Calendar Year

In finance and accounting, the term is used mainly to contrast with a fiscal year. Some businesses and governments use the calendar year as their reporting year, while others use a fiscal year with different start and end dates.

Using the calendar year has practical advantages. It lines up with many tax years, makes comparisons with economic data easier and is simple to understand. Many smaller businesses and individuals use it by default.

Some statistics and benchmarks are reported on a calendar-year basis. For example, an investment fund's "calendar-year return" is its performance from 1 January to 31 December, which may differ from its return over the last twelve months.

When a company's fiscal year differs from the calendar year, analysts sometimes adjust its figures to a calendar-year basis to compare it more easily with peers. This is called calendarisation.