Professionalise your payroll with a simple, compliant payslip template

Why use a manual payslip template

For startups and growing UK businesses, investing in sophisticated payroll software isn’t always the first step. A payslip template offers a free, immediate solution to manage your monthly payroll run, while ensuring you meet the legal requirement to provide an itemised pay statement.

Instead of building a payslip from scratch, a payslip template saves time and ensures all the mandatory fields, like gross pay and tax liabilities, are present and correct. And it provides the necessary structure for accurate record-keeping and professional communication, acting as a reliable stop-gap before you upgrade to a fully automated payroll system.

Our free to download payslip template will provide all the structure you need to get off to a good start. It offers you a clean layout ready for manual input, whether you prefer working with an Excel payslip template for basic calculations, or using a simple document format.

Why a clear payslip layout is important

A clear layout reduces confusion and builds trust. If a payslip is cluttered, employees may struggle to understand their deductions or variable pay, leading to time-consuming queries. A standardised payslip template visually separates these elements, ensuring transparency and ease of use.

Using a professional payslip template also protects your business reputation. A neat, consistent document signals confidence, whereas a messy layout can easily look amateurish. Furthermore, a clear structure ensures compliance, guaranteeing that all legally required information is easy to find and read.

What details should be included on a payslip?

Even if you are doing payroll manually, you must ensure your payslip contains all the right data and components. To help you ensure your it is up to standard, our payslip template outlines and makes space for all the mandatory and recommended fields, including:

• Employer and employee information

• Pay date and period

• Gross pay and breakdown

• Deductions

• Tax codes and National Insurance categories

• Net pay

• Year-to-date figures

 Below, we’ll go into more detail about what each of these items entail.

Employer and employee information

Context is key. At the top, you should state the company name, VAT number, and preferably your PAYE reference. For the employee, insert their full name and a unique employee ID to avoid confusion between staff with similar names.

Pay date and period

Your payslip template must clearly state the pay date, that is, the actual day the money is transferred. You must also include the period, often listed as the ‘tax month’ or ‘tax week’. This tells both workers and HMRC exactly which earnings period the document covers.

Gross pay and breakdown

A single ‘total earnings’ figure is rarely enough. You should break down the gross pay into its components, so that the recipient sees exactly how everything has been calculated.

• Basic pay: The standard salary or hourly earnings.

• Variable pay: Overtime hours and commissions listed separately.

• Bonuses: Performance updates or one-off payments clearly visible.

• Allowances: Itemised components like a car allowance or shift pay.

Deductions: where the money goes

This section requires absolute clarity. Your UK payslip template will need a dedicated column for deductions.

• Income Tax (PAYE): The tax paid on earnings.

• National Insurance (NI): The employee’s contribution.

• Pension contributions: Workplace pension contributions are standard for most UK companies, as employees are auto-enrolled.

• Student loans and court orders: Repayments must be listed clearly if applicable.

Tax Codes and National Insurance categories

The Tax Code (e.g., 1257L) will explain why a certain amount has been withheld. The NI Category letter, for example, A or M, explains the National Insurance rate applied, with A the default category, and M for employees under 21 years old. A good payslip template will include a specific box for each of these important codes.

Net pay

This is the most important number for each recipient. It is the final amount they take home. It should be big, bold and easy to locate at the bottom.

Year-to-date (YTD) figures

Providing Year-To-Date figures for Gross Pay and Tax Paid is best practice. It helps staff track their total income, and is often required for mortgage applications.

What is best between Excel and Word payslip templates and automated tools?

While Word templates are common, they are static and prone to manual error. An Excel payslip template is far superior for business use as it includes formulas that automatically update Gross and Net Pay as you type. Our free resource offers this digital safety net, balancing manual control with calculation accuracy.

However, relying on manual spreadsheets has its limits, especially as your business, responsibilities and goals expand. Eventually, the administrative burden of data entry and compliance checks will outweigh any of the cost savings of a free template. And you will find you need to transition to an automated payroll solution.

A comparison of manual templates vs automated payroll

To help you decide if you are ready to move beyond a template, here is a quick comparison:

Why should you upgrade to automated, branded wage slips?

Manual payroll eventually hits a wall. PayFit’s payroll platform automates the entire process, replacing spreadsheets with detailed, automated payslips that are 100% accurate and visually compliant.

Unlike static forms, PayFit handles tax codes and HMRC submissions instantly. You also get:

• Zero manual calculations: Say goodbye to calculator errors!

• Automatic distribution: No more ‘Print to PDF’ and emailing tens or hundreds of attachments. PayFit sends payslips directly to a secure employee portal.

• Enhanced details: Our smart payslips provide clear visual breakdowns of tax and benefits that go far beyond what a spreadsheet can offer.

So, if you want to guard yourself against frequent human errors and save plenty of time, why not book a demo today?

What is in our free, downloadable payslip template resource?

This resource provides a structured starting point for your payroll documentation:

• Standard UK payslip template: A clean, professional grid layout that standardises how you present earnings to your staff.

• Benefits and variable pay version: An expanded layout with extra rows for companies that need to list bonuses, overtime, and health benefits.

• Statutory compliance layout: A simple version focusing on the core data points required by law.

• Payroll essentials guide: A handy reference tab included in the file for a checklist of what to double-check before you issue the document.