Tips and Tricks: Change the month the fiscal year starts on

I get this question a lot: How do I change the month that the fiscal year starts on? First, to make sure you’re reading a blog entry that pertains to you, let me define a fiscal year. The fiscal year is the year-long period, at the end of which an organization’s accounts are completed and financial statements are prepared for stakeholders and for tax purposes.

Compare this to the calendar year, which is the  more familiar time between January and December (though an organization’s fiscal year can correspond to the calendar year). In other words, calendar years appear on walls in homes and offices, often printed with pictures of cats, family members, flowers, art, and other interesting things. Fiscal calendars do not.

Here’s how to set the start of the fiscal year.

  1. On the File tab, click Options.

    image

    If you’re using Project 2007, click Options on the Tools menu.

  2. On the Project Options dialog, click Schedule, and then find the fiscal year drop-down list.

    image 

    For Project 2007, on the Options dialog box, click the Calendar tab.

Now you’re all ready to do some serious accounting.

Note    Your organization may have already set the start of the fiscal year for all projects, if you’re using Project Professional. If this is the case, you may not be able to change this setting if the project is published to Project Server. You can check with your Project Server administrator to find out for sure.

One more thing. If you’re new to Project 2010 and need some help finding your favorite features on the new ribbon, take a look at the Project 2007 to Project 2010 interactive mapping guide. It’ll help get you started.