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Azure Functions cron expression: on the first day of every quarter
To run a Azure Functions job on the first day of every quarter, use:
0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *At 00:00 UTC, on the 1st of the month, in Jan, Apr, Jul and Oct.
Your week at a glance
Upcoming runs
| # | Local | UTC | From now |
|---|
Copy-ready code
Why use this schedule
January, April, July and October: quarterly reporting and reviews. Finance and compliance teams in particular run on this rhythm, so these jobs tend to be important and rarely run.
- Quarterly business reviews
- Quarterly access recertification
- Quarterly invoices
First runs, as an example
Starting from 1 January 2027, evaluated in UTC:
| # | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 00:00:00 |
| 2 | Thu, 01 Apr 2027, 00:00:00 |
| 3 | Thu, 01 Jul 2027, 00:00:00 |
| 4 | Fri, 01 Oct 2027, 00:00:00 |
| 5 | Sat, 01 Jan 2028, 00:00:00 |
| 6 | Sat, 01 Apr 2028, 00:00:00 |
On the first day of every quarter in every dialect
| System | Expression |
|---|---|
| Azure Functions (this page) | 0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| Quartz | 0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 ? |
| Spring | 0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| Crontab | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| Kubernetes | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| AWS EventBridge | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 ? * |
| Jenkins | H 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| GitHub Actions | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| node-cron | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| Apache Airflow | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
| Google Cloud Scheduler | 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 * |
Need to translate a different expression? Use the cron converter.
Ready-to-use Azure Functions config
Drop this into your project. The expression is the one above.
[Function("MyTimer")]
public void Run([TimerTrigger("0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *")] TimerInfo timer)
{
// ...
}WEBSITE_TIME_ZONE=Eastern Standard Time # Windows name; Linux uses America/New_York
# Without it, NCRONTAB runs in UTC.The Azure Functions fields, in order: second (0-59), minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day-of-month (1-31), month (1-12), day-of-week (0-6, 0 = Sunday).
Things to watch out for in Azure Functions
- NCRONTAB has no ? and no L. Test how your version combines day-of-month with day-of-week before relying on both.
- The format is {second} {minute} {hour} {day} {month} {day-of-week}; five fields are accepted too. The default time zone is UTC.
- Azure Functions evaluates NCRONTAB in UTC unless the WEBSITE_TIME_ZONE app setting is set; with it, the schedule adjusts for daylight saving. The setting is not supported on Linux Consumption or Flex Consumption plans.
The common mistake with this schedule
There is no */3 shortcut that starts in January. */3 in the month field gives 1,4,7,10 in Unix cron, but an explicit list is clearer and safer across dialects.
Frequently asked questions
How do I run a Azure Functions job on the first day of every quarter?
Use 0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *. At 00:00 UTC, on the 1st of the month, in Jan, Apr, Jul and Oct.
What is the on the first day of every quarter cron expression in other systems?
Quartz: 0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 ?; Spring: 0 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *; Crontab: 0 0 1 1,4,7,10 *. The table on this page lists every dialect.
Which time zone does Azure Functions use for this schedule?
Azure Functions evaluates NCRONTAB in UTC unless the WEBSITE_TIME_ZONE app setting is set; with it, the schedule adjusts for daylight saving. The setting is not supported on Linux Consumption or Flex Consumption plans.