ACH holidays
ACH settles only when Federal Reserve Banks are open. They close at weekends and on 11 federal holidays. Those 11 are recurring rules, not a list to relearn each year, so the dates below follow from them.
| Holiday | When it falls | Can the date shift? |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | January 1 | Yes. Saturday means no closure; Sunday moves it to the Monday |
| Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. | Third Monday in January | No. Always a weekday |
| Washington's Birthday | Third Monday in February | No. Always a weekday |
| Memorial Day | Last Monday in May | No. Always a weekday |
| Juneteenth National Independence Day | June 19 | Yes. Saturday means no closure; Sunday moves it to the Monday |
| Independence Day | July 4 | Yes. Saturday means no closure; Sunday moves it to the Monday |
| Labor Day | First Monday in September | No. Always a weekday |
| Columbus Day | Second Monday in October | No. Always a weekday |
| Veterans Day | November 11 | Yes. Saturday means no closure; Sunday moves it to the Monday |
| Thanksgiving Day | Fourth Thursday in November | No. Always a weekday |
| Christmas Day | December 25 | Yes. Saturday means no closure; Sunday moves it to the Monday |
The two observance rules
Only the five fixed-date holidays can move, and they move in two different directions. A fixed-date holiday landing on a Saturday does not close Reserve Banks at all, and the Friday before is a full banking day. That is the case most published calendars get wrong, because the federal office calendar does take that Friday off and the Reserve Banks do not. A fixed-date holiday landing on a Sunday moves the closure to the following Monday. The six holidays defined as the Nth weekday of a month always land midweek, so neither rule ever touches them.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Monday, October 12, 2026 | Columbus Day |
| Wednesday, November 11, 2026 | Veterans Day |
| Thursday, November 26, 2026 | Thanksgiving Day |
| Friday, December 25, 2026 | Christmas Day |
| Friday, January 1, 2027 | New Year's Day |
| Monday, January 18, 2027 | MLK Day |
Schedules by year
Every closure date for one year, with the observance rules already applied: 2026 · 2027 · 2028 · 2029 · 2030.
One holiday rather than a whole year
Each closure has its own answer, including what it does to a file submitted around it, under is ACH processing on a holiday.
A date, not a rule
For a specific file, use the settlement date calculator. Working backwards from a payday you have to hit, use the payroll cutoff calculator. For today only, check whether the Fed is open today.