Cron Every Quarter
The */3 in the month field means every 3rd month (January, April, July, October), and the 1 in day-of-month pins it to the 1st. The job runs at midnight on the first day of each quarter.
Cron Expression
0 0 1 */3 *Field Breakdown
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | 0 | At minute 0 |
| Hour | 0 | At midnight (00:00) |
| Day of Month | 1 | The 1st of the month |
| Month | */3 | Every 3rd month (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct) |
| Day of Week | * | Any day of the week |
Variations
0 0 1 */3 *Midnight on the 1st of each quarter0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *Explicit quarter months (identical result)0 9 1 */3 *9 AM on the first day of each quarterCommon Use Cases
- Quarterly business reports and reviews
- Q1-Q4 billing or subscription cycles
- Periodic data archival and cleanup
Tips & Best Practices
*/3 on the month field starts from January, giving Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct. Use 1,4,7,10 to be explicit.
To start quarters in a different month, list the months directly (e.g. 2,5,8,11).
Month names also work in most implementations: JAN,APR,JUL,OCT.