Can I Set a Custom Start Date for Monthly Pay Periods?

Question:

Why are my monthly pay periods generating with the wrong dates after I set a custom start date (e.g., the 27th to the 26th)?

Answer:

Here’s a quick explanation of how monthly pay periods work and what you can do.

Understanding Monthly Pay Periods in 7shifts

The 'Monthly' pay period frequency in 7shifts is designed to run only from the 1st of the month to the last day of the month. The system does not support custom monthly start and end dates (like the 27th to the 26th).

If you set a custom start date, the system will automatically try to correct itself back to its default 1st-of-the-month schedule. This is why you might see a short, incorrect pay period created at the end of the month. This confirms it’s a system limitation, not a user error.

What To Do Next

While our team explores making this feature more flexible in the future, you have two options:

1. Adjust your payroll schedule to align with the standard 1st-to-end-of-month format that 7shifts uses.
2. Continue to manually edit the pay period dates each month after they are generated. You can find the steps in our article on How to Edit a Pay Period's Dates.