Cron Every 3 Months (Quarterly on the 1st)
Schedule a cron job every 3 months on the 1st at 9 AM using 0 9 1 */3 *. Complete field breakdown for quarterly scheduling with timing guidance.
Cron Expression
0 9 1 */3 *
Field Breakdown
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | 0 | At 0 |
| Hour | 9 | At 9 |
| Day of Month | 1 | At 1 |
| Month | */3 | Every 3rd month |
| Day of Week | * | Every day of the week (Sun–Sat) |
Detailed Explanation
The cron expression 0 9 1 */3 * schedules a task to run quarterly, on the 1st day of every third month, at exactly 9:00 AM.
Field-by-field breakdown:
0(Minute): At minute 0. The task fires at the top of the hour.9(Hour): At hour 9 (9 AM). The task runs at the start of the business day.1(Day of Month): On the 1st day of the month only. The task is anchored to the first of the month.*/3(Month): Every 3rd month, starting from January. The step value/3triggers in months 1 (January), 4 (April), 7 (July), and 10 (October).*(Day of Week): Every day of the week. No restriction on the day of the week.
This means your task will execute 4 times per year: January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st, all at 9:00 AM. This aligns with standard fiscal quarters (Q1-Q4) used by most businesses. Quarterly scheduling is appropriate for tasks like generating quarterly financial reports, performing quarterly access reviews, rotating long-lived credentials, or conducting quarterly compliance audits. The first of the month provides a clean boundary for data aggregation. This expression is supported by standard cron on Linux/macOS, as well as cloud services like AWS CloudWatch, Google Cloud Scheduler, and GitHub Actions.
Use Case
Ideal for triggering quarterly SOC 2 compliance report generation, collecting access logs and security metrics for the preceding three-month period.
Try It — Interactive Builder
at min 0, at hour 9, on day 1, in month */3
Next 10 Executions
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