Why Some Employers Will Have 27 Fortnightly Pays in the Upcoming FBT Year

By Ben Markovic •

For most employers, a fortnightly payroll cycle results in 26 pay runs per FBT year. That’s because a standard year contains 52 weeks, and 52 divided by 2 equals 26. Simple enough!

But every so often, employers notice something unusual in their payroll calendars: the upcoming FBT year shows 27 fortnightly pay runs instead of 26.

If you’re seeing this for 2025–26, you’re not alone — and there’s a perfectly logical explanation. Let’s break down why this happens, what it means, and what the next steps are.

1. Why does an extra (27th) pay occur?

It’s all about how the calendar aligns with your pay cycle

A fortnightly pay cycle does not divide evenly into a 365‑day year (or 366 in a leap year). While a calendar year has 52 weeks, it actually contains:

  • 52 weeks + 1 day in a normal year
  • 52 weeks + 2 days in a leap year

Over time, these extra days accumulate and cause your regular pay date (e.g., every second Thursday) to “creep forward” in the calendar.

Eventually, this creates room for a 27th pay in the FBT year

The FBT year runs 1 April to 31 March, not aligned with the standard calendar year. Because of that misalignment, the drift created by those extra days can cause:

  • The first pay in early April, and
  • The last pay in late March,
    to both fall within the same FBT year, resulting in 27 pays instead of 26.

This phenomenon usually happens every 11 years, sometimes every 5–6 years depending on leap years and the employer’s specific pay day.

2. How to tell if you’re one of the affected employers

You may have a 27‑pay FBT year if:

  • Your organisation pays fortnightly, AND
  • Your standard pay day (e.g., Thursday) falls on
    1–2 April at the beginning of the FBT year and
    also falls on 30–31 March at the end.

If you salary package with GO Salary, we will have already contacted your Payroll team to give you the heads-up.

3. Why this matters for salary packaging

For most employees, the $15,900 salary packaging limit is divided over 26 pays, giving a fortnightly deduction and payment of $611.54. If nothing was changed, 27 pays would mean an additional deduction is taken, and we obviously can’t have anyone going over the limit!

So, the deductions need to be changed in the payroll system to divided the $15,900 over 27 pays. This makes the fortnightly amount $588.89.

4. What employers should do

If you salary package with GO Salary, keep an eye out for the first pay file ahead of 1 April. This will have everyone’s deductions re-calculated. You can use these figures.

For those who don’t use GO Salary, it’s best to perform your own calculations and update your payroll software so that you’re not left in a pickle come 31 March 2027.

Note – employees who salary package over a shorter period (e.g. over the first 10 fortnights of the FBT year because they might be going on parental leave) can be left as is. Again, if you’re a GO Salary client, you just need to use our figures.

5. Should you change your pay cycle to avoid 27 pays?

Most employers don’t. While shifting from fortnightly to monthly or four‑weekly cycles can remove this issue, it can also:

  • Create employee confusion
  • Require changes to awards or enterprise agreements
  • Require system reconfiguration

For most Australian organisations, managing the occasional 27‑pay year is simpler than trying to avoid it.

Final Thoughts

A 27‑pay FBT year isn’t an error — it’s a natural result of how the calendar interacts with fortnightly pay cycles. While it occurs only occasionally, it does require planning so employees, payroll teams, and salary packaging arrangements stay aligned.

Please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions.

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