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PayslipIQUSA
Editorial

Editorial standards & review process

PayslipIQ is an independent educational publisher that explains US pay stubs and paychecks in plain English. This page documents exactly how every page is researched, sourced, reviewed, corrected, and kept current — so you can judge how far to trust what you read here.

PayslipIQ provides educational information and estimated calculations only. It does not provide tax, legal, financial, accounting, employment, benefits, or payroll advice. PayslipIQ is not a CPA firm, law firm, financial advisor, payroll provider, or tax authority. Always verify your paycheck, deductions, withholdings, and tax position with your employer's payroll department, a qualified CPA, the IRS, your state tax authority, or another appropriately qualified professional. Calculations are estimates; your actual paycheck may differ based on factors specific to your employer, location, benefits elections, and personal tax situation.

How every page is reviewed

Pages covering federal tax, state withholding, FICA, deductions, overtime, and benefits go through a structured editorial review before publishing:

  1. 1
    Draft against primary sources

    Each page is written from primary documents — IRS publications, notices and revenue procedures, the SSA, the US Department of Labor, and state revenue and labor agencies. Secondary sources are not used as the basis for a figure.

  2. 2
    Fact-check every figure

    Every rate, threshold, wage base, and limit is checked against the source document and labelled with the tax year it applies to. Where a figure has not been published yet, the page says so rather than estimating.

  3. 3
    Advice-language review

    A separate pass removes anything that reads as tax, legal, payroll, or financial advice. Content is held to an educational-only standard and points the reader to an official source or a qualified professional.

  4. 4
    Hedge uncertainty honestly

    Anything that can change for an individual — multi-state work, mid-year W-4 changes, employer-specific settings — is hedged explicitly ("verify with payroll", "your actual paycheck may differ").

  5. 5
    Schema, disclaimer, and date stamp

    Each page receives the correct structured data, the master disclaimer, and a visible last-reviewed date before it is published.

  6. 6
    Scheduled re-review

    Pages are re-reviewed at least quarterly and immediately after any material federal or state-level change, such as new IRS withholding tables or a state rate change.

Our sourcing standard

  • Federal figures come from the IRS — Publication 15-T, Publication 15, annual revenue procedures, and notices — and from the SSA for the Social Security wage base.
  • State figures come from each state’s own revenue and labor agencies, not from aggregators.
  • Every figure is tied to the tax year it applies to. When a number changes year to year, the year is stated next to it.
  • Where sources conflict, are ambiguous, or have not yet been published, the page says so plainly instead of guessing.
  • The calculation methodology, with citations, is documented separately on the methodology page.

Accuracy & corrections policy

PayslipIQ is researched carefully, but it is produced by people and tax rules are intricate. If you believe something on the site is wrong or out of date, tell us — we treat correction reports as a priority.

  • Report an issue to editorial@payslipiq.com with the page URL and what looks incorrect.
  • Confirmed errors are corrected promptly, and the page’s last-reviewed date is updated.
  • Every page already carries a visible last-reviewed date so you can see how current it is. The most recent site-wide review was May 2026.

Independence & funding

PayslipIQ is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the IRS, the SSA, the US Department of Labor, any state tax or labor agency, any employer, or any payroll provider. The core tools and explainers are free to use. Where PayslipIQ offers a paid report or links to a partner, that is clearly marked — and it never changes how a figure is calculated or how a page is written. Editorial content is kept separate from any commercial relationship.

What PayslipIQ is not

PayslipIQ is an educational explainer. It is not a CPA, an enrolled agent, a payroll provider, or a law firm, and nothing on the site is tax, legal, payroll, accounting, HR, employment, or financial advice. Results depend on what you enter and may be incomplete or inaccurate. A PayslipIQ result does not prove a paycheck is right or wrong. For anything that matters, verify with your payroll department, the relevant official source, or a qualified professional.

The editorial team

PayslipIQ is reviewed by an in-house editorial team with a payroll and compliance background. We are transparent that this is an in-house team rather than a panel of named, individually credentialed reviewers — and we hold the work to the documented standards above. The “Reviewed by” stamp on each page links here.

PI

PayslipIQ Editorial Team

in-house payroll editor

PayslipIQ's in-house editorial team reviews every cluster page for clarity, accuracy against federal and state-level payroll authorities, and absence of advice language. Every page is held to the standard documented on the methodology page.

Focus areas
IRS Pub 15-TFICA mechanicsstate withholdingpay-stub anatomyW-4 calibration
EL

Editorial Lead

reviewing editor

Reviewing editor with a payroll-and-compliance background. Final sign-off on every page covering tax withholding, state SDI/PFL, and federal benefits deductions. Every page lists the date of the most recent review.

Focus areas
payroll complianceeditorial standardsfact-checking against IRS / SSA / DOL

Credentialed reviewers welcome

PayslipIQ welcomes licensed CPAs, enrolled agents, and tax attorneys interested in reviewing cluster pages and contributing original explainers. Reviewers are credited by name and credential on every page they sign off. Email editorial@payslipiq.com with your credentials and area of expertise.

Related: calculation methodology · trust & safety · compliance