Pay Cycles and Periods

This section covers the timing vocabulary that shapes payroll operations: pay periods, pay frequencies, approval cutoffs, and the gap between work dates and pay dates.

Use it when the main question is when payroll happens, which dates belong in a run, and how the cycle affects earnings and deductions.

Current pages:

• Pay Frequency explains how often payroll repeats for a given employee group.
• Payroll Calendar explains the full planned schedule of pay periods, cutoffs, and pay dates.
• Payroll Cutoff explains the deadline after which ordinary changes usually stop flowing into the current run.
• Partial Pay Period explains payroll treatment when the employee is active for only part of the normal cycle.
• Pay Period explains the work window included in a payroll run.
• Pay Date explains when payroll payment is actually issued.
• Weekly Payroll explains a regular once-a-week payroll cadence.
• Biweekly Payroll explains the common every-two-weeks payroll schedule.
• Semi-Monthly Payroll explains twice-a-month payroll tied to calendar dates.
• Monthly Payroll explains a once-a-month payroll schedule.
• Off-Cycle Payroll explains extra payroll runs outside the normal cadence.

In this section

• Biweekly Payroll
  What biweekly payroll means, how it works in payroll operations, and how it differs from weekly and semi-monthly payroll.
• Monthly Payroll
  What monthly payroll means, how it affects payroll timing, and how it differs from more frequent payroll schedules.
• Off-Cycle Payroll
  What off-cycle payroll means, why employers run it, and how it differs from a regular payroll schedule.
• Partial Pay Period
  What a partial pay period means, when it happens in payroll, and why shorter active-period pay often needs closer review.
• Pay Date
  What a pay date means in payroll, how it differs from the pay period, and why it controls when employees should actually receive pay.
• Pay Frequency
  What pay frequency means in payroll, how it shapes the payroll schedule, and why it differs from the pay date or pay period.
• Pay Period
  What a pay period is in payroll, how it affects timing and calculations, and how it differs from pay date and workweek.
• Payroll Calendar
  What a payroll calendar means, how payroll teams use it, and why payroll needs more than just a simple pay frequency label.
• Payroll Cutoff
  What a payroll cutoff means, why it matters to payroll timing, and how it controls which changes make it into the current run.
• Semi-Monthly Payroll
  What semi-monthly payroll means, how it works in payroll timing, and how it differs from biweekly payroll.
• Weekly Payroll
  What weekly payroll means, how it affects payroll timing, and why it differs from other pay frequency choices.