Pay Period Calculator
Find the pay period for any date (start, end and period number), the next payday, and how many paydays fall between two dates. Weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly and monthly, with bank-holiday adjustment.
Bank holidays follow the Federal Reserve schedule. Everything is calculated in your browser.
How the calculator works
- Schedule. Weekly and biweekly paydays repeat every 7 or 14 days from the payday you enter. Semi-monthly uses the 15th and the last day of the month; monthly uses the last day.
- Pay period. For weekly and biweekly pay, the period ends a fixed number of days before payday (the processing lag) and is 7 or 14 days long. Semi-monthly periods run 1st–15th and 16th–end of month.
- Period number. Paydays are numbered from the first payday of the calendar year, so #1 is the first check of the year.
- Holidays. A payday on a weekend or bank holiday moves to the business day before (or after, if you choose). Bank holidays follow the Federal Reserve: a Saturday holiday does not close banks on Friday.
Pay period calculator in Excel or Google Sheets
Put a known payday in cell A1 and the date to check in B1:
| What you want | Formula (biweekly) |
|---|---|
| Next payday after A1 | =A1+14 |
| Pay period number of the date in B1, counting A1 as #1 | =INT((B1-A1)/14)+1 |
| Pay period end for the date in B1 (period ends 6 days before payday) | =A1+14*CEILING((B1-A1+6)/14,1)-6 |
| Paydays from A1 through B1 | =INT((B1-A1)/14)+1 |
| Move a payday off weekends and holidays (list in H1:H11) | =WORKDAY(C1+1,-1,$H$1:$H$11) |
For weekly pay replace 14 with 7. For federal employees, use pay period 01's start date as A1 (see what pay period is it).
FAQ
How do I find my pay period start and end dates?
Enter any recent payday and how many days before payday your pay period ends (often 6 for a Sunday–Saturday period paid the next Friday). The calculator shows the period that contains any date, its number in the year and the payday.
How many pay periods are between two dates?
Choose 'Pick a date…' under 'Count paydays until' and set the end date; the calculator counts every payday from the date you check through that end date.
How do I calculate pay periods in Excel?
Put a known payday in A1. Next payday: =A1+14 (biweekly) or =A1+7 (weekly). Pay period number for a date in B1: =INT((B1-A1)/14)+1. Paydays between two dates: =INT((B1-A1)/14)+1 when A1 is the first payday in the range. Use WORKDAY(date,-1,holidays)+1 style formulas to move dates off weekends and holidays.
More pay period tools
Sources and method
Pay dates move off weekends and bank holidays. Bank holidays follow the Federal Reserve schedule (a federal holiday on Sunday closes banks on Monday; a holiday on Saturday does not close banks on Friday). Federal office closures follow OPM (Saturday holidays observed Friday, Sunday holidays Monday) and are used for work-day counts and federal pay periods. Tax-year treatment follows IRS Publication 15. Federal pay periods follow the NFC/OPM 14-day cycle. How these calendars are built and checked.
- OPM: Federal holidays
- Federal Reserve: Holiday schedule (banks closed)
- IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide
- USDA National Finance Center (federal pay period calendar)
Last reviewed: . Found a wrong date? Tell us and we will fix it.