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Fiscal Years: A Brief Explanation

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Definition

A fiscal year is a one year period that organizations use to provide budgets and financial reports. Some government entities, such as counties and some special service districts, use a calendar year (January 1–December 31) as their fiscal year. Other entities, such as municipalities, use the period of July 1 through June 30 as their fiscal year (colloquially referred to as a “fiscal year”). Entities with a fiscal year that begins neither on January 1 nor July 1 are uncommon, but do exist.

Fiscal Year Purpose & Report Creation

The purpose of a fiscal year is to standardize the time frame for which financial reports and budgets are created. Note that Approved Budgets need to be adopted before the budget year begins (and uploaded within thirty days of adoption) and Financial Reports cannot be created until after the fiscal year for which the report covers has ended (and uploaded within 180 days of the fiscal year end).

Uploading Reports to the Correct Year in the State Reporting System

The time period for which the report covers is exactly where you upload the report in the State Reporting System. In other words, when you upload the report is irrelevant to the location where the report is uploaded. See the tables below:

Calendar Year (Jan. 1–Dec. 31) Entity Report Upload Location Guide

Report Type State Reporting System Upload Location Time Period the Report Covers When to Upload
2020 Approved Budget 2020 Approved Budget January 1, 2020–December 31, 2020 December 2019 or January 2020
2020 Financial Report 2020 Financial Report January 1, 2020–December 31, 2020 January 2021 and after
2021 Approved Budget 2021 Approved Budget January 1, 2021–December 31, 2021 December 2020 or January 2021
2021 Financial Report 2021 Financial Report January 1, 2021–December 31, 2021 January 2022 and after
2022 Approved Budget 2022 Approved Budget January 1, 2022–December 31, 2022 December 2021 or January 2022
2022 Financial Report 2022 Financial Report January 1, 2022–December 31, 2022 January 2023 and after

Fiscal Year (July 1–June 30) Entity Report Upload Location Guide

Report Type State Reporting System Upload Location Time Period the Report Covers When to Upload
2020 Approved Budget 2020 Approved Budget July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020 June 2019 or July 2019
2020 Financial Report 2020 Financial Report July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020 July 2020 and after
2021 Approved Budget 2021 Approved Budget July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021 June 2020 or July 2020
2021 Financial Report 2021 Financial Report July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021 July 2021 and after
2022 Approved Budget 2022 Approved Budget July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022 June 2021 or July 2021
2022 Financial Report 2022 Financial Report July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022 July 2022 and after

Download the PDF here.