I launched my first app on the App Store in August of 2008, just a few weeks after the App Store launched on July 10, 2008. On September 25, 2008, I got my first direct deposit from Apple and have received one every month since – 136 in all!

As a bootstrapped entrepreneur trying to make a living on the App Store, most of those payments were needed to pay bills that next month and continue investing in my apps. I figured out pretty quickly that Apple pays based on a fiscal calendar (not calendar months), but it wasn’t until almost 2012 that I figured out how to calculate payment dates:

Apple always pays 33 days after the end of the fiscal month.*

It seems easy enough, but Apple’s fiscal calendar is divided into quarters, each with one 35-day fiscal month and two 28-day fiscal months. To add just a bit more calendar intrigue, the fiscal calendar is only 364 days, so every ~5 years Apple has to add an extra week to the December fiscal month to account for leap days and the 365th day of each year. December 2011 and 2016 are the two times it’s happened since the App Store was launched, and we’ll be due for another Apple fiscal leap week in December 2021 or 2022.

That’s all a bit dense but helpful for those who want the extra context. What I’m guessing most of you really want is a simple way to know when you’re gonna get PAID. So, here it is!

The the payment date is highlighted in the same color as the fiscal month that’s being paid. For example, the January 2020 fiscal month will be paid March 5th.

For those who don’t want to download my color coded calendar, I’ve created a few other handy tools.

🐦 Here’s a Twitter account with tweets scheduled for the last day of each fiscal month and each payment date: @AppStorePayDay

🔗 Here’s a direct link that should be valid to access all future fiscal years: Apple Fiscal Calendar (App Store Connect sign in required)

🗓 Here’s a Google calendar you can subscribe to with the 2020 payment dates: Payment Calendar

📅 Here’s a Google calendar you can subscribe to with the 2020 fiscal months: Fiscal Calendar

📑 And lastly, here’s a PDF with every fiscal calendar since 2009: Apple Fiscal Calendars.pdf

Apple will release the 2021 fiscal calendar later this year. I hope to maintain these resources for the community for years to come, so if you notice it gets out-of-date, ping me: @drbarnard

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*Well, not quite always. The November fiscal month sometimes gets paid early. I’m not quite sure if Apple does that to move revenue around to alter their quarterly financial results, or if it’s something less interesting. Either way, November 2008, 2009, 2018, and 2019 fiscal months were paid before the expected 33 days. For posterity sake, November 2014 is the only other fiscal month I know of that wasn’t paid exactly 33 days later. It was paid a day late due to it landing on January 1st, which was is a bank holiday.