Paycheck Calculator for Hourly & Salary Pay - 2024

This free hourly and salary paycheck calculator can estimate an employee’s net pay, based on their taxes and withholdings. Get an accurate picture of the employee’s gross pay, including overtime, commissions, bonuses, and more. Deduct state taxes and federal taxes—factoring in employee-requested allowances—to get a more accurate picture of each employee’s earnings. You can also learn how to automate your companies payroll with Quickbooks

Why is it important to have accurate paychecks?

Having accurate paychecks isn’t just important for employees. It’s an essential part of operating your business legally. Fail to pay employees fairly under federal, state, or local laws, and you may find yourself facing thousands of dollars in fines. Underpaying employee overtime is one of the most common labor law violations businesses commit. If you live in California, New York, or Texas, where local laws go beyond federal requirements, you’ll want to be especially diligent.

How to calculate your paycheck

This free paycheck calculator makes it easy for you to calculate pay for all your workers, including hourly wage earners and salaried employees.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to walk you through the payroll calculator

1. Fill in the employee’s details 

This includes just two items: their name and the state where they live. This will help the tool calculate some of the employee’s local taxes.

2. Add the employee’s pay information

You should see fields that say pay type, pay rate, hours worked, pay date, and pay period. Start with “pay type” and select hourly or salary from the dropdown menu. 

If the employee is hourly, input their hourly wage under “pay rate,” and fill in the number of hours they worked that pay period. If the employee worked more than 40 hours, and thus accrued overtime, record 40 here and save the rest for “additional pay.”

If the employee is salaried, both the “pay rate” and “hours worked” fields will disappear. Instead, you’ll need to know how much the employee makes each pay period. You’ll put that into the field labeled “amount.” 

Then select the pay date and the employee’s pay frequency—or, rather, if you pay them weekly or every two weeks. 

3. Input any additional pay the employee receives

If the employee is salaried, you will only see two fields: bonus and commission. Fill in those amounts, if applicable.

If the employee is hourly, you should see four fields: overtime worked, bonus, commission, and salary. This is your opportunity to add in any additional pay they should receive this pay period. If the employee earned overtime, input in the number of overtime hours they worked. One thing to keep in mind for California employees is that this calculator does not account for double-time pay. The tool calculates overtime pay using time and a half.

4. Fill in the employee’s federal tax information

This includes the employee’s filing status, number of allowances, and additional withholdings. This is information you should be able to glean from the employee’s Form W-4. If you don’t yet have the employee’s W-4, the calculator can fill in tax rates to help you create a semi-accurate paycheck estimate.

5. Fill in the employee’s state tax information

Again, this includes the employee’s filing status, number of allowances, and additional withholdings. This information can be taken from the employee’s state Form W-4. 

6. Calculate the employee’s paycheck

To see an estimate of the employee’s earnings for the pay period, select “calculate check.”