Monthly and quarterly time periods are commonly referred to as fiscal periods.

An accounting period is the period of time covered by a company's financial statements. Common accounting periods for external financial statements include the calendar year (January 1 through December 31) and the calendar quarter (January 1 through March 31, April 1 through June 30, July 1 through September 30, October 1 through December 31). It is common for these companies to also have monthly accounting periods. However, the financial statements for the monthly accounting periods are likely to be used only by the companies' managements.

In the U.S., some companies have annual accounting periods that end on dates other than December 31. For example, a company could have a fiscal year of July 1 through the following June 30. Its quarterly accounting periods would be July 1 through September 30, etc.

It is also common for U.S. retailers to have accounting periods that end on a Saturday. The annual accounting period for these businesses may be the 52- or 53-week fiscal years ending on the Saturday closest to February 1 or any other date. The retailers' quarterly accounting periods will be the 13-week periods, and the monthly accounting periods will be a 4- or 5-week time period.

There are a total of 15 fiscal periods to which General Ledger entries can be posted. Twelve of these periods simply represent the 12 months of the year, but three other special periods exist: Beginning Balances (BB), C&G Beginning Balances (CB), and Period 13. Most fiscal periods — except for special periods like BB and CB — include five working days after the month has ended. During these five days, some (but not all) transactions can be posted to the closing period. For example, a general error correction (GEC) could be posted to the September Fiscal Period as late as Oct. 7.

Fiscal Year 2022-23 Periods and Closing Dates

Selecting Fiscal Period

During the days after the month has ended, but the previous period is still open, documents that are eligible to post to the previous period will have a dropdown selection to post to either the previous period or the current period. The document must be finalized on the Fiscal Period Closing Date for it to post to the previous period.

Periods BB and CB

Fiscal Period ‘BB’ is a special period for previous year carry-forward activity for the new year, and initial budgets. Fiscal Period ‘CB’ is a special period to carry forward the balances for Contracts & Grants/Inception to date funds from the previous fiscal year.

Period 13

Period 13 is reserved for Central Accounting to process transactions in preparation for reporting to the University of California, Office of the President. For the campus at large, all closing activities should be completed before the end of Period 12. 

Fiscal Year End

The University’s fiscal year ends on June 30 and all accounts must reflect the correct financial transactions for the fiscal year. All income and expense must be accurately recorded in their correct accounts and all accounts must close in a solvent condition. Fiscal Period 12 has an extended close date — to be announced when fiscal year-end close approaches — allowing additional time to make appropriate adjustments, accruals, and deferrals.

The University of California, Irvine is required to comply with deadlines established by the Office of the President. For the campus at large, closing procedures will be completed in June (Period 12) in KFS.

The time period principle is the concept that a business should report the financial results of its activities over a standard time period, which is usually monthly, quarterly, or annually. Once the duration of each reporting period is established, use the guidelines of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or International Financial Reporting Standards to record transactions within each period. A high degree of consistency in reporting for the same time periods is needed, so that an organization can produce financial statements that can be compared to the results reported for prior years.

Presentation of the Time Period in Financial Statements

You must include in the header of a financial statement the time period covered by the statement. For example, an income statement or statement of cash flows may cover the "Eight Months ended August 31." However, the balance sheet is dated as of a specific date, rather than for a range of dates. Thus, a balance sheet header might state "as of August 31."

Which type of accounting time period are considered monthly or quarterly?

Is regular accounting periods are calendar and fiscal?

What are the 4 accounting periods?

What is one financial period?