For 1099 contractors & freelancers
Contractor Pay Stub Generator
A contractor pay stub records a payment to an independent contractor: who paid, for which period, how much, and the fact that no tax was withheld. OakPaystubs builds one from the payments you enter and lays it out as a print-ready PDF — no payroll software, and no sign-up to preview.
The basics
What is a contractor pay stub?
A contractor pay stub — often called a 1099 pay stub — is a statement of a payment made to a self-employed worker rather than an employee. It carries the same structure as an employee’s stub, but without the tax lines: a client paying an independent contractor withholds no federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare or state tax, so the gross payment and the net payment are the same figure.
Contractors need one because nobody issues it to them. A 1099-NEC arrives once a year with a single annual total per client, and an invoice records what you billed, not what you were paid. When a landlord, lender or car dealer asks for proof of income, a run of pay stubs built from your real payments shows your earnings period by period, in the format they already know how to read.
What's on it
What goes on a contractor pay stub
Payer details
The name and address of whoever made the payment — your client, or your own business if you are documenting what you paid yourself.
Contractor details
Your name and address as the person or business that was paid.
Pay period and pay date
The span of work the payment covers and the day it was made. Keep one rhythm, usually monthly, so a run of stubs reads as a pattern.
The payment
What you were paid for the period, as hours at a rate or as a flat amount per job.
Withholding: $0.00
Stated as zero rather than left out, because the point of a contractor statement is to show that nothing was withheld.
Year-to-date total
Payments so far this year — the figure a landlord or lender uses to annualise your income. It starts as this payment times the periods elapsed, so correct it to your real total if your payments varied.
What it leaves off matters as much. There is no W-4, no federal or state withholding line, and no Social Security or Medicare deduction. If a stub for someone you treat as a contractor needs those lines, they are probably an employee, and the stub should be made as W-2 instead.
1099 vs. W-2
Contractor vs. employee pay stub
| 1099 contractor | W-2 employee | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes withheld | None — gross and net pay are the same | Federal and state income tax, Social Security, Medicare |
| Withholding form | None (Form W-9 gives the payer a tax ID) | Form W-4, plus a state form in some states |
| Social Security & Medicare | Paid by the contractor as 15.3% self-employment tax | 7.65% from the employee, matched by the employer |
| Income tax | Paid by the contractor in quarterly estimated payments | Withheld from every paycheck |
| Year-end form | Form 1099-NEC from each client | Form W-2 from the employer |
How it works
How to make a contractor pay stub
Enter the payer and the contractor
Add the business that made the payment and the contractor who received it — for the self-employed, that is your business and your own name.
Choose 1099 contractor
Set the employment type to 1099 contractor. The W-4 and every tax line drop away, because nothing is withheld from a contractor's payment.
Enter each payment
Pick the pay schedule and enter what was paid on each stub, as hours at a rate or a flat amount. Check the year-to-date column against what you were actually paid this year, and correct it if your payments varied.
Preview and download the PDF
Preview the stub on the Contractor template or any other layout, then pay per stub and download a print-ready PDF.
Keep it accurate
A pay stub is only as good as its figures
Making your own pay stub is legal, and freelancers do it all the time. The line is between documenting money you really received and inventing money you did not. Every payment on the stub should match a deposit in your bank account and the income you report to the IRS.
Expect anyone relying on it to check. Lenders and landlords routinely compare pay stubs with bank statements, 1099-NEC forms and tax returns — so the stub works best as a clear summary of records you can produce, not as a substitute for them.
Questions
Contractor Pay Stub FAQs
What is a contractor pay stub?
A contractor pay stub, also called a 1099 pay stub, is a record of a payment made to an independent contractor. It shows who paid, the period the payment covers, the amount, and year-to-date totals. Because a client does not withhold tax from a contractor's pay, it shows withholding as zero and gross pay equal to net pay.
Do independent contractors get pay stubs?
Usually not. Pay stub laws cover employees, so a client paying a 1099 contractor has no obligation to issue one, and most do not. Contractors who need to document their income for a lease, a loan or their own records generally create their own from the payments they received.
Why does a contractor pay stub show no taxes withheld?
A client paying an independent contractor does not withhold federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare or state income tax. The contractor pays those directly: income tax through quarterly estimated payments, and Social Security and Medicare as 15.3% self-employment tax. A contractor stub states the withholding as $0.00 so that is clear to anyone reading it.
Can I make my own pay stub if I'm self-employed?
Yes. Creating a pay stub that records income you actually received is legal, and freelancers do it routinely. What matters is that every figure matches your real payments, bank deposits and tax filings — a stub with inflated income is fraud whichever tool produced it.
Will a landlord or lender accept a contractor pay stub?
Many do, as part of a wider picture. Expect them to ask for bank statements, 1099-NEC forms or a tax return alongside it, and to check that the payments on the stub appear as deposits in your account.
How much does a contractor pay stub cost?
Building and previewing a contractor pay stub is free, with unlimited revisions. You pay $2.99 per stub when you download the final PDF — no subscription and no sign-up needed to preview.
Create Your Contractor Pay Stub
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Create Contractor Pay Stub