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# How to Add A New Pay Schedule

# How to Create a Pay Schedule

Creating a pay schedule in FreePayroll allows you to define how often and when your employees are paid. This article explains how to configure a pay schedule, including our new flexible options for monthly pay periods.

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## 📅 Step 1: Choose the Pay Frequency

When creating a new pay schedule, start by selecting the **Pay Frequency**. You can choose from:

* **Weekly** – every week
* **Fortnightly** – every 2 weeks
* **Four Weekly** – every 4 weeks
* **Monthly** – once per month

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## 📍 Step 2: Define the Pay Period End Date

### For Weekly, Fortnightly, or Four Weekly:

* Choose a **Pay Period End Date** from the calendar.
* This date will be used as the end of the first period, and we’ll repeat it based on the frequency.

### For Monthly:

You don’t select a specific calendar date. Instead, choose **how** the pay period ends each month using one of these options:

| Option | Description |
| ---- |
| **Specific Day** | e.g., the 28th of each month. If the day doesn't exist (e.g. 31st in Feb), it defaults to the last valid day. |
| **Last Day of the Month** | Always uses the last calendar day (e.g., 31st, 30th, 28th depending on month). |
| **Last Weekday** | Uses the last Monday–Friday that month (skips weekends). |
| **Last Specific Weekday** | Choose a day like "Last Friday of the month". |

Then, you select the **first month** this rule should apply from (e.g., "May 2025").

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## 💰 Step 3: Set the Payment Date Rule

Now choose when employees should **receive payment**, relative to the pay period end date.

### Options:

* **On** – pay exactly on the pay period end date
* **Before** – pay a number of days or weekdays before the end date
* **After** – pay a number of days or weekdays after the end date
* **Before or on** – pay on the end date if it matches, otherwise before
* **After or on** – pay on the end date if it matches, otherwise after

### Then choose:

* **Unit**:  
  Calendar day(s)  
  Weekday(s)  
  Custom weekday (e.g., "2nd Friday after the end date")

* **Offset**:  
  How many days or weeks before/after to pay.

Example:
> “2nd Monday after the pay period end date”  
> → Use "After", unit "Custom weekday", offset = 2, weekday = Monday.

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## 🔁 Step 4: Preview the Calendar

We show a full preview of the **pay periods and payment dates** across the tax year, so you can verify that your settings look correct.

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## ✅ Summary

Pay Schedule setup is flexible and fully supports:

* Complex monthly configurations like “last Friday of each month”
* Custom payment timing rules like “3 weekdays before period end”

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If you need help choosing the best configuration, our support team is here to help!