{"id":24526,"date":"2024-04-16T15:37:56","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T13:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clockify.me\/blog\/?p=24526"},"modified":"2026-04-28T02:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T00:00:00","slug":"semi-monthly-vs-bi-weekly-payroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clockify.me\/blog\/workforce-management\/semi-monthly-vs-bi-weekly-payroll\/","title":{"rendered":"Semi-Monthly vs. Bi-Weekly Payroll: Pros & Cons + Expert Take"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Semi-monthly and bi-weekly are two popular payroll options. Semi-monthly payroll is issued twice a month, while bi-weekly payroll is issued every 2 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this sounds confusing \u2014 it\u2019s because these 2 payroll schedules are quite similar. In this article, we\u2019ll go into detail about semi-monthly vs. bi-weekly payroll.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Semi-Monthly<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What is semi-monthly payroll?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Semi-monthly payroll is a payment schedule in which employees are paid twice a month. These are usually fixed dates, such as the 1st and 15th day of the month or the 15th and 30th. So, employees who get their salary on a semi-monthly basis receive 24 paychecks each year. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Semi-monthly<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Track payroll in Clockify<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is bi-weekly payroll?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bi-weekly payroll is a payment schedule where employees are paid every 2 weeks on a specific day of the week. This can mean that employees are paid every second Thursday, for example. As there are 52 weeks (sometimes 53 due to a leap year) in a year, employees on a bi-weekly pay schedule receive 26 paychecks (sometimes 27 due to leap years and the company\u2019s payroll cycle).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, due to a higher payroll frequency, paychecks are usually smaller than those for semi-monthly pay.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Bi-weekly<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How many paydays in a month\/year?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The number of paydays in a month usually depends on a specific payroll schedule the employer chooses: bi-weekly or semi-monthly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semi-monthly payroll includes 24 payments a year, meaning there are 2 paydays every month. Meanwhile, because there are 52 (sometimes 53) weeks in a year, employees who get paid bi-weekly receive 26 (or 27) paychecks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because there are 2 months when they receive 3 paychecks instead of 2, and 10 months when they receive 2 paychecks.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Bi-weekly<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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If you need a guide on how to do payroll for a small business, check out this article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n