Quick answer

Run payroll on one fixed, predictable schedule that meets your state's minimum pay frequency, and keep that schedule the same from one pay period to the next. No single national standard exists. The four common schedules are weekly (52 paydays a year), biweekly (26), semimonthly (24) and monthly (12), and which of them you may legally use depends on the state where your employees work.

The U.S. Department of Labor's state payday table shows how much the rules differ. California requires wages at least twice per calendar month on days designated in advance. Colorado requires pay at least monthly, and Connecticut requires weekly pay unless the labor commissioner approves a longer interval. For a small team that has grown past one employee, biweekly or semimonthly is usually the most practical choice, if your state allows it.

Why does pay frequency matter more once you have several employees?

With one employee, the payroll schedule is mostly a private arrangement between two people. With several, it sets the rhythm for tax deposits, timesheet cutoffs, withholding changes and recordkeeping. Employees also plan rent and loan payments around their paydays, so changing the schedule later is much harder than choosing well now.

What are the four common pay schedules?

Weekly. Employees are paid every week, for 52 paydays a year. Hourly staff tend to like it because pay closely follows the hours they worked. The cost is administrative: you process payroll more often than on any other schedule.

Biweekly. Employees are paid every other week, usually on the same weekday, for 26 paydays a year. Each pay period covers exactly two workweeks, so hourly timesheets line up cleanly. In some years the payday weekday falls 27 times, which changes how a salaried employee's annual pay gets divided across checks.

Semimonthly. Employees are paid twice a month on fixed dates, often the 15th and the last day of the month, for 24 paydays a year. Salaried pay divides evenly, and the schedule fits monthly accounting. Because pay periods do not follow whole weeks, hourly hours are harder to reconcile, and paydays sometimes land on weekends or holidays.

Monthly. Employees are paid once a month, for 12 paydays a year. It means the least processing, but employees wait the longest between checks. Several states do not allow it for most workers: monthly pay meets Colorado's minimum but not California's twice-monthly rule or Connecticut's weekly default.

How do state rules shape the choice?

Start with your state's floor, not your preference. A schedule that is fine in Colorado can be a violation in Connecticut. The DOL notes that anyone relying on its table should consult the relevant state labor office for official information. Treat the federal summary as a map and the state agency as the final word.

If the team grows across state lines, the question applies to each state separately. One schedule that meets the strictest state's rule is often the simplest way to keep everyone on a single payroll calendar.

Can different employees be on different schedules?

Some businesses pay hourly staff weekly and salaried staff semimonthly. That doubles your payroll calendar: two sets of cutoffs, two sets of runs and twice as many chances to miss a deadline. Whether a split is allowed is a state question, so confirm it with the state labor office first. For most teams with a handful of employees, one schedule for everyone is easier to run and easier to audit.

What paperwork scales with headcount?

Some obligations are the same whether you have one employee or ten. You simply repeat them for each person. According to the IRS, all U.S. employers must complete Form I-9 for every person they hire for employment in the United States. Ask each new employee for a signed Form W-4 when they start work, make it effective with their first wage payment, and record each employee's name and Social Security number for Form W-2.

The W-4 is where pay frequency comes in. A W-4 stays in effect until the employee gives you a new one. When they do, the IRS says withholding under the replacement must begin no later than the start of the first payroll period ending on or after the 30th day after you receive it.

Your schedule determines how many payroll runs fall inside that window. On a monthly schedule that may be one or two runs. On a weekly schedule it may be four or five. With several employees updating forms at different times, a simple log of when each replacement W-4 arrived keeps the deadline from slipping.

Are the new people employees or contractors?

Going from one person to several is often when the classification question first gets serious. The IRS weighs three categories of evidence: behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship. In its words, "There is no 'magic' or set number of factors that 'makes' the worker an employee or an independent contractor and no one factor stands alone in making this determination." A contract that says "contractor" does not decide the matter if the working relationship says otherwise.

Getting it wrong is expensive. The IRS says an employer that classifies an employee as an independent contractor without a reasonable basis may be held liable for employment taxes for that worker. Form SS-8 asks the IRS to make the determination, but the agency warns that it may take at least six months. Settle the question before you add someone to the payroll schedule or leave them off it.

Does the owner belong on the payroll schedule too?

If the business is taxed as an S corporation, often yes. The IRS says S corporations must pay reasonable compensation to a shareholder-employee for services provided before non-wage distributions may be made, and it has the authority to reclassify those distributions as wages. A working owner is often one of the "several" people on payroll, which is one more reason to choose a frequency that is sustainable over the long term.

How long do payroll records have to be kept?

