fiscal year

Fiscal year (FY)

Accounting period covering 12 consecutive months over which a company determines earnings and profits. The fiscal year serves as a period of reference for the company and does not necessarily correspond to the calendar year.

Fiscal Year

1. A calendar businesses use to calculate revenue and expenses. Most businesses also use their fiscal year as the period their annual budgets operate. Most jurisdictions require businesses to issue financial statements each year but often do not specify when they must do so. Thus, fiscal years vary by business and jurisdiction. They tend to begin in the middle of the calendar year, particularly in retail, as the end of the calendar year is an exceptionally busy time. The U.S. Government's fiscal year starts on October 1. In nomenclature, if a fiscal year covers more than one calendar year it is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, the U.S. government's fiscal year from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009 is called "FY 09."

2. In the United Kingdom, the tax year.

fiscal year (FY)

The 12-month accounting period for an organization. Because many firms end their accounting year on a date other than December 31, the fiscal year often differs from the calendar year.

fiscal year

the government's accounting year which, in the UK, runs from 6 April to 5 April of the following year, and in the USA from 1 July to 30 June. The fiscal year is the basic period used by the government in assessing personal INCOME TAX and any income earned during the fiscal year is assessable to taxation at the income tax rates applicable for that fiscal year. Compare FINANCIAL YEAR.

In the past the authorities have occasionally set ‘targets’ for fiscal policy, most notably ‘caps'on the size of the PUBLIC SECTOR BORROWING REQUIREMENT (PSBR). Recently, the government has accepted that fiscal stability is an important element in the fight against inflation. In 1997, the government set an inflation ‘target'of an increase in the RETAIL PRICE INDEX (RPIX) of no more than 2_1/2 % per annum and ceded powers to a newly-established MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE to set official interest rates. In doing this the government explicitly recognised that a low inflation economy was essential in order to achieve another of its priorities – low UNEMPLOYMENT. To this end, fiscal ‘prudence’, specifically a current budget deficit (PSBR) within the European Union's MAASTRICHT TREATY limits of no more than 3% of GDP (and an outstanding total debt limit of 60% of GDP) was endorsed as a necessary adjunct to avoid excessive monetary creation of the kind which had fuelled previous runaway inflations. See BUDGET (GOVERNMENT) entry for further discussion. See MONETARISM, MONETARY POLICY, BUSINESS CYCLE.

fiscal year

the government's accounting year, which, in the UK, runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year. Different countries frequently have a fiscal year different from the normal calendar year. In the USA, the fiscal year runs up to 30 June. See BUDGET ( GOVERNMENT).

fiscal year

Accounting year. Many companies use accounting years ending on June 30 or September 30, rather than the calendar year ending on December 31.

Fiscal Year

An accounting year ending on the last day of any month except December, or a 52-53 week tax year, which is a year that ends on the same day of the week (for example, the last Thursday of the month or on the Thursday that is closest to the end of the month).