Payslip

Published Wednesday 30 September 2026

Table of contents

• What is a payslip?
• What a payslip must include in Singapore
• Common payslip deductions
• Gross pay vs net pay
• Employer rules for issuing payslips
• How to create a payslip
• Simplify your payroll records with Xero
• FAQs on payslips
• Related terms
• Learn more about payslips

Key takeaways

• A payslip records what an employee earned, what was deducted and what they took home for a pay period
• Singapore employers must give itemised payslips to employees covered by the Employment Act, within three working days of paying them
• A standard deduction is the employee's Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution, while employer CPF is paid on top of salary
• You need to keep payslip records for the latest two years, and hold a former employee's records for one year after they leave

What is a payslip?

A payslip is a document you give an employee each payday. It shows their total earnings for the pay period, the deductions taken off and the amount they receive.

Payslips cover income from a monthly salary, hourly wages, commission or a mix of these. You might also hear them called pay slips, salary slips, pay stubs or pay advice.

Say you hire your first employee, a sales assistant paid a salary plus commission. Each month, her payslip lists both amounts, less deductions, so she can see how her take-home pay was worked out. It can also show extra details, such as how much annual leave she's used or has left.

Employees often use recent payslips as proof of income. A bank may ask for them with a loan application, and a landlord may want them before approving a rental.

What a payslip must include in Singapore

Singapore sets out the details every payslip should contain, which keeps your payroll process transparent for employees. According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), an itemised payslip should show:

• your full name as the employer
• the employee's full name
• the date you paid the employee
• basic salary, or for hourly, daily or piece-rated staff, the basic rate and the hours, days or pieces worked
• the start and end dates of the salary period
• allowances, both fixed and ad hoc
• other extra payments, such as bonuses, rest day pay and public holiday pay
• deductions, both fixed (such as employee CPF) and ad hoc (such as no-pay leave)
• overtime hours worked
• overtime pay
• overtime period dates, if they differ from the salary period
• net salary paid

You can leave out any item that isn't relevant, such as overtime for staff who didn't work any. If you pay an employee more than once a month, you can issue one consolidated payslip covering every payment since the last one.

Common payslip deductions

Deductions reduce an employee's gross pay to the amount they take home. The most common ones on a Singapore payslip are:

• the employee's CPF contribution
• no-pay leave
• absence from work
• other deductions the employee has agreed to in writing, such as insurance premiums

CPF rates depend on age and residency status. From 1 January 2026, employees aged 55 and below who earn over S$750 a month contribute 20% of their wages. Their employer adds 17%, for a total of 37%.

These rates apply to Singapore Citizens and to Singapore permanent residents (SPRs) from their third year onwards, and they're lower for older age bands. The CPF Board sets the 2026 Ordinary Wage ceiling at S$8,000 a month, so contributions apply to ordinary wages up to that amount.

CPF covers Singapore Citizens and SPRs only, so foreign employees on work passes stay outside the scheme. Your employer contribution may appear on the payslip, but you pay it on top of salary, so the employee's pay stays the same.

Reimbursements work the other way. When an employee claims back travel or mileage costs, the amount appears as an addition, because it repays money they spent for your business.

Gross pay vs net pay

Gross pay is an employee's total earnings for the pay period before any deductions. Net pay is what's left after deductions, and it's the amount that reaches their bank account.

Take a Singapore Citizen aged 30 with a basic salary of S$4,000 and a S$200 transport allowance. Their gross pay is S$4,200. Their 20% CPF contribution is S$840, which leaves net pay of S$3,360.

As the employer, you also contribute 17%, or S$714, on top of their salary. Tracking both figures in your small business accounting shows the full cost of each employee.

Employer rules for issuing payslips

Since 1 April 2016, you must issue itemised payslips to all employees covered by the Employment Act. Under MOM's itemised payslip rules, you need to:

• give the payslip with the payment, or within three working days of paying
• issue it as a soft or hard copy, with handwritten payslips also accepted
• hand over a payslip with the outstanding salary when you end someone's employment or dismiss them
• keep payslip records from the latest two years for current employees
• keep a former employee's records from their last two years for one year after they leave

Payslips once came as paper slips attached to a cheque or tucked into a wages envelope. Today, many are emailed to employees or shared online, which makes them easier to store and find.

How to create a payslip

You can create a payslip yourself in four steps, or outsource payroll to a provider who handles it for you.

1. Gather employee and pay details

Start with the employee's full name, your business name, the salary period and the payment date. Add their basic salary or rate, plus any allowances, overtime and leave taken. A payslip template gives you a ready-made layout for these details.

2. Calculate gross pay

Add up basic salary, allowances, overtime pay and extra payments such as bonuses. The total is the employee's gross pay for the period.

3. Work out deductions and net pay

Subtract the employee's CPF contribution and any other deductions, such as no-pay leave. What's left is net pay, the amount you'll transfer to the employee.

4. Issue the payslip and keep a record

Share the payslip with the employee by the deadline, then keep a copy and record the pay run in your books. To save time each month, you can use payroll apps that connect with Xero to generate payslips automatically.

Simplify your payroll records with Xero

When you connect a payroll app to Xero, pay data flows straight into your accounting records. You get a clear view of wage costs alongside the rest of your finances. Compare plans and get one month free when you sign up.

FAQs on payslips

Here are answers to common questions about payslips in Singapore.

Is a payslip the same as a pay stub?

Yes, they're the same document. In Singapore, the official term is “itemised payslip”, which is the wording MOM uses in its guidance.

Can an employee ask for a copy of an old payslip?

Employers must keep payslip records for two years, so recent payslips should be available if an employee asks. For older payslips, employees are better off saving their own copy each month.

Do part-time employees get payslips?

Yes, if they're covered by the Employment Act, which applies to most employees. Seafarers, domestic workers, civil servants and statutory board employees fall outside the Act.

Does a payslip show income tax?

Generally not, because Singapore employers don't usually withhold income tax from residents' salaries. Employees pay their own income tax to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), based on the income details employers report each year.

Are payslips needed for self-employed people?

Self-employed people have no employer to issue a payslip. They show their income with invoices and business records instead.

Related terms

• Payroll
• Payroll records
• Income tax

Learn more about payslips

• Employee retention strategies
• How to do bookkeeping
• Payment guides