How to Track Child Support Paid on the 1st and 15th

Build a twice-monthly child support schedule and compare it with allocated payments while keeping official and private balances distinct.

How to Track Child Support Paid on the 1st and 15th

Build a twice-monthly child support schedule and compare it with allocated payments while keeping official and private balances distinct.

A monthly support amount can be paid through two transfers without becoming two monthly obligations. The important setup question is what monthly amount the source document states—not how many bank transfers are used to deliver it.

Define the Amount Precisely

Enter the source-document amount as a monthly amount. If $772 is due for a child for the month and the payer usually sends half on the 1st and half on the 15th, the schedule remains $772 for that month—not $1,544. Put the 1st/15th practice in the timing note, then apply both actual transfers to that month's schedule.

Record Actual Dates

Keep the month being tracked and each actual payment date separately. A transfer made on the last day of the previous month should retain its actual transaction date, with a note explaining which month it was intended to cover.

Handle Weekends and Holidays

Do not silently move the schedule date. Court orders, agencies, banks, and state law may handle nonbusiness days differently. Record what the source document says and what actually happened.

Read the Difference Correctly

“Scheduled minus allocated payments” is a private organizational figure. It is not an official arrears balance, and it may not reflect agency allocation rules, credits, interest, withholding delays, or modifications.

Verified sources reviewed August 14, 2026: IRS child support FAQ (https://www.irs.gov/faqs/filing-requirements-status-dependents/dependents/dependents-6), IRS separation and divorce tax guidance, and the federal child-support state profile query (https://ocsp.acf.hhs.gov/irg/profileQuery).