Setting Your Fiscal Year

Why the Fiscal Year Matters

Every report that splits "current year" from "prior years" — most importantly the Balance Sheet's equity section — relies on knowing exactly when your fiscal year starts and ends. Most companies close on December 31, but plenty don't: some countries and industries commonly use a different date (for example, many private companies in some countries use June 30).

Setting It

1. Go to Settings > Invoicing > Fiscal Periods.
2. Set the Fiscal Year field: a month and a day (e.g. December 31, or June 30).
3. This is per-company — each company in a multi-company setup can have its own fiscal year end.

This one setting is what every report uses to decide what counts as "this year" versus "prior years" — get it right before relying on the Balance Sheet's Retained Earnings/Net Income split (next article) or the Profit and Loss report's default "This Year" filter.

Changing It Later

Changing the fiscal year end after you already have a full year of transactions will shift what every report considers "current year" going forward. Do this deliberately (e.g. at a genuine change of accounting period) rather than casually — it's a real accounting decision, not just a display preference.