In a business context, year-end is used about the end of the fiscal year. The fiscal year-end is not always aligned with the calendar year.
A fiscal year can start and end at any point. It depends on what the government has decided on. Some countries have fiscal years that follow the calendar year—others have fiscal years that run from, for example, June 1 to May 31 or October 1 to September 30.
What do we mean by year-end
The fiscal year-end is the time when businesses have to finish up their accounting, meaning they have to make sure that everything their business owns, owes, has spent and earned for the fiscal year is included.
Businesses then have to do financial accounting to set up their financial statements, which they have to submit as part of their annual report. There can also be tax deadlines—both for paying and reporting taxes—at the end of the fiscal year.
You should check what applies to you. It depends on what country you operate in, what type of business you run, and what type of industry you’re in.
Take a moment to reflect
At the end of the fiscal year, you also want to take some time to review the state of your businesses. Here are some things you can consider doing:
- Review your general ledger and compare it with the budgets you set up at the start of the year or throughout the fiscal year. Did reality align with your expectations? If there are discrepancies, it’s a good idea to figure out why so that you can make adjustments in next year’s budgets.
- Check your numbers to ensure you’re operating with a profit or a loss. You can find these numbers in the income statement, which is one of the financial statements you have to submit.
- Go through your business plan. This is useful to see if you’re on the right track to meet the goals you’ve set, and also to see if you need to make adjustments to your business plan. You’re a year richer when it comes to business experience, and the business plan is meant to be a living document that reflects the reality of your business.
- Look to see if you can cut costs, for example by changing suppliers, renegotiating deals, or by switching to free invoice software