Your pay

• Reading the Pay screen

  The Pay screen shows what your cheque should be: what you earned, what comes off, and your take-home pay.

• Why your estimate can differ from your cheque

  Paycheq uses CRA's payroll formulas and your province's or contract's rules, but it can't see your employer's payroll system. Small differences are normal.

• Entering a cheque stub

  Copy the numbers from your real pay stub into Paycheq to see how close the estimate was, and to keep your CPP and EI totals right. Comparing with your cheque is part of Paycheq Pro.

• CPP and EI and the yearly maximums

  CPP and EI come off every cheque until you've paid the most you owe for the year. After that, nothing more comes off until January, so your cheques get bigger.

• Adding pay from before you started using Paycheq

  If you start using Paycheq partway through the year, tell it what you've already earned and paid this year. That way CPP and EI stop at the yearly maximum at the right time, just as they do on your real cheques.

• Vacation pay

  Vacation pay is a percentage of your earnings, set by your province or the federal Code. Some employers add it to every cheque; others save it up and pay it when you take vacation.

• Exporting shifts and pay summaries

  Send your shifts to a spreadsheet, or a pay summary as a PDF, to keep records, check your pay, or share with a union rep or accountant.