Payroll schedule template

A clear payroll schedule helps you pay your team on time, stay compliant, and build trust across your organization. Use this payroll calendar template to set up and share your company’s pay schedule, whether you pay monthly, semi-monthly, or biweekly.

What is a payroll schedule?

A payroll schedule defines when and how often you pay employees. It’s the foundation for your entire payroll process and determines when hours are tracked, when payroll is processed, and when taxes are due.

There are four common pay schedules in the US:

A consistent payroll schedule helps you:

• Build employee trust

• Helps forecast cash flow

• Reduces payroll processing errors

• Makes tax reporting and audits easier

How many biweekly pay periods are there in a year?

There are 26 biweekly pay periods in most years, although this can change to 27 in rare leap years (depending on your calendar and first pay date). Learn more about pay periods in the US.

Can you switch pay frequencies mid-year?

Yes, but it requires careful communication and adjustments to contracts, tax deposits, and systems.

Payroll calendar template

You can use this template to build and visualize your annual payroll schedule. Update each row with your company’s actual pay periods and pay dates.

Top tip: For biweekly payroll, plan 26 pay periods starting from your first pay date of the year. Aim to avoid conflicts with national holidays by scheduling early runs.

Things to remember when setting a payroll schedule

Decide on your pay frequency (biweekly, semi-monthly, etc.), but ensure that it is compliant with state requirements — especially if you have employees in multiple states.

To see a full breakdown of pay frequency requirements by state, check out our free US State Explorer tool.

You should also ensure that you:

• Choose a fixed payday (e.g., every other Friday)

• Determine cut-off periods for work hours

• Build a full-year payroll calendar

• Communicate the schedule to your team

• Account for public holidays and year-end adjustments

• Sync payroll deadlines with your provider or accounting system

• Align your schedule with tax deposit deadlines

Is biweekly better than semi-monthly?

Biweekly makes budgeting easier for hourly workers and improves processing rhythm, but semi-monthly aligns better with monthly reporting. You should choose based on employee type, internal needs, and state law requirements.

Want to automate your payroll calendar?

Creating and managing a payroll calendar manually takes time, and missing a pay run can erode employee trust.

Remote’s global payroll system automatically builds and manages your pay schedule, handles pay periods across time zones, and ensures your team gets paid on time — every time.

With Remote, you:

• Never miss a pay run

• Stay compliant with local tax and holiday rules

• Get a synced payroll calendar, built into your platform

• Can handle biweekly, monthly, or custom pay periods with ease

To learn more about how Remote can help, speak to one of our friendly experts today.