Free biweekly payroll calendar template for effective payroll management in 2025

Your company’s pay frequency has a tangible impact on employees’ well-being. Similarly, the efficiency and reliability of your payroll process significantly affect your HR team’s ability to meet goals. That’s because running payroll can be long and arduous — sometimes taking more than nine days.*

A biweekly payroll calendar template is a valuable tool for HR teams looking to manage payroll every two weeks. This schedule results in 26 pay periods in a calendar year (and occasionally 27 pay periods in years with an extra week).

Organizing HR processes and maintaining accurate employee data helps reduce errors and streamline administrative tasks. A well-planned payroll schedule, combined with proper HR documentation, allows for more efficient workforce management. And we’re here to help you get there: Our free biweekly payroll calendar template is designed to make your payroll runs much smoother for your team.

Let’s get right into it!

PS While this guide focuses on US-based payroll processes — where biweekly schedules are common for hourly workers in most states (subject to specific labor laws) — salaried employees are often paid semi-monthly. However, some companies align salaried and hourly employees on a biweekly schedule to streamline administration. Regardless of your region, the best practices and templates provided can serve as a valuable resource.

🕒 Pay your employees right (and right on time)

Leapsome’s free biweekly payroll calendar template helps you keep up with your every-other-week payroll runs.

👉 Download the template

*Deloitte, 2020
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Our free biweekly payroll calendar template

Our free, printable, biweekly payroll calendar template is designed for HR teams looking to pay employees on a biweekly schedule. 

It delineates the important dates to remember in your payroll cycle and can be adjusted to your preferred pay period start and end dates. Use this payroll schedule template to visualize your payment frequency and timing in 2025.

🙋 Remember, biweekly and semi-monthly payroll schedules aren’t the same.

With a biweekly payroll schedule, employees get paid twice a month — for example, every other Friday, no matter the date. With a semi-monthly payroll schedule, employees get paid twice a month on fixed days, like the 1st and 15th.

If you want to learn more, check out our article on payroll cycles.

💰 Stay on top of payroll with the click of a button

Our free biweekly payroll calendar template keeps all your important payroll dates in one place.

👉 Download the template

Best practices for perfecting your payroll process

An efficient, well-defined payroll process ensures team members are compensated fairly and on time. It also helps your company stay compliant. Here are some best practices for achieving these results and creating a seamless biweekly payroll experience.
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Use a comprehensive HRIS with payroll features

Using an HR software solution with integrated payroll features can make the routine aspects of running payroll quicker and more effective. This helps your team focus on the more strategic elements of your payment strategy, such as compensation management. 

Another great benefit of an HRIS with payroll capabilities is integrated time tracking. This feature helps you easily verify team members’ hours worked and observe trends without switching between software.

Alternatively, consider a human resources information system (HRIS) with built-in payroll features. An HRIS like Leapsome can bring all your employee data and payroll records under one roof, enabling seamless integrations and a more efficient payroll process.

Practice good recordkeeping

You should document your payroll process, from how you set up your payroll foundations to your approach to auditing and tracking performance over time.

Additionally, consistently verify the accuracy of employee data, like tax information, banking details, and role changes. This will help you avoid errors and improve your payroll costs by reducing the frequency of off-cycle payroll. 

Furthermore, these records are essential for financial planning, audits, and employee inquiries.
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Stay up-to-date on payroll and labor laws

Payroll and labor laws are subject to change, so stay informed. Regularly review regulations on topics like minimum wage, employer payroll taxes, and overtime pay. Working with a specialized consultant can help you here.

📝 Looking for more detailed information on all the steps of a complete payroll process? 

Check out our free payroll checklist to ensure you’re hitting the mark for efficient, compliant payments.

Manage biweekly paychecks with Leapsome’s free biweekly payroll calendar

A well-organized payroll process is crucial for ensuring timely, accurate payments. Incorporating a biweekly payroll calendar template can provide much-needed structure, helping you track and adjust pay dates.

However, managing payroll is labor-intensive — especially for growing teams. That’s where a comprehensive HRIS like Leapsome’s comes into play. With features designed to simplify payroll management and data updates, automate key tasks, and sup port data accuracy, Leapsome’s HRIS can help your teams focus on what matters most: your people.