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Department of Labor requires payroll records to be kept for three years. The records that wage computations are based on, including time cards and wage rate tables, must be kept for two. A weekly schedule produces 52 sets of those records per employee per year, and a semimonthly schedule produces 24. Either is manageable if every run is stored the same way.

What else varies by state?

Workers' compensation is the clearest example of an obligation that is set at the state level and differs too much to summarize. Check with your state's workers' compensation agency rather than relying on a general rule.

Where does the business setup fit in?

The most common mistake at this stage is treating payroll as a separate errand from forming the business, getting the EIN and staying compliant. It is one job. An owner still paying people from a personal account has a setup problem, not a software problem.

The order is: entity, EIN, a separate business bank account, then payroll. ZenBusiness covers the first steps directly. It sells the EIN for $99 on its own, includes it from its Pro plan up, and describes its purpose as hiring employees, opening a business bank account and filing taxes. ZenBusiness also states on its payroll partnership page that payroll cannot run without an EIN.

For payroll itself, ZenBusiness recommends RUN Powered by ADP, which is built for businesses with 1 to 49 employees. A customer requests the connection from the ZenBusiness dashboard, and an ADP representative follows up to discuss employee count and pay schedule, which is the very decision this page covers. ADP then provides a quote. ZenBusiness customers may be eligible for promotional pricing, but it is not guaranteed and the amount is confirmed in that consultation.

ADP is a separate service with its own platform, billing and support. Payroll is not integrated into the ZenBusiness dashboard, and day-to-day payroll and tax filings happen in ADP's system. What ZenBusiness offers is one place to set up and run the business, with payroll handled by a partner.

How do payroll options handle a growing team?

The providers below are listed alphabetically, not ranked. Prices are as of October 6, 2026, and per-person fees are what grow as you add employees. Before signing up, confirm that the provider supports the pay frequency your state requires.

ADP

Published price: none. ADP does not publish payroll pricing and quotes each business individually.

Best for: teams willing to get a quote, including ZenBusiness customers using the partnership described above. ADP is a separate service with its own platform, billing and support.

Gusto

Published price: Gusto offers Simple at $49 a month plus $6 per person, Plus at $80 a month plus $12 per person, and Premium at $180 a month plus $22 per person.

Best for: teams that expect to move up a tier as headcount grows and want to see each tier's per-person cost in advance.

OnPay

Published price: OnPay charges $49 a month plus $6 per worker. The public page shows a starting price of $55 a month.

Best for: owners who prefer one plan with one per-worker rate over choosing among tiers.

Patriot Software

Published price: Patriot Software offers Basic Payroll at $17 a month plus $4 per employee and Full Service at $37 a month plus $5 per employee.

Best for: a business that is already formed, has its EIN and bank account, and wants the lowest published entry price. At the very bottom of the market, Patriot is cheaper than the rest of this list.

QuickBooks Payroll

Published price: QuickBooks Payroll offers Workforce Payroll with Simple Start at $88 a month plus $6.50 per employee, with Essentials at $125 a month plus $6.50 per employee, and Workforce Premium with Plus at $203 a month plus $10 per employee. Separately, a promotional rate of 50% off the base price for three months is available. That is an introductory offer, not the ongoing price.

Best for: businesses already keeping their books in QuickBooks, since each published plan pairs payroll with a QuickBooks accounting plan.

Rippling

Published price: none. Rippling does not publish pricing, and its pricing page is a quote request form.

Best for: teams comfortable going through a sales conversation to get a price.

SurePayroll

Published price: SurePayroll starts at $29 a month plus $7 per worker. A multi-state add-on costs $9.99 a month, and household payroll starts at $39 a month.

Best for: a small team that has just hired in a second state, since the multi-state add-on has a published price.

ZenBusiness

Published price: ZenBusiness prices formation at Starter $0 plus state fees, Pro $199 and Premium $299. Pro and Premium renew at those annual prices. State fees are set by the state and vary. The EIN and operating agreement are included from Pro up and cost $99 each on Starter. Registered agent service is $199 a year, Money Pro bookkeeping is $30 a month and the website is $129 a year. Payroll itself is ADP's service, quoted by ADP per business, and is not included in any ZenBusiness plan price.

Best for: owners who are still setting up the business, or who want formation, registered agent, compliance and bookkeeping support from one company, with payroll routed to ADP.

How should a small team set its schedule?

Find the minimum pay frequency for every state where someone works, and rule out anything below it. Hourly-heavy teams usually do better with weekly or biweekly pay, and salaried-heavy teams with semimonthly. Pick one schedule for everyone unless there is a clear reason to split, publish paydays in advance, and decide now what happens when a payday lands on a weekend or holiday. If the entity, EIN or business bank account is still unfinished, do that first.

Sources

This is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary by state and change over time.