A financial year refers to the period used for determining annual statements, calculating financial figures, etc. It is also termed as fiscal year. The financial year is of 12 consecutive months, but the period taken into consideration for nomenclating the span of 12 months varies from Country to country.
Given below are details of financial year of various countries:
| Country | Fiscal Year |
| India | Ist April to 31st March |
| United States of America | Ist October to 30th September |
| Australia | Ist July to 30th June |
| Austria | Ist January to 31st December |
| Iran | 21st March to 20th March |
Different organizations adopt different period of 12 consecutive months for their accounting purpose. For example, a university may align its accounting year with the academic year. While some organizations may prefer to adopt the calendar year to be their financial year to ease the process of accounting.
The financial year is also called the budget year. It is the period of accounting. One has to pay tax in India based on his income from 1st April to 31st March of the following year. The profit and loss in businesses is calculated based on the income and expenses from the period 1st April to 31st March.
