Your statement posts on a specific day of the month, and then your payment due date is usually 2-4 weeks later. The only balance that matters to credit bureaus is the amount that gets posted to your actual statement. So paying down your balance before the statement date will lower your credit utilization (I usually leave some amount there because somewhere between 0% and 20% is better for your credit score). Paying down after the statement date, but before your due date will not help your score, but it will prevent carrying a balance and paying interest.

If you pay the entire bill before the statement date, then $0 will post to your statement and it will look to the credit bureaus as though you don't even use your credit card, which doesn't help much.

My philosophy, pay down my balance to about $200 every week or two when it gets above above $500. Then pay in full after the statement posts.