Biweekly, in accounting and payroll, usually means every two weeks. A biweekly payroll pays employees once every 14 days, normally on the same weekday, which produces 26 pay periods in most years and 27 in an occasional year when the calendar adds an extra payday. It is the most common pay frequency for hourly workers in the United States.
The word can be ambiguous, because in everyday English "biweekly" sometimes means twice a week. Pay frequency is usually set by company policy within limits set by state wage-payment laws. To avoid confusion, payroll professionals contrast biweekly, meaning every other week, with semimonthly, meaning twice a month, usually on fixed dates such as the 15th and the last day. The difference affects how salaries are divided, how overtime is calculated and how wages are accrued at month end.
Biweekly pay in plain terms
If you are paid biweekly, you get a paycheck every second Friday, for example. Because a year has 52 weeks, you receive 26 paychecks rather than 24. In two months of the year you get three paychecks instead of two, which many households notice as a bonus month, even though the yearly total is the same.
A semimonthly worker, by contrast, is paid on the same two dates each month, so paydays drift between different days of the week, but every month has exactly two paydays.
Biweekly compared with other pay frequencies
| Frequency | Pay periods a year | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | Hourly and construction workers |
| Biweekly | 26 (sometimes 27) | Hourly and many salaried staff |
| Semimonthly | 24 | Salaried office staff |
| Monthly | 12 | Executives, some countries' norm |
A salaried employee earning $65,000 a year receives $2,500 per biweekly paycheck ($65,000 ÷ 26), compared with about $2,708.33 per semimonthly paycheck ($65,000 ÷ 24). Employers that switch frequencies must recalculate each check and benefit deduction carefully.
Payroll processing and tax
A biweekly schedule fits neatly with overtime rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which measure overtime on each fixed seven-day workweek; each biweekly pay period covers exactly two workweeks, so overtime is calculated week by week and paid in the same check. Federal income tax withholding uses tables or formulas keyed to the pay period, and IRS guidance for employers covers biweekly periods alongside other frequencies. Each paycheck shows gross wages, withholding for income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and other deductions, and the employer records its own employer payroll taxes for the same period.
In a 27-pay-period year, salaried employees whose pay is calculated as annual salary ÷ 26 would receive more than their stated salary unless the employer adjusts. Some employers divide by 27 for that year, others accept the extra cost, and benefit deductions designed for 26 periods may need to be rebalanced.
Accounting for biweekly payroll
Because biweekly paydays rarely fall on the last day of a month, most month ends fall partway through a pay period. To follow the matching principle, the employer accrues wages earned but not yet paid. Suppose a company's biweekly payroll is $84,000, or $8,400 per working day across 10 working days, and four working days of the current period fall in March before the March 31 close. The adjusting entry debits Wages Expense $33,600 and credits Wages Payable $33,600, with related payroll taxes accrued as well. When the payroll is paid in April, the accrual is cleared. The accrued amount appears in accrued payroll on the balance sheet.
Biweekly scheduling also affects budgeting and cash planning. Months with three paydays require more cash from the payroll account, often funded by direct deposit files sent to the bank a day or two before payday, even though expense under accrual accounting is spread evenly by days worked. Treasury teams therefore plan for those months in cash forecasts well in advance, especially in businesses where payroll is the largest single outflow.
Other uses of the term
Outside payroll, biweekly is used for loan and mortgage schedules, as in a biweekly payment mortgage, in which 26 half-payments a year add up to 13 monthly payments and shorten the loan. Publications and meetings described as biweekly may mean either every two weeks or twice a week, so the intended meaning should be confirmed.