Standard versus custom fiscal year
Key Takeaway
A standard fiscal year follows the Gregorian calendar and can start in any month. A custom fiscal year lets you build a different structure, but you must define one for each year you do business. Enabling custom fiscal years is permanent.
A fiscal year is the yearly calendar a company uses for financial planning. Salesforce uses your fiscal year definitions to provide fiscal periods in reporting, opportunities, and forecasting. You can choose a standard fiscal year or a custom fiscal year. The right choice depends on whether the company's fiscal year follows the Gregorian calendar structure.
Standard versus custom fiscal year
| Standard fiscal year | Custom fiscal year | |
|---|---|---|
| Use it when | The company follows the Gregorian calendar, but its fiscal year does not start in January. | The company's fiscal year does not follow the Gregorian calendar structure. |
| Structure | Follows the normal Gregorian calendar and can start on the first day of any month. | Lets you build a different structure. |
| From year to year | Simply repeats from its start month. | Is not created automatically. You must define a custom fiscal year for each year you do business. |
For example, a company might need a custom fiscal year for one of these structures:
- 4-4-5 week quarters: 13-week quarters made of periods of 4, 4, and 5 weeks instead of calendar months
- 13 periods per year
- Three quarters per year instead of four