What is YTD on a pay stub?

The Current column describes one payment. The YTD column adds the same kind of amount across payments made so far in the calendar year. Gross earnings can have a YTD total, and a full payroll statement may also carry deductions, taxes, and net pay. Each row should accumulate only amounts with the same label.

YTD gross is not the amount for the current Pay period. It is also not a projection for the rest of the year. On a February record, it covers payments dated in January and February through the current Pay date. On a December record, it may cover nearly the whole calendar year.

Read the row label before the total. YTD gross answers how much was earned before deductions or estimates. YTD net answers how much remained after the lines included on those records. An estimated tax total is still an estimate, even after several periods have been added together.

A current payment can be unusually high or low. YTD gives a reviewer a longer view of the pace of earnings, so it is often checked early against the Pay date and the number of months elapsed. That comparison can expose a missing period, variable income, or a total that does not fit the rest of the file.

Formal mortgage guidance for employed borrowers illustrates why the field receives attention. Fannie Mae says the most recent paystub must include all year-to-date earnings, and Freddie Mac says a YTD paystub must show current-period earnings plus complete YTD earnings. Those rules concern third-party employment documents, not a record prepared by the borrower.

For a self-employed person, a self-prepared payment record is supporting material. It does not become employer-issued because it has a YTD column. A lender may instead rely on tax returns, bank statements, and a year-to-date profit and loss statement to assess income. Ask for the lender's checklist, and do not assume any one document will be accepted.

Begin with gross from completed payments in the same calendar year. That amount is Prior YTD on the next record. Add the current gross once, then use the new total as Prior YTD when the following payment is recorded. The chain works only if each link starts with the previous verified total.

Use one example all the way through. A contractor receives $1,250 for the first January period and $1,750 for the second. Prior YTD before the February payment is $3,000. The February Current gross is $1,500. After that payment, the new YTD gross is $4,500.

QuickStub adds the current Gross amount to Prior YTD and displays the result as YTD gross. Check that output against the earlier payment records rather than treating automation as evidence that the inputs were right.

A YTD calculator for a pay stub needs two inputs: the verified total before this payment and the current amount. The formula is Prior YTD plus Current equals new YTD. Keep gross with gross. Do not add a net deposit to earlier gross earnings or mix an estimated tax line into the earnings total.

In the worked example, $1,250 plus $1,750 produces $3,000 before February. Add the February amount of $1,500 and the calculator should return $4,500. Subtracting the current amount from the result is a quick reverse check: $4,500 minus $1,500 returns the $3,000 Prior YTD.

A calculator can confirm addition, but it cannot find an omitted payment unless you compare the list with another record. Use invoices, bank deposits, a ledger, or earlier statements to account for each Current amount. Mark refunded or corrected payments clearly instead of quietly changing a running total.

Year-to-date restarts with the first payment dated in a new calendar year. The prior year's final total stays on the prior year's records. It should not be carried into January as though the calendar boundary were another ordinary pay period.

A Pay period can cross December and January, so use the reporting treatment that matches the source payment and records. For a cash-basis contractor, the Pay date commonly determines the year in which income is received. If payroll, accounting, or tax records use a different treatment for a specific payment, follow those records and ask a qualified professional when the year is uncertain.

Keep the final record from the old year. It provides the figure you can compare with annual records, but it is not the starting balance for the new YTD chain. The first new-year record normally begins with zero Prior YTD and adds its own Current amount.

Work backward from the first record that looks wrong. Subtract Current from YTD. The answer should equal Prior YTD and should also match the preceding record's YTD gross. If it does not, the error is inside that transition.

Then compare the sequence with deposits or invoices. A missing record makes YTD too low. A duplicated Current amount makes it too high. Mixing gross and net can create a difference that resembles a deduction even though the problem is in the type of figure used.

Correct the affected record and every later record that inherited the total. Keep a note of what changed if you already shared an earlier copy. Replacing one number without repairing the carry-forward chain leaves later statements inconsistent.