Accounting



What is the difference between biweekly and semimonthly payroll?

Biweekly payroll involves paydays that occur 26 times per year, such as every other Friday.

Semimonthly payroll refers to paydays that occur 24 times per year, such as paydays that occur on the 15th day and the last day of every month.

Learn more about Payroll Accounting.

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About the Author: Harold Averkamp (CPA) has worked as an accountant, consultant, and university accounting instructor for more than 25 years.

He is the author of the 2010 Master Accounting Download Package which has been praised for it's ability to simplify accounting in a way that anybody can understand.




Comments

9 Responses to “What is the difference between biweekly and semimonthly payroll?”

  1. MJ on June 5th, 2008 10:22 am

    Is there any federal law that governs the following:

    Based on semi-monthly payroll, when is it appropriate for an employer to pay its employees if the 15th day or the last day of the month occurs on a weekend day?

    Thank you for your assistance.

  2. SB on August 8th, 2009 11:04 am

    When I do the maths comparing a Monthly pay versus i bi-weekly pay method, companies are ripping off their staff by hundreds of dollars for example:

    The Monthly pay of someone earning 12000/yr

    12000/12=1000 per month

    Bi-weekly

    12000/13=923.07 they take longer to pay you while saving for their expensive toys.

  3. ACoach on August 8th, 2009 11:29 am

    I do not believe there is a ripping off.
    The first biweekly paycheck will occur in 14 days, whereas the first salaried check would occur in 15 days. The second biweekly check will occur after a total of 28 days, the second semimonthly check will occur after a total of 31 days. Many people prefer to be paid every two weeks (such as every other Friday) instead of twice per month. (Or every 28 days instead of the last day of every month.) As you pointed out, the total annual salary is the same $12,000.

  4. J on August 24th, 2009 12:50 pm

    There is no ripping off assuming the employee continues working through more than a 12 month period. Whether you pay the annual salary amount in 12, 24 or 26 increments, the dollar amount for the annual salary is still the same. Its just divvied up in different chunks.

    The problem you are observing is a “temporary” one and would only truly impact an employees pay if they quit or were terminated in such a way that the pay cycle wasn’t “even”. But that would legally have to be resolved in their final paycheck. In other words, if they were “short” because of the way pay periods had fallen, the employer would be required to make up the difference in that final pay check. They can’t just not pay someone based on an accident of the calendar.

  5. Blanchard MABIDI on December 4th, 2009 9:46 am

    I think, beyond people who do not have an accounting background, there is another group of those who have this background but want to understand this branch with english vocabulary.(this is my case who want to improve my business english),although I learn accounting in french.

  6. chiropody manchester on March 3rd, 2010 9:55 pm

    Certainly got us thinking here are work, expect a few replies later

  7. DE on June 29th, 2010 10:44 am

    Thank you MJ !

    :)

  8. Jackie on August 12th, 2010 5:13 pm

    Does an employer have any obligations to paying their employees on a friday as opossed to monday, if the 15th or 30th falls on a weekend?

  9. bc on August 15th, 2010 9:16 pm

    I’m also interested to know the answer to Jackie’s question above.

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