Cron Every Quarter
Schedule a cron job to run quarterly on the 1st of January, April, July, and October with 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *. Full field breakdown included.
Cron Expression
0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *
Field Breakdown
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | 0 | At 0 |
| Hour | 0 | At 0 |
| Day of Month | 1 | At 1 |
| Month | 1,4,7,10 | At January, April, July, October |
| Day of Week | * | Every day of the week (Sun–Sat) |
Detailed Explanation
The cron expression 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * schedules a task to run four times per year, at the start of each calendar quarter.
Field-by-field breakdown:
0(Minute): At minute 0. The task fires at the start of the hour.0(Hour): At hour 0 (midnight). The task runs at the very beginning of each quarter.1(Day of Month): On the 1st day of the month only. Execution is restricted to the first day of each specified month.1,4,7,10(Month): January (1), April (4), July (7), and October (10). These are the first months of each fiscal quarter.*(Day of Week): Every day of the week. No restriction on the day, so it runs regardless of which day the 1st falls on.
This means your task will execute exactly 4 times per year at the start of Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Quarterly scheduling is essential for financial reporting, tax preparation, compliance audits, and strategic review automation. Each run covers the previous quarter's data, making it ideal for generating quarterly summaries and filing reports. 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 generating quarterly financial reports and compliance documents required for regulatory filings at the end of each fiscal quarter.
Try It — Interactive Builder
At midnight on the 1st of every quarter (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct)
Next 10 Executions
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