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Biweekly means 26. Sometimes 27. Here's why.
Biweekly payroll covers 26 pay periods a year. Semimonthly covers 24. Those counts set your per-period salary amounts, benefits deductions, and cash flow baseline, and they hold annually, with one exception.
Every 11 years, a biweekly calendar includes 27 paydays instead of 26. 2031 is next. Plan for now and it runs like any other period. Salary structure, benefits proration, and cash flow stay on track.
SurePayroll By Paychex is built for this. Set your pay frequency once. The platform flags the 27th period when it arrives, holds your per-period amounts, and runs every cycle on your schedule.
How pay periods work: The numbers behind your payroll schedule
There are four common pay frequencies: weekly (52 per year), biweekly (26), semi-monthly (24), and monthly (12).
Your payroll schedule determines the pay cycle and the per-period amount, even when the annual salary stays the same.
If you’re processing biweekly payroll, you’re using the most common pay period schedules in the country: 43% of private businesses use it, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Biweekly payroll processing means you pay on the same day of the week, every two weeks. Schedule semimonthly and you pay on fixed calendar dates, typically the 1st and 15th, or the 15th and the last day of the month. One follows the week; the other follows the calendar.
That distinction shapes how you calculate per-period pay for salaried employees, how you track overtime for hourly workers, and how you manage pay dates that fall on weekends or holidays.
Need help choosing the right schedule? See which payroll schedule fits your small business.
What 26 annual paychecks mean for your payrollBiweekly pay periods: what 26 annual paychecks mean for your payroll
Pay biweekly and you pay on the same day every two weeks: 26 pay periods in a standard year. Predictable pay dates, predictable payroll costs, and a pay cycle your team can plan around.
Salaried employees
Divide the annual salary by 26 to get the per-period amount. A full-time employee earning $52,000 annually receives $2,000 per biweekly pay period. That per-period amount sets your annual tax withholdings and benefits deductions. Confirm per-period amounts with the salary paycheck calculator before you process payroll.
Two months each year carry three pay dates instead of two. Flag them when you set your payroll calendar — you’ll fund three pay periods instead of two in those months.
Hourly workers
For hourly workers, the math is direct: Total timesheet hours for the two-week period multiplied by the hourly rate. Your pay period and your tracking window are the same, which keeps overtime straightforward. You track hours and calculate overtime by workweek, not pay period.
Use the free hourly paycheck calculator to estimate take-home pay before processing payroll.
Automate your payroll process and pay dates to land on schedule. Set it once, and it holds.
SurePayroll carries your biweekly schedule and per-period amounts across every cycle. Adjustments and recalculations happen when you make them.
“Payroll takes less than 5 minutes every other week to process — could not ask for a better product!”
— Tony, Trustpilot review
What 24 annual paychecks mean for your payrollSemimonthly pay periods: what 24 annual paychecks mean for your payroll
Semimonthly payroll pays on the same two calendar dates each month: the 1st and 15th, or the 15th and the last day of the month. Fixed math, fixed pay dates. Your employees know exactly when direct deposit hits.
The per-period calculationThe per-period calculation
Divide the annual salary by 24. A full-time employee earning $52,000 annually receives $2,166.67 per semimonthly period, slightly larger than biweekly, same annual total. That per-period amount sets your annual payroll deductions, tax withholdings, and benefits calculations.
When a pay date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, move it to the prior business day. Build every exception into your payroll calendar before January. One upfront decision means fewer adjustments across 24 pay periods.
Hourly workers
Hourly workers on a semimonthly schedule add complexity. Your pay periods don’t align with workweeks. A payroll service can help bridge that gap.
Your pay periods span from the 1st to the 15th, or from the 16th to the last day of the month, regardless of which day of the week those dates fall on.
Your pay period can start on a Wednesday and end on a Tuesday. You track hours and calculate overtime on a workweek basis, not a pay period basis, and you reconcile timesheets that span two periods.
Use the hourly paycheck calculator or a payroll system that bridges workweeks across period boundaries so you’re not calculating that manually every pay period.
Semimonthly works best for salaried employees. If you also have hourly workers, use a payroll service like SurePayroll that bridges workweeks across period boundaries consistently every cycle.
The 27th pay period: what it is, when it happens, and how to plan for it
Biweekly payroll includes 26 annual periods, covering 364 days. A standard calendar year has 365 days (366 in a leap year).
That one-day gap adds up until your biweekly calendar reaches 27 periods instead of 26, roughly every 11 years. According to the Government Finance Officers Association, the last occurrence was 2020. The next is 2031.
This is not a payroll error. It’s calendar math. With five years before 2031, you account for it now and process it like any other pay period.
You adjust three things in a 27 pay period year.
Salary amounts
Divide by 27 instead of 26. An employee earning $52,000 annually receives $1,925.93 per period instead of $2,000. The annual total stays the same. Update per-period amounts in your payroll system before the first payroll cycle of 2031.
Benefits deductionsBenefits deductions
If you structure benefits deductions around 26 pay periods, you’ll carry an overage on the 27th. Review your deduction settings before January 2031 and adjust per-period amounts so the full-year total stays correct. Most payroll providers handle this with a per-period recalculation you confirm annually.
Learn more about how payroll deductions work.
Cash flow
You fund one additional pay date that year. If you have four employees each earning $52,000, that’s one extra $8,000 payout to factor into your annual payroll plan. Reserve it before each new year.
Semimonthly payroll stays on fixed calendar dates: 24 every year, no gap, no extra period.
“I own a small company and it’s important to know where your money is when you deal with small margins. It’s allowed me to start paying my employees weekly again at no extra charge.”
— John, Google review
Building your annual payroll calendar
Your payroll calendar is where period counts, per-period salary amounts, and the 2031 flag all live before the year starts.
At the start of each year, confirm your pay dates before you run payroll for the first time.
Biweekly: Flag the two months with three pay dates.
Semimonthly: Mark every pay date that falls on a weekend or holiday and set when it shifts.
Lock in per-period salary amounts for every salaried employee and verify deduction totals. Set a payroll cost baseline for hourly staff based on typical hours: not a rigid forecast, but a reference for cash flow planning throughout.
These steps — flagging exceptions, confirming dates, locking in amounts — add up across 26 pay periods.
According to Paychex research, switching from manual to online payroll saves businesses up to 120 hours a year. Set up your payroll account once, and your settings carry forward from there.
Set your pay frequency in SurePayroll By Paychex. Your per-period amounts and calendar exceptions carry forward across every cycle.
Set your schedule. SurePayroll automates it.
You know the counts now — 26 biweekly pay periods in standard years, 24 for semimonthly. You know what to flag and when to adjust.
SurePayroll By Paychex executes the calendar you built. Set your pay frequency, pay date, and per-period amounts. SurePayroll holds them across every cycle and keeps withholdings consistent.
This content is for educational purposes only, is not intended to provide specific legal advice, and should not be used as a substitute for the legal advice of a qualified attorney or other professional. The information may not reflect the most current legal developments, may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct, or up to date
