Catalyst allows you to use a traditional calendar year or set up your own fiscal calendar, based on your internal accounting and business practices.
What's the difference?
- Calendar years are easier for tax reporting because they fall in line with the IRS's own systems. While fiscal years can be used, they require more complex auditing and accounting. A fiscal year keeps income and expenses together on the same tax return, while a calendar year splits them into two.
- Using a different fiscal year than the calendar year lets seasonal businesses choose the start and end dates that better align with their revenue and expenses. This means a fiscal year can help present a more accurate picture of a company's financial performance.
How to set it up
Important: You cannot edit the fiscal calendar of a fiscal year that already has data associated with it in an existing scenario.
- Navigate to Administration > System Configuration > Calendar.
- Review and edit your Period Names and Abbreviations.
- Create and edit your Period Dates. These set the first day of the fiscal month for each period.