is the payday the actual day the employee is paid or the end of the pay period

Hi @shayna3,

Welcome to the QuickBooks Community and thank you for reaching out with your question! Payroll terms like "payday" and "pay period" can sometimes be a little confusing. I'm happy to clarify the difference and provide some guidance to ensure everything stays organized for your payroll setup.

Payday, also known in QuickBooks Payroll as the "check date" or "pay date," is the actual day employees receive their wages, whether through direct deposit into their accounts or as physical checks. This date is separate from the pay period, which refers to the range of dates employees’ work is tracked for generating their paycheck.

For example, if the pay period is October 1st–October 15th and employees are paid on October 20th, the payday is October 20th, while the pay period is October 1st–15th.

This distinction is particularly important for payroll processing, tax filings, compliance, and when recording expenses in accounting systems like QuickBooks.

You can also able to change the pay period for each employee in the employee window. Feel free to learn more about this using this article here.

If you have any more questions about payday, payroll setup, or anything related to QuickBooks, feel free to reach out. I’m here to help make managing payroll straightforward for you!