---
name: mohitagw15856/pay-stub-decoder
source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/mohitagw15856-pay-stub-decoder@1/SKILL.md
source_sha256: 75dc53d6450e
---

# Pay Stub Decoder Skill

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

1. **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.
2. **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.
3. **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).
4. **Annualize the surprises:** a $38 mystery deduction is $988/year — every finding shows both numbers.
5. **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