Pay Basics

Pay Basics is the best starting section for readers who want to understand what a Canadian paycheque is showing before they dig into deductions, remittances, or year-end reporting.

Start Here

• Gross Pay explains the full earnings total before deductions.
• Net Pay explains the amount the employee actually receives.
• Pay Period explains the time window the payroll is paying for.
• Pay Date explains when the payment is actually issued.
• Pay Frequency explains how often payroll normally runs and pays employees.
• Biweekly Pay explains the every-two-weeks pay schedule many readers confuse with semi-monthly pay.
• Semi-Monthly Pay explains the fixed twice-a-month pay pattern.
• Monthly Pay explains once-a-month payroll timing.
• Weekly Pay explains a one-week payroll cycle.

Questions This Section Answers

• What does pay before deductions actually mean?
• Why is take-home pay lower than the gross amount?
• Which days belong inside one payroll period?
• When does payroll issue the payment?
• What is the difference between biweekly pay and semi-monthly pay?

Continue To

• Pay Statement & Pay Run for the records and steps behind a payroll run.
• Earnings & Compensation for salary, wages, and compensation language behind payroll.
• Statutory Deductions for the mandatory deductions that turn gross pay into net pay.

In this section

• Biweekly Pay
  What biweekly pay means in Canadian payroll and how a two-week payroll cycle differs from semi-monthly or monthly pay.
• Gross Pay
  What gross pay means in Canadian payroll, why it matters, and how it differs from net pay and deduction bases.
• Monthly Pay
  What monthly pay means in Canadian payroll and how once-a-month payroll differs from more frequent pay schedules.
• Net Pay
  What net pay means in Canadian payroll, how payroll reaches it, and why it differs from gross pay.
• Pay Date
  What a pay date means in Canadian payroll and how it differs from the pay period.
• Pay Frequency
  What pay frequency means in Canadian payroll and how weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, and monthly schedules affect the way payroll is organized.
• Pay Period
  What a pay period is in Canadian payroll, how it differs from the pay date, and why it matters for payroll accuracy.
• Semi-Monthly Pay
  What semi-monthly pay means in Canadian payroll and how twice-a-month payroll differs from a biweekly schedule.
• Weekly Pay
  What weekly pay means in Canadian payroll and how a one-week payroll cycle differs from biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly schedules.