🤓 Ready to streamline payroll (and everything else)?

Leapsome’s HRIS makes every pay period stress-free.

👉 Book a demo

FAQs about biweekly payroll calendar templates

How do I run a biweekly payroll?

Preparing biweekly payroll involves several steps:

1. Choose a payroll method — Decide on a payroll model that suits your organization (for example, manual methods vs. trusted software with payroll features like Leapsome). Weigh factors like in-house resources, projected company growth, and compliance considerations in this decision.

2. Collect and manage employee data — Gather essential employee data (including names, addresses, tax information, timesheets, and bank details) and ensure these records are accurate and secure. The right tech can make this simple; for example, Leapsome’s HRIS comes with a time-tracking tool, which gives users easy access to time-tracking data.

3. Calculate taxes and deductions — Determine tax and deduction totals according to the regulations that apply to you. Consult a tax expert to ensure compliance.

4. Determine gross and net pay — Calculate gross pay based on logged hours for hourly employees and salaries for full-time equivalent (FTE) workers. Then, subtract all voluntary and mandatory deductions to reach net pay.

5. Process and record payments — Authorize and schedule payments, verify records for accuracy, and ensure that funds are available.

6. Prepare and distribute payslips — Generate detailed payslips and distribute them biweekly in time for payday. Payroll tools like Leapsome’s can help with this. 

7. Maintain payroll reports — Securely store payroll documents, such as payslips and tax forms, to meet compliance requirements.

These steps will help you run payroll efficiently and compliantly every two weeks, ensuring employees are compensated correctly and on time.
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What is a biweekly payroll schedule?

A biweekly payroll schedule is a payment schedule in which employees receive paychecks every two weeks, typically on the same day (like every other Friday). When you follow a biweekly schedule, there are generally up to 26 pay periods per year, with two paychecks distributed in most months.

In years with particularly long months or depending on the calendar alignment, there may be three paychecks in two months of the year. This occasional variation can impact financial planning for both employers and employees, making it essential to account for these scenarios.
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What are the benefits of biweekly pay periods?

Biweekly pay periods offer several benefits:

• Consistent payday timing for employees
• Simplified time tracking for employers
• Better budgeting for both parties
• Streamlined payroll processing

Biweekly payroll differs from weekly (52 paydays/year), semi-monthly (24 paydays/year), and monthly payroll schedules (12 paydays/year). Many companies choose biweekly payments to balance employee cash flow needs with a manageable processing frequency.
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What’s an example of a biweekly payroll schedule?

If your company follows a biweekly payroll schedule and your first payday of the year falls on January 6, paydays will follow every other Friday, like so:

• Pay period 1 — January 6, 2025
• Pay period 2 — January 20, 2025
• Pay period 3 — February 3, 2025
• Pay period 4 — February 17, 2025
• Pay period 5 — March 3, 2025
• Pay period 6 — March 17, 2025
• Pay period 7 — March 31, 2025

This pattern continues throughout the year, resulting in 26 paydays in total. But every organization has its own preferred biweekly schedule. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to visualize what yours could look like, download our free biweekly payroll calendar template here.
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How do I make a payroll calendar in Excel and Google Sheets?

To create a biweekly payroll calendar in Microsoft Excel, open a new sheet with headers for each pay period and its corresponding pay date. Save time by using Excel’s date functions to auto-populate every two weeks. You’ll also want to consider adding columns for holidays, deadlines, and special notes.

You’ll follow a similar process if you’re a Google Sheets user. Set up headers for pay periods and pay dates, then use Google Sheets’ date functions to autofill dates biweekly. Google Sheets offers the benefit of real-time collaboration, so your Finance team can view or edit the calendar simultaneously. Remember to add columns for holidays, deadlines, and other notes.

While spreadsheets can help organize payroll schedules, managing your HR processes with a comprehensive HRIS like Leapsome offers additional benefits. Our platform helps you maintain accurate employee records and streamline HR workflows (including payroll features like time tracking and payslip distribution), allowing your team to focus on strategic people enablement.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and doesn’t offer legal, tax, or financial advice. While we’ve done our best to ensure accuracy and completeness, we can’t guarantee everything is up-to-date or error-free. For tailored advice, we recommend consulting a qualified lawyer or tax advisor.