A fiscal year is a 12-month period used for accounting and tax reporting, distinct from the calendar year. Governments, corporations, and tax authorities each set their own start date.
Country variation
Fiscal year start dates vary across 3 major jurisdictions:
- United States (federal) — 1 October to 30 September.
- United Kingdom — 6 April to 5 April for individuals; 1 April to 31 March for corporates.
- Australia — 1 July to 30 June, set by the Australian Taxation Office.
Corporate fiscal years inside each country can differ from the government calendar. Apple Inc., for example, ends its fiscal year on the last Saturday of September, while Microsoft uses 1 July to 30 June.
Synonyms and usage
The terms financial year, accounting year, and tax year are used interchangeably with fiscal year in most contexts. Commonwealth jurisdictions, including Australia and the United Kingdom, prefer financial year. United States federal usage prefers fiscal year, often abbreviated as FY followed by the ending calendar year — FY2026 in US federal usage runs from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026.
Choice of fiscal year affects quarterly reporting boundaries, tax filing deadlines, and year-on-year revenue comparisons. Multinational groups consolidating results across jurisdictions must align or reconcile differing fiscal calendars.