The Payroll Annualizer estimates annual wages, deductions, withholding, and net payroll from amounts you enter from a paystub. It saves separate annualizer records for the open client; it does not automatically update Profile income or a tax scenario.

You can also select Paystub Analyzer in the Calculators panel on Planning → Taxes → Overview, even without a tax scenario, or search for “Payroll Annualizer” or “paystub” in the command bar.

In Present mode, use the header's calculator icon and select Payroll Annualizer.

The first annualizer is created automatically when a client has none. Use a separate record for each job or set of assumptions you want to preserve. Have the paystub's pay date, year-to-date amounts, regular per-paycheck amounts, and expected remaining paychecks available before entering figures.

In the Payroll Annualizer, identify the job and the dates before entering paystub lines. The date range and pay frequency determine the calculated remaining pay periods.

Edits save as fields change; there is no separate Save button. Person and Job label identify the record but do not import payroll data or connect the output to an income record.

Changing Tax year does not move the dates or apply that year's contribution limits. Review both dates and any manually entered annual maximum when reusing an annualizer for a different year.

For recurring lines in the Payroll Annualizer's Paystub worksheet, enter the amount for a regular paycheck in Pay period and the accumulated amount through the selected pay date in YTD. The Annual result is YTD plus Pay period multiplied by the remaining pay periods, subject to any entered maximum. Negative Pay period, YTD, and annual-only amounts count as zero; use verified corrected totals rather than a separate negative reversal line.

For example, $50,000 YTD plus $5,000 for each of 10 remaining paychecks produces $100,000 before any cap. The selected pay date's paycheck belongs in YTD; remaining periods count later paychecks.

Use the matching category for Gross wages, pre-tax retirement deferrals, Section 125 deductions, other pre-tax deductions, post-tax deductions, federal or state withholding, and non-taxable reimbursements. Category determines how a line affects taxable wages and net payroll. A descriptive name does not change that treatment.

Use Add line within a category for multiple items. The trash icon removes a line immediately. Check the source paystub before splitting amounts so that gross wages and separately entered compensation do not count the same pay twice.

The Payroll Annualizer treats Bonus, Overtime income, and Tip income as annual amounts. Enter the full amount you intend to include for the year in the Annual column for each of those categories.

These rows do not offer per-pay-period or YTD entry in the current worksheet. Their amounts are not multiplied by Pay periods remaining, and Annual max does not apply to them.

If the paystub shows a $5,000 bonus already paid and you expect another $3,000, enter $8,000 as the annual bonus assumption. Record the distinction between actual pay and the additional assumption in your supporting notes; the number in this field is not necessarily an amount already received.

Use a separate annualizer copy when you want to compare different bonus or overtime assumptions while preserving the original estimate.

Check the Payroll Annualizer's Pay date, End date, and Pay frequency against the employer's actual schedule. The calculation counts pay dates after Pay date through End date, including a paycheck on End date.

Weekly and biweekly counts advance in seven- and fourteen-day steps. Monthly counts advance by calendar month, adjusting when a month lacks that day. Semimonthly uses a fifteenth-and-month-end pattern, which may not match an employer's actual dates or holiday adjustments.

If the count differs from the known remaining paychecks, enter the correct number in Pay periods remaining. That manual number stays in use when you change dates or frequency.

Clearing the field saves a manual zero. Select the circular-arrow button beside the field to return to a calculated count.

Invalid dates, or a Pay date on or after End date, produce zero calculated remaining periods. Confirm that zero really means no later paychecks before relying on an annual amount that contains only YTD pay.

In the Payroll Annualizer, Annual max is an optional cap you supply for an individual deduction line. It is available for pre-tax retirement deferrals, the two other pre-tax deduction categories, and post-tax deductions.

The calculation takes the smaller of the annualized line amount and the entered maximum. Max applied appears when the cap reduces the result. Leave Annual max blank when no cap should apply; entering zero caps the line at zero.

A maximum applies to that line alone. The tool does not coordinate a shared contribution limit across multiple lines, jobs, or annualizers, and it does not determine the client's legal contribution limit from Person or Tax year.

Check the cap against amounts already paid. An entered maximum less than YTD can reduce the annual result to less than actual deductions to date. Confirm the intended cap and classification from the client's records rather than treating Max applied as an eligibility check.

The Payroll Annualizer's Outputs update from the current worksheet and remaining-period count. Each output reflects the amounts and categories you entered.

Review what each output includes before comparing it with a tax return or bank deposit.

The Payroll Annualizer does not automatically calculate or subtract Social Security and Medicare tax withholding. Its net-pay formula subtracts only the deductions and federal and state withholding represented in the worksheet.

Check for missing payroll deductions, tax withholding, and differences between the assumed remaining paychecks and the actual schedule. To include a verified payroll reduction that should reduce net pay without reducing taxable wages, use a clearly named line in Post-tax deductions. This category changes net payroll but does not calculate the tax or verify the amount for you.

Avoid counting a deduction twice if it is already included in another entered total. Also check whether a one-time amount was placed in a recurring line, where it would be repeated for every remaining paycheck.

Use Monthly net payroll as an estimate to reconcile, not confirmation of what will reach the bank. A pay change, unpaid period, contribution limit, or missing withholding can make a straight annualization unsuitable.

Payroll Annualizer results stay in the annualizer until you carry the appropriate amounts into the client's planning inputs. Selecting Person does not update that person's Profile income or a tax scenario.

For Taxes, Federal taxable wages is already reduced by the entered pre-tax deductions. Review the destination scenario's Wage income override or Wage worksheet before transferring it so those deductions are not subtracted again. A household wage total also needs to include any other jobs or people relevant to the scenario; one annualizer does not automatically combine every client record.

In the scenario’s Inputs → Payments, enter Federal withholding in W-2 under Federal withholding, and the annual state-withholding total in State withholding. These fields are in Withholding & payments.

Include withholding from other relevant jobs and people in those household totals. Why Do Taxes Paid or Projected Taxes Look Unexpected? covers the wage-reconciliation and payment-entry procedures.

For cash flow, compare the annualizer's net-pay estimate with actual payroll records before adjusting Profile. Cash Flow: Income, Savings, Spending, Debt Payments, and Giving explains the source-entry workflow. Do not replace gross income with net pay while continuing to subtract the same savings, deductions, or taxes elsewhere.

Use the Payroll Annualizer tabs to select the record you intend to change. These records are separate from the tax scenarios in Planning Taxes.

To preserve an estimate before trying different pay assumptions, select Copy under Scenario actions. The copy opens with the same saved inputs and a name ending in “copy.” Change Scenario name to identify the new assumption; editing its lines changes that copied record.

Select New for a fresh annualizer with default empty lines instead of copied amounts. Review its dates and frequency before use.

Delete removes the selected annualizer from the active tabs immediately, without a confirmation dialog. It is disabled when only one active annualizer remains.

Line-level trash icons also remove their rows immediately. Confirm the selected record or line before deleting; the page does not offer an undo control.