Biweekly vs Semimonthly vs Bimonthly Payroll – Difference

Differences between Bi-Weekly Payroll, Semi-Monthly Payroll, and Bi-Monthly Payroll

Differences between Biweekly Payroll, Semimonthly Payroll, and Bimonthly Payroll are explained in the below table,

	Biweekly Payroll	Semimonthly Payroll	Bimonthly Payroll
Pay Period	Every Other Week	Twice A Month	Once Every Two Months
Number of Payments Per Year	26	24	12
Number of Payments Per Month	For 10 Months 2, For 2 Months 3	2 Payments Per Month	1 Payment Per 2 Months
Payment Usually Happens on a Specific Day of a Week	Yes	No	No
Practical for Non-Exempt Employee Payment	Yes	No / Difficult	No / Difficult
Payment Amount Per Pay Period As Example. Assumption: Annual Salary of $78,000	$78,000 / 26 = $3,000	$78,000 / 24 = $3,250	$78,000 / 12 = $6,500
Best Advantage As an Employee	Employees Feel More Consistent	Payment Method is Easy to Understand	Paycheck Amount will be Comparatively High
Biggest Disadvantage As an Employee	Paycheck will be Comparatively Less	Not Practical with Non-Exempt Employees	Difficulty in Personal Budgeting

_{Biweekly vs Semimonthly vs Bimonthly Payroll}

Differences between Biweekly Payroll, Semimonthly Payroll, and Bimonthly Payroll are explained in the below points,

1. The three payroll method has different pay periods as follows,

Biweekly payroll: every other week
Semimonthly payroll: twice a month
Bimonthly payroll: once every two months

2. Each payroll method has a different number of payments per year as follows,

Biweekly payroll: 26
Semimonthly payroll: 24
Bimonthly payroll: 12

3. Each payroll method has a different number of payments per month as follows,

Biweekly payroll: for 10 months 2, for 2 months 3
Semimonthly payroll: 2 payments per month
Bimonthly payroll: 1 payment per 2 months

4. Payment usually happens on specific or different days in a week as follows,

Biweekly payroll: specific day of a week
Semimonthly payroll: different days of a week
Bimonthly payroll: different days of a week

5. Some of the payroll methods are practical to use for non-exempt employee payments as follows,

Biweekly payroll: can be used for non-exempt employee payment
Semimonthly payroll: difficult to use for non-exempt employee payment
Bimonthly payroll: different difficult to use for non-exempt employee payment

6. Calculation of the payment amount per pay period differs in each payroll method. As an example, let’s assume if an employee’s annual salary is $78,000,

Biweekly payroll: $78,000 / 26 = $3,000
Semimonthly payroll: $78,000 / 24 = $3,250
Bimonthly payroll: $78,000 / 12 = $6,500

7. Following are the best advantage for an employee in each payroll method,