Attendance Cycle: Meaning and How It Works in Payroll

Why many companies end the cycle before month-end

Payroll needs a few clear days. Attendance has to be locked, pending leave approved, overtime checked and salaries calculated before pay day. Closing the attendance cycle on the 20th or 25th gives HR and managers that time without delaying salaries, and the days after the cut-off count in the next cycle.

How an attendance cycle works

The cycle closes on its last day, for example the 25th.
Managers approve any pending leave and attendance corrections (missed punches, on-duty requests).
HR locks the cycle's attendance so it cannot change underneath payroll.
Payroll counts paid days, loss-of-pay days and overtime from the locked attendance.
Anything that changes after the lock, such as a late leave approval, is settled in the next cycle as an arrear or a recovery.

An example

With a 26th-to-25th cycle, an employee who takes unpaid leave on 28 March has it deducted from April's salary, because 28 March falls in the cycle that runs from 26 March to 25 April. Their March salary is based on the attendance from 26 February to 25 March.

Choosing the cycle

A calendar-month cycle is easiest for employees to follow, since each salary matches the month it is named after. A cycle that ends earlier is easier for payroll. Whichever you choose, state it in the leave and attendance policy, keep it the same for everyone in a pay group, and show the cycle's dates on the payslip so that employees can check their paid days.

Attendance Cycle in India

In India, the wage period for monthly-paid employees cannot be longer than a month, and the Code on Wages requires monthly wages to be paid before the end of the seventh day of the following month. An attendance cycle that closes on the 25th fits inside that window.

Indian payroll also has to handle loss-of-pay (LOP) days, half-days, weekly-off and holiday rules that differ by state, and sandwich-leave policies, so the cycle's locked attendance is the record that every pay calculation is checked against.

Biometric and mobile attendance apps make it easier to lock each cycle on time, because punches, leave and on-duty requests flow straight into payroll instead of being copied from registers at month-end.

How Zimyo helps

Zimyo's Attendance and leave management records attendance, shifts and leave, and feeds them into payroll.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the difference between an attendance cycle and a payroll cycle?

The attendance cycle is the period whose attendance is counted; the payroll cycle is when salaries are worked out and paid. The attendance cycle usually closes a few days before payroll runs.

Can the attendance cycle be different from the calendar month?

Yes. Many companies use a cycle such as the 26th to the 25th so that HR has time to lock attendance before pay day, as long as the policy states it and it applies to the whole pay group.

What happens to attendance changes after the cycle is locked?

They are carried into the next cycle. A leave approved late, or a missed punch corrected later, is settled in the next salary as an arrear or a recovery rather than reopening the closed payroll.

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