How we check pay stubs

When you upload a pay stub (PNG, JPG, WebP or PDF, up to 8MB), it is read in memory by an AI document reader and used once — to generate your explanation. It is not written to disk, not logged, and not kept after your report is returned. If live reading is ever unavailable, you are shown a clearly-labelled example instead; the report always says which one you are looking at.

The reader is instructed to extract only what is visibly on the document. It is not allowed to invent amounts. Standard lines that cannot be seen — for example vacation pay on a stub that does not show it — are reported as “Not shown” rather than guessed.

Every extracted line carries a confidence tag. High means the value was clearly legible and unambiguous. Medium means it was readable but the label or context required interpretation. Low means the value was partially legible or its meaning is uncertain — treat it as a prompt to look at your original document, not as a fact. Not visible means the line simply is not on the document. The overall percentage on your report reflects how much of the document could be read cleanly.

A red flag is raised only for something genuinely worth checking: an unlabelled deduction, a statutory amount that looks out of step with the visible earnings, a missing line that provincial rules normally require, or an inconsistency between year-to-date columns. Red flags are deliberately worded as questions to ask payroll, never as accusations — an unusual line is far more often an unexplained code than an error.

The written guides across this site — deductions, documents, wage issues, provinces, Quebec and the glossary — are grounded in publicly available CRA, Revenu Québec and provincial employment-standards guidance, and carry a visible last-reviewed date (currently 2026-08-13). Editorial responsibility sits with Rocco Clayfield, Founder, Director & Editor-in-Chief. Corrections are welcome at hello@paystubiq.com.

It will never tell you your employer definitely made an error. It will never estimate amounts it cannot see. It does not file anything, contact anyone, or store your document. And it is not a substitute for the CRA, Revenu Québec, an accountant, a lawyer or your provincial employment standards office — for official decisions, those are the right doors, and our dispute guide explains when to use them.