How Is a Company’s Financial Year End Determined and Can It Be Changed?

A company’s Financial Year End (FYE) is the final day of its accounting period. It determines the timeframe used to prepare financial statements and file accounts.

When a company is incorporated with Companies House, the first accounting period is usually set automatically based on the incorporation date. Because of this, the FYE cannot be customised during incorporation.

However, a company can change its accounting reference date by filing form AA01 with Companies House.

A financial year can:

• Be shortened any number of times; and
• Be extended so that the accounting period does not exceed 18 months in total.

An extension can generally only be made once every five years, unless an exception applies (for example, to align reporting dates with a parent or subsidiary company, or in certain insolvency situations).