What dates make up a payroll cycle?

The attendance and input cut-off, the payroll run, review and approval, salary payment, and the statutory payment and filing dates that follow. Each should be a fixed day of the month known to everyone who sends inputs.

Is there a legal deadline for paying monthly salary?

The Payment of Wages Act 1936, s.5, sets deadlines for paying wages after the wage period ends for the employees it covers, and the Code on Wages, in force since 21 November 2025, replaced that Act with its own payment deadlines (s.17). Check which rule currently applies to your establishment.

What happens to inputs that arrive after the cut-off?

They are carried into the next cycle and paid as arrears or recovered there, rather than reopening a run that has been approved. This keeps payslips and bank files stable.

Why should the attendance cut-off fall before month end?

It gives time to process and approve the run before payday. Days after the cut-off are treated as present and corrected in the next cycle if they turn out otherwise.

HR & payroll glossary

Payroll cycle

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Definition

The recurring window from one pay day to the next, usually a calendar month in India, covering the attendance cut-off, inputs, the run, approval, payment and statutory filings. Fixing each date in the cycle is what lets late inputs be carried into the next month rather than reopening the current one.

In practice

A typical monthly cycle runs on fixed dates: attendance cut-off, input collection for joiners, exits, variable pay and reimbursements, then a draft run, review, lock, bank file and payslip release. Statutory deposits for PF, ESI and TDS follow on their own due dates in the next month.

Example: a company paying on the last working day might set attendance cut-off on the 25th, close inputs on the 26th, run the draft on the 27th and send the bank file on the 29th. Inputs that arrive after cut-off move to next month's cycle as arrears.

The common mistake is letting the cut-off drift every month to accommodate late approvals. Each exception compresses review time and raises error risk. Publish the calendar for the year and hold to it.

Treated in depthThe Payroll Cutoff Guide

FAQs

Payroll cycle: common questions

The attendance and input cut-off, the payroll run, review and approval, salary payment, and the statutory payment and filing dates that follow. Each should be a fixed day of the month known to everyone who sends inputs.
The Payment of Wages Act 1936, s.5, sets deadlines for paying wages after the wage period ends for the employees it covers, and the Code on Wages, in force since 21 November 2025, replaced that Act with its own payment deadlines (s.17). Check which rule currently applies to your establishment.
They are carried into the next cycle and paid as arrears or recovered there, rather than reopening a run that has been approved. This keeps payslips and bank files stable.
It gives time to process and approve the run before payday. Days after the cut-off are treated as present and corrected in the next cycle if they turn out otherwise.

HR & Payroll Glossary

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