged-out visitors are prompted to create an account or upgrade.
Who It’s For
For anyone about to get their first paycheck
Personal finance
Gross vs. net, FICA, withholding, and the W-4 — on the document that actually shows them.
Life skills & adult ed
A practical, dignified reading task with real money on the line.
Work-based learning
Perfect for students starting a first job, co-op, or internship.
Homeschool & parents
One printable unit, no prep, answer key included.
Keep Going
Go deeper on the paycheck
This pack is about reading the document. When you want the full unit — how a paycheck works, three leveled worksheets, overtime, comparing two job offers by take-home, and a plain-English guide to the W-4 — Understanding Your Paycheck is the complete packet, and it uses the same simplified tax rates as this one, so the two fit together. For the document-literacy sibling, Read a Receipt does the same job for a store receipt.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What grades is this for?
Is this printable free?
Are the tax rates real?
Are the pay stubs real?
Do students need to bring in a real pay stub?
How does this differ from Understanding Your Paycheck?
Is there a low-ink version?
Ready to Teach It?
Print the labeled diagram and start today
Try the free sample, or get the full 12-page pack — the glossary, Check the Math, three spot-the-error stubs, Label the Pay Stub, Why Check Your Pay Stub, the Scavenger Hunt, and a two-page answer key.
More first-paycheck resources
- Your First Paycheck lesson plan — free teacher lesson plan
- What Is a Paycheck? — free video lesson
- How to Read a Pay Stub — free lesson
- First Paycheck, Real Choices — Full Membership lesson
- Budgeting & First Paycheck 5-day unit — free pacing guide / Full Membership
- Understanding Your Paycheck lesson pack — free sample / Full Membership