Fiscal Year

A fiscal year is the 12-month period a company uses for financial reporting and budgeting, which does not have to match the calendar year. Most US companies use a calendar fiscal year ending December 31, but many, especially retailers, use a fiscal year ending in January or another month that better fits their business cycle.

The mismatch matters when comparing companies: a retailer with a fiscal year ending in late January is including the holiday shopping season in its fiscal Q4, while a calendar-year company reports that same period as its Q4, so "Q4" does not always mean the same three months across every company you might compare.