A payroll schedule is the cycle on which people are paid and the calendar everything else hangs off. It is easy to set, surprisingly hard to change, and constrained by state rules more often than employers expect.
The four cycles and what each really costs
Weekly, every two weeks, twice a month and monthly. Weekly suits hourly workforces and costs the most administration; twice monthly gives tidy accounting dates and awkward overtime periods; every two weeks gives clean work weeks and two periods a year where three pay dates land in a month. Pick for the workforce you have, then accept the arithmetic that comes with it.
State rules constrain the choice more than people expect
Pay frequency is regulated at state level in the US, and some states require more frequent payment for certain workers or set the maximum gap between work and payment. Check the rules for every state you employ people in before standardising, because a single schedule across a multi-state workforce can be non-compliant in one of them without anyone noticing.
Line the cutoff up with how hours are approved
The gap between the end of the work period and the pay date has to be long enough for timesheets to be approved and exceptions fixed. Too short and every period runs on corrections; too long and people wait. Map the actual approval steps against the calendar rather than assuming, and publish the cutoff where managers will see it.
Changing a schedule is a project, not a setting
A change means notice to employees, a transition period where somebody is paid for an odd number of days, benefit deductions and accruals recalculated, and possibly a bridging payment. Give proper notice, write out what each person will receive in the transition, and check the state notice requirements. Done quietly, this is the change that generates the most complaints.
Questions people ask about payroll schedule
Which schedule is cheapest to run?
Monthly, on administration alone. Whether it suits your workforce is a different question, and for hourly staff it often does not.
Can different groups be on different schedules?
Commonly yes, for example hourly weekly and salaried monthly, subject to the rules in each state.
How much notice to change a pay cycle?
Check your state rules for a minimum, then give more. The practical minimum is enough for people to move direct debits.