Payroll cut-off date calculator
Set the payday rule and the lead time your payroll needs - get every cut-off and payday for the next six months.
Your pay run
| Pay month | Cut-off (changes in by) | Payday |
|---|
Working days here are Monday to Friday; bank holidays are not subtracted - where a cut-off or payday lands on one, move it a day earlier and note it in the payroll calendar. Weekend paydays are shown on the previous Friday, the common UK convention; if your contract says otherwise, the contract wins.
The cut-off is the last day changes can enter the pay run - anything later lands in next month's pay, usually backdated. It exists because payroll needs processing time between closing the inputs and money leaving on payday. Publish the dates: most "payroll got my pay wrong" complaints are really "my change arrived after a cut-off nobody told me about".
What belongs before the cut-off?
- Starters and leavers - the paperwork, not just the decision. A leaver confirmed after cut-off gets paid, then clawed back or corrected next month.
- Overtime and TOIL cash-ups - approved hours, in the system, by the date. The overtime pay calculator prices them.
- Salary changes and one-off payments - agreed is not entered; the cut-off cares about entered.
- Expenses routed through payroll - approved claims only, which is why expense approval deadlines usually sit a day or two before the payroll cut-off.
Choosing the cut-off length
Shorter is better, as short as the process truly allows: every extra day widens the window where real-world changes miss the run and become corrections. In-house payroll on decent software commonly manages 3-5 working days; outsourced bureaux typically ask 5-10. If your cut-off is longer than that, the fix is usually the input pipeline - approvals arriving late, spreadsheets being retyped - not the payroll team.
Publishing the calendar
One deadline on this calendar is statutory, not convention: HMRC's Full Payment Submission must be sent on or before your employees' payday - so the cut-off protects an HMRC deadline, not just an internal one. Generate the table above, add your bank-holiday adjustments, and put it where people book leave and claim expenses. Pair each cut-off with an internal reminder two days ahead for approvers - late approvals, not late claims, are what actually miss the run. Payday timing itself belongs in the employment contract; if you're moving it, that's a contractual change needing consultation, not a payroll setting.
This calculator applies the statutory rules as published and shows its working, but it cannot know your contracts, your policies or anything unusual about the case. Treat the figure as a starting point, and take advice on anything contested or expensive.
Approvals that make the cut-off
CoDash chases expense and overtime approvals for you and exports a payroll-ready file - so the run closes with the month's real numbers in it, not next month's corrections.