Glossary
What is a pay period (and a payroll cycle)?
Also known as: Payroll cycle, Pay cycle.
A pay period is the span of time a single payroll run covers, such as a calendar month or a fortnight, while the payroll cycle is the repeating schedule of cut-off dates, processing and pay dates that produces each run.
The pay period decides what is counted; the cut-off decides when it stops being counted for that run. Attendance, leave and any mid-period joiner or leaver are tallied up to the cut-off, which is why a clean payable-days count matters.
Cycles differ by country and company, so there is no single right schedule. A tool can lay out the cut-off and pay dates once you set your own pay day and lead time, but the statutory deadlines, where they exist, are yours to confirm.
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