Here’s Why Using A Free Pay Stub Maker Is A Mistake
There is a famous quote that has been attributed to a few different people but was made famous by the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma.” In it, Tristan Harris said, “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product.” We think it is an important concept that everyone who uses the internet should be familiar with. When we are online searching for something we need, we sometimes find it for a price, and we sometimes find it for free. I always ask myself, is this really free? How does this website make money? Because just about every site on the internet is there to make money. We think this is an important thing to ask yourself when looking for a pay stub generator. What is a free pay stub generator actually going to cost you? If it isn’t money, it’s probably going to be your time or your data, and sometimes, it will be compromised personal information.
If you’re on the hunt for an online pay stub generator, you’ll be met with a bunch of free pay stub tools online. Obviously, these will seem like a good option. While we absolutely recommend seeking out an online pay stub generator if you require pay stubs for yourself or your employees but don’t want to pay for full-service accounting software, we would caution against the use of free services. There are drawbacks, and we want to outline a few for you in this article. Don’t worry, if you sidestep those free ads and opt for a paid service, you can find one that’s affordable and meets all of your needs. So, let’s dive into why you should avoid free pay stub generators.
“Free Pay Stubs,” But where’s the pay wall?
If someone is offering you something for free, there’s always a catch, and that catch usually comes in the form of a paywall. Free offerings often function as a top-of-funnel sales tool to attract you and lead you toward a subscription or signup of some sort. There are plenty of cases where you can simply get your pay stub without diving further into any type of payment, it’s nearly impossible to distinguish when this is the case. You might spend time creating your free pay stub and entering all the relevant information just to find that you can’t download it or access it at all without making a payment. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s a waste of time and can be pretty discouraging.
Who can see your data?
Be aware of the security of the free pay stub platform. If you don’t need to set up a password or username to make your free pay stub, who else will have access to it? If you’re making pay stubs for an employee, you may be compromising both your personal information and theirs. If you can access it from a different device without signing in, then everyone else can, too. A paid service is more likely to have good security best practices and protocols as the provider wants to look out for its customers and keep them happy. Regardless of whether you’re paying or not, be sure to research the safety and security of the platform to ensure your info isn’t out there for the world to see.
Is your history available?
Speaking of your information, does the pay stub generator save your pay statement history to speed up future pay stub and T4 creation? Many OneTwoPay customers find one of our more valuable features to be the storage of all past employee and pay stub data. This makes recordkeeping simple, allows you to pull past data whenever you want, and speeds up the process when you’re making new pay stubs as you can pull from past data to calculate things like year-to-date, for example. When you opt for a free pay stub maker, you’ll likely find that your past data is not saved, or it’s stored insecurely.
Is it just one free pay stub?
As we said, free services are often a top-of-funnel for more complex capabilities, meaning you’ll usually find a one-time deal such as “get your first pay stub for free.” This may suffice if you just need one simple pay stub in a pinch but it is not ideal if you are looking for an ongoing pay stub solution. If you’re looking for a pay stub generator to use for all of your pay stub needs, it can be discouraging to spend time learning a new tool just to have to go and do it all over again. We’d suggest finding an affordable (not free) solution that you can sign up with, learn, store all your data, and rely on for years to come. Bandaid solutions are a busy person’s worst nightmare, and we don’t want you out there wasting your valuable time.
Are the deductions calculated accurately?
We have seen a number of pay stub generators that calculate incorrect deductions. To be sure, you can verify the calculations using the CRA Payroll Calculator, which is provided by the Canada Revenue Agency and is easy to use. OneTwoPay uses the same calculator, so we can be confident that OneTwoPay is always providing the right deductions. With free pay stub tools, you will either have to do your calculations manually or worry about the system’s accuracy.
How much manual effort is requried?
If you’re looking for a pay stub solution, you’re likely tired of having to do things manually with spreadsheets. Sadly, free pay stub platforms don’t remove much manual effort, if any. You might have to do your own calculations, they likely won’t store your information, so you’ll need to keep your records manually, and you might only be able to use them once, so you’ll have to go back to the drawing board and back to those spreadsheets the next time around. We made OneTwoPay to help people save time, minimize human error, and access an affordable and incredibly simple way to create pay stubs. If you’re still maintaining all of your manual procedures, what’s the point?
Are you getting everything you need, or just a free pay stub?
Last but not least, we caution against the use of free pay stub makers if you need a holistic pay stub solution. When you’re making pay stubs, you often need more than just the stub itself. Things like T4 and remittance reports come hand-in-hand with your pay stubs. A good pay stub generator will provide more of the automation that you need, accurate calculations, support when you have questions and a reasonable price that doesn’t break the bank.
