Week Ending is a shorthand identifier — written "WE" or "w/e" — for the last day of a week. It is the dominant week label in US payroll, timesheet, and invoicing systems.
How it is written
The label takes 3 common forms:
- WE Sat 30 May 2026 — full form naming the closing weekday.
- w/e 05/30/2026 — slashed lowercase form on US payroll runs.
- WE 30 May — short form when the year is implied.
WE Sat 30 May 2026 identifies the US week running Sunday 24 May through Saturday 30 May 2026.
Ending day by standard
The ending day depends on the week-numbering standard in force:
- US convention — week ends Saturday.
- ISO 8601 — week ends Sunday.
- Retail 4-5-4 — week ends Saturday, matching US convention.
A US payroll provider posting WE 30 May 2026 and an ISO scheduler posting WE 31 May 2026 may be naming the same business cycle from opposite ends.
Contrast with Week Commencing
Week Commencing names a week by its start date. Week Ending names it by its close. Both labels are unambiguous when the standard is stated. US timesheet software and UK project tooling often coexist in multinational teams, so cycle reports should state both the standard and the boundary day.