How many pay periods may I go into the past?

On the Payroll Check Calculation screen, the choices that appear on the Select Pay Period dropdown list (image below) are determined as follows:

• You can always go back to the last period in November of the prior year.
• The ending date of your most recently completed pay period determines the year. For example, if your most recent pay period ended in 2015, you can go back to Nov. 2014.
  

Keep in mind that the pay period doesn’t matter when posting checks. The Post Date is what matters for payroll reports and W2s. You can always post a check with a date prior to November of the last year, as long as you set your Payroll Year to that year.