Payroll calendar
How do you run payroll yourself for a first employee?
Short answer: running payroll yourself is a calendar as much as it is a calculation. On payday you withhold, pay the wage, and record the employer taxes. Then you deposit those taxes on the IRS schedule that applies to you, file quarterly and annual returns, and send the employee a W-2. This page is the deadline map. For the tax definitions and the software-versus-spreadsheet choice, see the existing how to run payroll for one employee guide.
Key takeaways
- Federal employment-tax due dates are published by the IRS (IRS employment tax due dates, IRS Publication 15). If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it generally moves to the next business day.
- Form 941 is ordinarily due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Form 940 and Form W-2 are ordinarily due January 31. Confirm the current year’s dates on the official IRS due-dates page.
- New employers often start as monthly depositors until they have a lookback period. The lookback rule and the $2,500 quarterly exception are in Publication 15; use the official text, not a rule of thumb from memory.
On this page
Know the tax you will deposit The calculator shows employer FICA, FUTA, and official state unemployment tax on your wage and hours.
Open the calculatorWhat you do on every payday
Before the first payday, get an EIN, collect IRS Form W-4, complete USCIS Form I-9, set up state withholding and unemployment accounts if your state requires them, and know your federal deposit schedule. The official forms and posters directory and the paperwork checklist cover those steps.
On payday itself:
- Calculate gross wages, including overtime if it applies under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
- Withhold the employee share of Social Security and Medicare, federal income tax from the W-4, and any state income tax.
- Accrue the employer share of Social Security and Medicare, FUTA, and state unemployment tax. Those employer amounts are your cost, not a deduction from the paycheck. On a $20-an-hour, 40-hour year they are $3,224.40 federally plus official state unemployment tax; see the state index.
- Pay the net wage and record every line. Keep those records; the IRS and state agencies can ask for them years later.
Federal deposit schedule
IRS Publication 15 explains two standard schedules: monthly and semiweekly. Which one you use generally depends on a lookback period (the 12 months ending June 30 of the prior year). A new employer that does not yet have a lookback period is generally a monthly schedule depositor under Publication 15. Monthly deposits are generally due by the 15th of the following month. Semiweekly depositors have a shorter window after payday. There is also a next-day deposit rule when unpaid employment taxes reach a published threshold, and a quarterly payment option when the undeposited tax for the quarter is under the Publication 15 threshold. Read the current publication for the dollar tests rather than copying a figure from an old blog post.
FUTA has its own deposit pattern, described in IRS Topic 759 (Form 940/FUTA) and Publication 15: you generally deposit when the unpaid FUTA tax exceeds a published threshold, and you file Form 940 annually. On one $20-an-hour employee, net FUTA is $42.00 for the year if the full state credit applies, and it is front-loaded on the first $7,000 of wages.
A year-on-the-wall calendar
| When | What is usually due |
|---|---|
| By the first day of work | Form I-9 Section 1; Form W-4; state withholding form if required; workers’ comp in force where required. |
| Within the state new-hire deadline (20 days federally, sooner in some states) | New-hire report. See the ACF State New Hire Reporting directory and each state payroll-tax page. |
| Each payday | Pay wages, withhold, and record employer taxes. |
| On your IRS deposit due date | Deposit withheld income tax and both shares of FICA. Use EFTPS or the method the IRS currently requires. |
| April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31 | File Form 941 for the prior quarter, unless a different official due date applies (IRS employment tax due dates). |
| State unemployment quarters | File and pay SUTA on your state agency’s calendar, which may not match the federal 941 dates. |
| January 31 | File Form 940, and furnish Form W-2 to the employee and the Social Security Administration, unless the official due-dates page says otherwise. |
If you miss a deposit, Publication 15 describes failure-to-deposit penalties. This page does not compute a penalty. If the calendar feels like the work, payroll software is a tool, not a legal requirement; the companion payroll guide compares doing it yourself with software in general terms.
Estimate the deposit Run a wage and state to see the employer tax you will set aside each pay period.
Open the calculatorFrequently asked questions
Can I run payroll myself for one employee?
Yes. Many one-employee shops do. You still have to withhold, deposit, and file on the IRS and state schedules. Publication 15 is the federal rulebook. Software can help with the calendar, but it does not replace the filing duty.
When is Form 941 due?
Ordinarily April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31 for the prior quarter. If the date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it generally moves to the next business day. Confirm the current year on the IRS employment tax due dates page.
What is the difference between monthly and semiweekly depositors?
It is an IRS Publication 15 schedule based on a lookback period of employment taxes. New employers generally start on the monthly schedule until they have a lookback period. Read the current publication for the thresholds and due dates.
Figures on this page were checked against the linked official IRS, DOL, USCIS, ACF, and (where used) Indiana ICRB pages in November 2026. Examples are planning estimates, not a tax, legal, or insurance outcome. Confirm with your agencies, accountant, and carrier before you hire or classify a worker.