Why does the financial year begin on April 1st?

Answer 1

In the Uk the financial year starts on 6th April. This is because hundreds of years ago, it was one of the quarter days on which labourers were hired for a quarters work (in line with the seasons as most work was in agriculture).

Answer 2

Here in the republic of Ireland the financial year is from January 1st to December 31st since the €uro came out. Before that it was from April 6th to April 5th the following year. UK or anywhere else might be different.

Answer 3

I believe the old calendar used to start on 1st April - hence the reason for April Fool's Day - it originated when people continued to celebrate the New Year in April, despite the change.

Answer 4

It is a big conspiracy.

What "they" haven't told you is that there is an underground society called Aprila firstinstal. They are the protectors of a dark secret, that April first is in fact the day that Firstin April, the first banker, invented money. This story has been suppressed because "they" don't want the world to know about Firstin April, and thus consider his descendants royal. That is why Aprila firstinstal protects the royal family. And now you know "the rest of the story."

Answer 5

Not all business organisations have April 1st as the beginning of their financial year. Some may have January 1st. It all depends on when an organisation starts its operations

Answer 6

In centuries gone by, taxes were due on the quarter days, ie Lady Day, Midsummer Day, etc. When taxes were collected annually, it was usually done on Lady Day, 25 March, the beginning of the legal year from the Middle Ages. But when the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Britain, in place of the Julian calendar, in 1752, the two calendars were 11 days apart, and so as to maintain a full number of tax days the collection of taxes shifted to 5 April.

Answer 7

Only for Income Tax Act, it is 1st April of every year. Under the companies act, etc, the Company/firm/ entity is free to determine their own financial year, in any case it must be 12 calender months, regardless of the start date.

Answer 8

The financial year starts on 6th April!! It has done for YEARS.

Answer 9

the fiscal or tax year is specifically established not to match the calendar year so that accounting year-end work does not coincide with periods of high activity, such as the Christmas shopping rush for retailers, or with holiday periods when employees may prefer to take vacation.

A popular use of a non-calendar year as the fiscal year involves retailers. In many countries, at the end of December, levels of inventory, receivables and payables will be higher than at other month ends and consequently more complex and time-consuming to measure accurately. Therefore, retailers commonly use a month other than December to end their fiscal year. January is a popular choice[citation needed], since by the month's end activity levels will have fallen substantially.

In addition, many companies find that it is convenient for purposes of comparison and for accurate stock taking to always end their fiscal year on the same day of the week, where local legislation permits. Thus some fiscal years will have 52 weeks and others 53. Major corporations that adopt this approach include Cisco Systems and Tesco.





A fiscal year (or financial year or accounting reference date) is a 12-month period used for calculating annual ("yearly") financial statements in businesses and other organizations. In many jurisdictions, regulatory laws regarding accounting require such reports once per twelve months, but do not require that the twelve months constitute a calendar year (i.e. January to December). The financial results presented to shareholders are therefore a "photocopy" of company's accounts at the accounting reference date. Although September seems to be the most popular ending month[citation needed], it must be understood that the end date varies between businesses and countries.

Answer 10

At least that is the start of a clean month, in the UK it ends on April the 5th and the new one starts on the 6th, imagine doing accounts for that .....