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Glite Dictionary
financial year

financial year

1 3.0
A period of twelve months that businesses or governments use to record money and pay taxes
  • noun
  • /faɪˈnænʃəl jɪr/
  • UK
translation icon : año fiscal
  • In the financial year to March 31, 2012, the fund's assets increased by 4.4 percent to $54.5 billion.

And we were in a very tough financial year.

Examples

  • Eventually, both parties agreed on a transfer of 58m this financial year and 60m in 2010-11.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Speaker, in this current financial year, this government has redistributed funding meant for veterans charities.

  • We are planning to train more people up to Green Belt level during this financial year.

    Blog text (15)

  • Four new DES have been introduced for this financial year.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Sega has released today their financial reports for the first half of 2012's financial year, and it shows a slight economic recovery.

    Blog text (5)

  • Nintendo is expecting 24 million software units to be sold in 2013's financial year, which is over 4 games per console, if they meet their targets.

    Blog text (14)

  • France has allocated in its 1914-15 financial year the amount of 64,000,000 lire for its air fleet.

    Academic text (2010)

  • NPS MedicineWise also has a prominent internet presence with 3.3 million visits to its website and 2.3 million Twitter and 1.5 million Facebook views in the 2013-14 financial year.

    Academic text (2016)

  • In England, councils are having to make savings of 1.165 billion as part of the Treasury's plan to save 6.2 billion from the public purse in 2010-11, and unions in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have yet to agree on a pay deal with Local Government Employers, which has ruled out any pay increases for this financial year.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The company had a negative cash flow of $3.17 billion in the financial year ended March 31.

Synonyms

fiscal year
vsfinancial year
  • Specialized
76 3.9

A twelve-month period that governments or companies use for money and budgets, not always matching the calendar year

focuses on the same twelve months but emphasizes accounting and tax use

Surface Forms

financial year singular
financial years plural

Morphology

financial + year

The compound 'financial year' is directly built from 'financial' (related to money/management) + 'year' (a 12-month period), so its sense as the year used for accounting/tax purposes is readily inferable. Minor technical details (for example that it may not match the calendar year) are extra information but do not prevent a B1 learner who knows both constituents from understanding the basic meaning.

Etymology

Financial year comes from the simple idea of choosing a 12-month year just for financial matters: businesses and governments mark one full period to add up money, costs and taxes. That's why a financial year is used for 'accounts' and 'tax' work and may not match the calendar 'year'.