Hints - Microsoft Excel - Fiscal Year Calculations

Fiscal Year Calculations

This tutorial shows how you can calculate the fiscal year and fiscal month for a specific date. The formulas are based on the Fiscal Year starting date or starting month.

Calculate the Fiscal Year

Based on the month number in which the fiscal year starts, you can use the IF function to calculate the fiscal year for any date.

In this example, the starting month is entered in cell C4, and the date is entered in cell C6.

The following formula is entered in cell C8:

=YEAR(C6) + IF(MONTH(C6)>=C4,1,0)

The formula result shows the fiscal year for the date.

NOTE: Format cell C8 as General Number format -- it might show a Date format if you recalculate it.

How It Works

The formula calculates the year for the date entered in cell C6.

=YEAR(C6)

Then, the IF function compares the month number for the date entered in cell C6, to the fiscal year starting month in cell C4

IF(MONTH(C6)>=C4

If the month number is greater than or equal to that number, 1 is added to the year. 

If the month number is less than that number, 0 is added to the year.

IF(MONTH(C6)>=C4,1,0) 

Calculate the Fiscal Month - CHOOSE Function

To calculate the fiscal month, you can use the CHOOSE function. The CHOOSE function returns a value from a list, based on an index number.

Based on the month number, the fiscal month number can be returned from a list of numbers.

In this example, the fiscal year starts in July, so January is fiscal month 7. For the months from January to December, the fiscal months are in this order: 7,8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3,4,5,6

Those month numbers can be typed into the CHOOSE formula, or you can refer to the cells that contain the numbers.

Option 1 - List the Numbers

To calculate the Fiscal Month with the CHOOSE function, the date is entered in cell C6.

The following formula is entered in cell C11:

=CHOOSE(MONTH(C6),7,8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3,4,5,6)

If the date in cell C6 is March 22, 2015, the MONTH function will return 3 as the month number.

The formula returns the 3rd number from the list of fiscal months -- 9

7,8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3,4,5,6

Option 2 - Link to Cells

To calculate the Fiscal Month with the CHOOSE function, the date is entered in cell C6.

Fiscal months are entered in the reference table, in cells G6:R6

The following formula is entered in cell K11:

=CHOOSE(MONTH(C6),G6,H6,I6,J6,K6,L6,M6,N6,O6,P6,Q6,R6)

If the date in cell C6 is March 22, 2015, the MONTH function will return 3 as the month number.

The formula returns value from the 3rd reference in the list -- cell I6

G6,H6,I6,J6,K6,L6,M6,N6,O6,P6,Q6,R6

That cell contains the value 9

Calculate the Fiscal Quarter - CHOOSE Function

To calculate the fiscal quarter, you can use the CHOOSE function. The CHOOSE function returns a value from a list, based on an index number.

Based on the month number, the fiscal quarter number can be returned from a list of numbers.

In this example, the fiscal year starts in April, so January is fiscal quarter 4. For the months from January to December, the fiscal quarters are in this order: 4,4,4,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3

Those quarter numbers can be typed into the CHOOSE formula, to calculate the fiscal quarter for a specific date.

Use the CHOOSE Function

To calculate the Fiscal quarter with the CHOOSE function, the date is entered in cell C6.

The following formula is entered in cell C11:

=CHOOSE(MONTH(C6),4,4,4,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3)

If the date in cell C6 is March 22, 2015, the MONTH function will return 3 as the month number.

The formula returns the 3rd number from the list of fiscal months -- 4

4,4,4,1,1,1,2,2,2,3,3,3