Why isn’t bi-weekly the same as twice a month?

Bi-weekly means every two weeks, so 26 payments a year; semi-monthly means twice a month, so 24. The same salary therefore arrives in smaller bi-weekly packets, and two months of the year contain three of them.

Salary Converter

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I know my…AmountThe figure for the period you pickedHours per weekDays per weekPaid weeks per yearUnpaid leavewksUnpaid weeks taken out of the yearCurrency

Every pay cycle for the same gross salary. Bi-weekly means 26 cheques a year; semi-monthly means 24.
Pay period	Basis	Gross pay
Hourly	40 h × 52 wks	$45.00
Daily	5 days a week	$360.00
Weekly	52 paid weeks	$1,800.00
Bi-weekly	26 pay dates	$3,600.00
Semi-monthly	24 pay dates	$3,900.00
Monthly	12 pay dates	$7,800.00
Quarterly	4 pay dates	$23,400.00
Annual	52 of 52 weeks paid	$93,600.00

How it works

Salary Converter: Hourly Rate to Annual Pay and Back

Enter any one figure, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annual, and every other pay period is worked out at once, adjusted for your hours and any unpaid leave.

What this does

Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annual, type the one you know and the rest follow
The working year starts at 40 hours across 5 days and 52 paid weeks, all editable
Unpaid weeks come off the paid year before anything else is worked out
A table restates the same salary as 26 bi-weekly, 24 semi-monthly or 4 quarterly payments

FAQ

Gross throughout, before income tax, national insurance, social security, pension or health premiums. Deductions vary too much by country and circumstance for a gross-to-net figure to be worth anything here.

It shortens the year that the money is spread across, and every figure follows from that. Two unpaid weeks out of 52 leaves 50 paid weeks, so an hourly rate builds an annual salary from 50 weeks rather than 52, and a salary you type in as annual or monthly is scaled down by 50/52 instead. The hourly and daily rates are then read back off the shortened year, which is why they stay the same when you enter an hourly figure and drop when you enter an annual one.

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