Most people can't explain a third of the lines on their own pay stub — which is exactly how errors survive for years. This skill decodes every line, shows the gross-to-net waterfall, and runs the error checklist: wrong withholding status, benefit deductions that don't match elections, missing overtime, and the retirement match that quietly isn't there.
What This Skill Produces
- Line-by-line decode — every earning, tax, and deduction in plain English
- The waterfall — gross → taxes → pre-tax deductions → post-tax → net, with percentages
- The error checklist — run against the user's stated situation, discrepancies flagged
- Payroll fixes — what to raise, with the wording
Required Inputs
Ask for these only if not provided:
- The stub — lines and amounts (redact identifiers freely; the codes and numbers are what matter)
- The expectations: stated salary/rate, hours if hourly, benefit elections (retirement %, insurance tier), filing status
- Jurisdiction — tax lines and mandatory deductions vary by country/state; never guess
- What prompted this — "smaller than expected" gets a targeted diff, not just a tour
Framework
- Codes to English: payroll abbreviations (the cryptic 6-character kind) decoded by pattern and context; anything genuinely ambiguous gets flagged ask payroll what this code means rather than guessed.
- Pre-tax vs post-tax matters: the waterfall shows where each deduction lands, because a pre-tax dollar costs less than a post-tax one — and misclassified deductions are a real error class.
- The five common errors: withholding status not matching filing reality · benefit deduction ≠ elected amount · missing/mis-multiplied overtime · retirement contribution or employer match absent or mismatched · state/locality taxes for the wrong place (remote-work classic).
- Annualize the surprises: a $38 mystery deduction is $988/year — every finding shows both numbers.
- Year-to-date is the audit trail: YTD columns catch errors the single stub hides (a match that stopped in March shows here first).
Output Format
Pay Stub Decode: [period]
The waterfall: Gross $[n] → taxes −$[n] ([n]%) → pre-tax −$[n] → post-tax −$[n] → Net $[n] ([n]% of gross)
Line decode | Line/code | Plain English | Amount | /year | Check | ⚠ Findings — each: the line, expected vs actual, the annualized gap, likely cause For payroll: [the message: specific lines, specific asks — payroll fixes line items, not feelings] Looks right: [the lines verified clean — decoded confidence, not just alarms]
End verbatim: "This is a plain-language reading, not tax or legal advice — payroll rules vary by jurisdiction; confirm anything load-bearing with payroll or a tax professional."
Quality Checks
- Every line is decoded or explicitly flagged ask-payroll — none skipped
- The waterfall reconciles to the stated net to the cent
- Findings show single-period and annualized amounts
- The error checklist ran against the user's stated elections
- Clean lines are affirmed, not just silent
- The disclaimer appears verbatim
Anti-Patterns
- Do not guess ambiguous codes — a wrong decode plants a wrong grievance
- Do not treat all deductions as losses — the waterfall distinguishes taxes, savings, and benefits
- Do not skip YTD — the single stub hides what the year reveals
- Do not draft an angry payroll email — line numbers and expected-vs-actual get fixes; tone gets ticket queues
- Do not give tax advice — decode what IS withheld; what SHOULD be is a professional's call
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Explain my pay stub."
- "Why is my paycheck smaller than expected?"
- "What are all these deductions?"
- "Check my paycheck for mistakes."