Overview: Understanding Stanford Paychecks

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Paycheck Delivery Options

Direct Deposit

  • Employees are encouraged to sign up for the free direct deposit program. Funds are automatically deposited to your bank account(s) each payday.
  • Employees can elect a single direct deposit bank account or multiple accounts. Accounts can be selected based on a percentage of the total, flat dollar amounts, or as the balance of pay.
  • Employees can enroll, update, or cancel direct deposit elections at any time from the Stanford Axess web site. To avoid disruption of direct deposit, update your direct deposit information immediately upon changing or closing your bank account. Reference. Reference How To: Enroll / Update / Cancel Direct Deposit.
  • Employees can view and print online pay statements for the current and historic pay periods from the Stanford Axess web site. Online pay statements are generally available to view 2 business days prior to payday. Reference How To: View Current or Historic Pay Statements.
  • Employees choosing direct deposit may elect to receive a hard copy check advice notice. Check advice notices are delivered to the employee's ID Mail Code. The advice notice includes the same information available on the online pay statement.

Hard Copy "Live" Check

  • The default paycheck delivery option for new employees is a hard copy "live" check. With this option, it is the employee's responsibility to physically cash or deposit the check to his/her bank account each pay period.
  • Hard copy paychecks are delivered to the employee's ID Mail Code to arrive on payday. See your department administrator if you need to update your ID Mail Code for your paycheck.
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Pay Dates and Pay Periods

Pay dates for Stanford employees are the 7th and the 22nd of each month, or the nearest preceding business day if the pay date falls on a weekend or holiday. Pay dates correspond to pay periods as follows:

  • Pay date on the 7th for pay period beginning the 16th and ending the last day of the month
  • Pay date on the 22nd for pay period beginning the 1st and ending the 15th of the month

The tax year begins with the paycheck issued on January 7th of each calendar year for the pay period of 12/16 – 12/31 of the previous calendar year.

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Pay Statement Fields and Descriptions

The following information is included on the online pay statement, the live paycheck and the direct deposit advice notice. View Sample Advice.

  • Pay Group:  Codes used to classify workers for payroll purposes. Reference Resources & Job Aids: Pay Groups and Descriptions
  • Pay Begin Date and Pay End Date:  Beginning and ending dates for the pay period
  • Advice / Check Date:  Date check issued
  • Name:  New employees, verify that your name matches your legal name on your Social Security Card to ensure correct reporting of your wages for Social Security purposes. Notify your Human Resource Manager / Administrator immediately if anything is incorrect.
  • Employee ID:  Your 8-digit Stanford employee identification number, which is also listed on the Stanford ID card. Use this number for identification when asking questions of Payroll or Benefits.
  • Department and Location:  Your department and work location
  • Tax Data:  Federal and state withholding status, allowances, and any additional amount or percentage specified to be taken out each pay period. For help changing withholding allowances, reference How To: Declare or Change Withholding Allowances.
  • Hours and Earnings:  Earnings paid by type (e.g., salary, sick, holiday, vacation, etc.) and, when applicable, the hourly rate and number of associated hours. The paycheck also includes year-to-date (YTD) hours and earnings for each earnings type.
  • Taxes:  Federal and state tax amounts for the current pay period and YTD. Reference Resources & Job Aids: Tax Deduction Codes, Descriptions, and Rates
  • Before Tax Deductions:  Current and YTD deductions for benefits taken from your gross pay before taxes are applied. Reference Resources: Benefit Deductions, Descriptions and Tax Status. Federal Taxable Wages = Total Gross Wages – Before Tax Deductions
  • After Tax Deductions:  Current and YTD deductions for benefits, other voluntary deductions or garnishments taken from your net pay after taxes have been applied. Reference Resources: Benefit Deductions, Descriptions and Tax Status
  • Paycheck Summary:  Summary of current and Year-to-Date (YTD) gross earnings, federal taxable earnings (this will correspond to Box 1 W-2 total), total taxes, total deductions and net pay
  • Accrual Balance:  Accrued leave balances for vacation, sick, PTO (Personal Time Off) and floating holiday as passed from Axess Timecard online timecard application, cumulative of all active positions
  • Net Pay Distribution:  pay for the pay period and bank account distribution
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