What Is Semi-Monthly Pay?
Semi-monthly pay, also known as bi-monthly pay and sometimes twice-monthly pay, is a payroll method that pays employees twice per month. It uses two set dates throughout the month as its paydays, like the 1st and 15th. This results in 24 paychecks per year, exactly twice that of a traditional monthly pay schedule.
How does semi-monthly pay work?
A semi-monthly schedule fixes two calendar dates as paydays and pays 24 times a year. When a payday lands on a weekend or public holiday, most companies pay on the last working day before it. The two patterns you will actually meet:
| Pattern | Covers |
|---|---|
| 1st and 15th | The 1st pays the second half of the previous month; the 15th pays the first half of the current one. |
| 15th and last day | Each payday covers the half-month that just ended — the tighter, more common variant. |
For salaried employees each paycheck is identical: 2,080 annual hours ÷ 24 periods = 86.67 hours per period, whatever the calendar does. For hourly employees the periods genuinely differ — a half-month holds anywhere from 9 to 12 working days — so the paycheck follows the actual hours; our free pay period calculator shows the working days in any period. If Gusto is your payroll system, Gusto time tracking in WebWork turns those tracked hours into a payroll export in Gusto’s native format. That variability is the biggest practical difference from weekly pay, where every period is the same length.
What are the advantages of semi-monthly pay?
You can use semi-monthly pay as an employee perk at your business. Lots of professionals appreciate the increased frequency of bimonthly paychecks over the traditional monthly payroll. This can provide them with a greater degree of financial flexibility, allowing them to manage their finances more efficiently.
What are the disadvantages of semi-monthly pay?
Semi-monthly pay’s main disadvantage is that your business will have to process a higher number of transactions each year compared to traditional monthly payments. As a result, you’ll pay more transaction fees over the long run, especially if there are any flat fees involved.
This same drawback applies to other unconventional payroll strategies, like weekly payroll.
Are semi monthly pay and biweekly pay the same?
No, semi-monthly pay and biweekly pay are not the same. They are very similar, however, bi-weekly pay involves a payment every two weeks, which results in a total of 26 paychecks per year. Bi-monthly pay, on the other hand, has only 24 paychecks per year.
Side by side:
| Method | Paychecks per year |
|---|---|
| Semi-monthly | 24 |
| Biweekly | 26 |
| Weekly | 52 |
How to manage bi-monthly payments in your business?
To manage bimonthly paychecks effectively, you should use a productivity app with built-in payroll tracking functionality. This will allow you to keep accurate track of your team’s payroll in the long run, regardless of what payment strategy you use. Apps like WebWork can even allow you to pay your employees without leaving the platform with their Invoicing tools.
How many working days are in each pay period?
The 1st–15th can hold anywhere from 9 to 11 working days, and the second half up to 12. Count any date range — minus your country’s public holidays — with the free WebWork calculator.
