How to set your financial year

Your financial year determines the 12-month period your reports cover. Setting it correctly means your Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and tax reports line up with your actual accounting cycle, whether that’s January to December or any other period.

Why your financial year matters

Your financial year defines:

• The start and end dates for all your reports.
• How stub groups transactions for tax and performance tracking.
• When year-end processes, like closing balances, roll over.

If your business follows the calendar year, you’ll start on 1 January by default. But if you operate on a different cycle, say 1 March to 28 February, you can easily change it.

How to set your financial year

1. Go to More→ Settings → Business.
2. Under Accounting, find Financial year start and click Edit.
3. Choose your start day and month from the dropdowns.
4. Click Save.

That’s it. stub will automatically align your reports and calculations with your chosen dates.

TIP: You can only set one financial year start per business, so make sure it matches the period you report to SARS or your accountant.