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This question is about accountant salaries.
Fiscal Year vs. Calendar Year
A fiscal year is a 12-month cycle used by companies and governments for accounting and budgeting purposes that does not necessarily start and end when the calendar year does, while a calendar year is a 12-month cycle that always begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st of that same year.
A fiscal year is determined by a company, business, or individual, and can start and end on any day of the year, but is always 365 days long. A fiscal year is used to calculate an individual or company's taxes and help them prepare their financial statements. Fiscal years may match calendar years, but some individuals or companies choose different start and end dates.
A calendar year is also known as the civil year and is based on the Gregorian calendar, lasting 365 days, or 366 days during a leap year. There are many major companies, including Amazon, Meta, and Google's Alphabet, that use the calendar year as its fiscal year. The calendar year is the most common fiscal year in the business world.
Here are the key differences between a fiscal year and a calendar year:
| A fiscal year is a 12-month cycle used by companies and governments for accounting and budgeting purposes. | A calendar year is a 12-month cycle that always begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st. |
| A fiscal year can match a calendar year, but some companies and individuals choose for it to start and end on different days for accounting and auditing reasons. | A calendar year is based on the Gregorian calendar and is also known as a civil year. |
| The most common fiscal year is the calendar year and it is used by companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Google's Alphabet. | A calendar year lasts 365 days or 366 days during a leap year. |
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