Using Your Online Paystub in Financial Planning
From ITS Wiki
by Stacie Yates
If I could share one piece of technology information or advice with the faculty and staff, I’d remind them that the Online Paystub available on CentreNet can be an extremely useful tax and financial planning tool with a bit of review and upkeep. With (at this point) up to a decade’s worth of paystub history available for review, you can not only see how your current tax year is shaping up, you can compare it to previous years. This history is accessible as long as you have access to your Centre network account, and for those of you who prefer hard copies, these can easily be printed from the browser. The Online Paystub shows all the detail which was previously available on printed paystubs and then some. All of your deductions and employer-paid benefits are there, with both per-payroll and year to date figures. Instead of waiting for your W-2 to arrive and possibly receiving a nasty shock about the size of your refund, you can easily keep up with your deductions and withholdings on each paystub and decide if you need to visit Human Resources to adjust your withholdings by filing a new W-4, change your supplemental retirement contribution, plan to change your Flexible Spending Account contributions, or choose a new benefit option when benefit enrollment comes around. Seeing your totals for a particular tax year is as easy as reviewing the last paystub you received that calendar year.
Your account nicknames can also be used to help you budget for a special purpose. You can have Human Resources name your accounts according to their purpose. For example, you may have part of your direct deposit directed to “Household Account” while the rest goes to “College Fund”. You can also have your account nicknames changed to reflect their current purpose and keep a running history. This year, you might contribute monthly to “Disneyland Vacation” and next year, you can contribute to “Virginia Beach Trip”. By changing your account nicknames according to their purpose, you can check back in a few years to see just how much you originally budgeted for that favorite vacation spot.