what is fiscal year end 
the term fiscal year end refers to the completion of any one year or 12 month accounting period other than a typical calendar year a fiscal year is often the period used for calculating annual financial statements a company s fiscal year may differ from the calendar year and may not close on dec 31 due to the nature of a company s needs once companies choose their fiscal year end typically when they are first incorporating or forming their company it is required to stick with it year to year this allows accounting data to be consistent in terms of time frames investopedia jake shiunderstanding fiscal year endevery year public companies are required to publish financial statements for review by the securities and exchange commission sec these documents also give investors an update on company performance compared to previous years and provide analysts with a way to understand business operations financial statements are published after each company s fiscal year end which may vary from company to company fiscal year end vs calendar year endif a company has a fiscal year end that is the same as the calendar year end it means that the fiscal year ends on dec 31 however companies can choose the best fiscal year end for themselves designed with the needs of the company in mind companies that operate on a non calendar business cycle or have a supplier base that does so may choose a fiscal year end date that more appropriately coincides with their business operations for example many retail companies have a fiscal year that differs from the calendar year due to the heavy sales cycle during the holiday season because dec 31 coincides with heavy shopping by consumers a retail firm may have a hard time producing annual financial statements and counting inventories at that same time as manpower and resources are dedicated to the sales floor in this case the firm may choose an alternate fiscal year end date such as jan 31 rather than dec 31 as another example the best time for a luxury resort to report earnings is probably after vacation season so it may choose a fiscal year end of sept 30 whatever fiscal year end date is determined companies must make a decision when they file for incorporation as their fiscal year end date cannot be changed every year it is also important to note that the timing of a company s fiscal year does not change the due date on taxes for example taxes which are based on a calendar year end are still often due on april 15 regardless of a company s fiscal year end thus in many cases a dec 31 fiscal year end date is more conducive for calculating taxes due 