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Paycheck

A paycheck is traditionally a paper document issued by an employer to pay an employee for services rendered. While most commonly used in the United States, recently the physical paycheck has been increasingly replaced by electronic direct deposit to bank accounts.

In most countries with a developed wire transfer system, e.g. in Europe, using a physical check for paying wages and salaries has been uncommon for the past several decades. However, vocabulary referring to the figurative "paycheck" does exist in some languages, e.g. German (Gehaltsscheck), partially due to the influence of US popular media but this commonly refers to a payslip or stub rather than an actual check.

Payslip

A pay stub, paystub, payslip, pay advice, or sometimes paycheck stub, is a document that an employee receives either as a notice that the direct deposit transaction has gone through, or as part of their paycheck. It will typically detail the gross income and all taxes and any other deductions such as retirement plan contributions, insurances, garnishments, or charitable contributions taken out of the gross amount to arrive at the final net amount of the pay, also including the year to date totals in some circumstances.

Pay stub includes Salaried borrowers which merely divide their annual income by 12 months. Hourly wage earners must calculate income for 35-40 hours per week (as applicable) and multiply by 4.2 weeks (per month). However, wage earners can also include average overtime, as reviewed below.

Payroll savings program

A payroll savings program is a method of automatically deducting money from one's paycheck and depositing it into a savings account. Since these funds are made less available there is a reduced chance that they will be spent.

Payroll card

A payroll card is a card that allows an employee to access their paycheck by using a card that looks like a bank debit card. A payroll card can be more convenient than using a check casher, because it can be used at participating automatic teller machines to withdraw cash, or in retail environments to make purchases. Some payroll cards also are cheaper than Payday loans available from retail check cashing stores, but others are not. Most payroll cards will charge a fee if used at an ATM more than once per pay period.

The payroll card account usually is held as a single account in the employer's name. That account holds the payroll funds for all employees using the payroll card system. Some payroll card programs establish a separate account for each employee, but others do not.

Warrants

Warrants look like checks and clear through the banking system like checks, but are not drawn against a Demand deposit account. Instead they are drawn against "available funds" so that the issuer can collect interest on the float. In the US, warrants are issued by government entities such as the military and state and county governments. Warrants are issued for payroll to individuals and for accounts payable to vendors. A check differs from a warrant in that the warrant is not necessarily payable on demand and may not be negotiable. Deposited warrants are routed to a collecting bank which processes them as collection items like maturing treasury bills and presents the warrants to the government entity's Treasury Department for payment each business day.

In the UK, warrants are issued as payment by the NS&I when a Premium Bond is chosen.