Time-card cutoff
The deadline by which hourly employees must submit their hours for the closing pay period.
The time-card cutoff is the deadline by which non-exempt hourly employees have to submit their hours for the closing pay period. The cutoff has to allow enough time between pay-period close and pay date for the employer to review the time cards, compute payroll, initiate ACH transfers (typically 1–2 banking days), and absorb any federal-holiday banking-day shifts.
The standard small-business pattern is to end the pay period midnight Saturday, accept time-card submissions through end-of-day Sunday, run payroll Monday morning, and pay the following Friday. The five-day window covers everything that needs to happen between close and pay. Cutoffs in restaurants, retail, and other manager-on-the-floor businesses sometimes extend to Tuesday because the manager needs admin time to review submissions.
See the time-card cutoffs guide for the full discussion.