Take-Home Pay Worksheet

Who this is for

From gross pay to what reaches your account. Enter gross pay for the period and each deduction from your own payslip or estimate, and the sheet shows every deduction per period, per year and as a share of gross. It finishes with net pay per period, per year and per hour worked.

Employees checking where their gross pay goes, people weighing a new job or a change of hours, and anyone who wants the yearly picture that a single payslip does not give.

What this helps you track

• Gross pay for the period and the number of periods a year
• Each deduction, per period and per year
• What each deduction is as a percentage of gross
• Net pay per period, per year and per hour worked
• The share of gross pay you actually take home

How to use it

1. Write the employer, the pay period, how many of those periods there are in a year and the hours worked in one.
2. Enter gross pay for the period, before anything is taken off.
3. Copy each deduction from your payslip, or enter your own estimate for a new job. The sheet supplies no rates.
4. Per year, percentage of gross and the summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, use the note under the table.
5. Compare net pay per period with what actually arrives in your account, and query any gap with your employer.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does this work out my tax?

No. It supplies no tax, insurance or pension rates, because they differ by country and by person. Copy the deductions from your payslip, or work them out from the rules where you are and enter the results.

Why is my yearly figure different from my annual statement?

The sheet multiplies one period by the number of periods, so it assumes every period is the same. Overtime, bonuses and changes in deductions through the year will make the real total differ.

What goes in the other lines?

Anything else taken from gross pay: union subscriptions, salary sacrifice, workplace giving, repayment of an advance. Name each one so the sheet reads clearly later.

Can I use it to compare two jobs?

Yes, fill one sheet for each with the gross pay and the deductions you expect. Net pay per hour is often the most telling figure when the hours differ.