Beyond months: Zoho CRM now supports custom fiscal year formats

Beyond months: Zoho CRM now supports custom fiscal year formats

Hello (again) folks !

You can now set your CRM's fiscal year to follow the 4-5-4 calendar and other widely used 52-week fiscal year formats.


Why this change?

As you know, the fiscal year of an organization may not coincide with the Gregorian calendar (spanning from January 1 to December 31). There could be multiple reasons for this: legal regulations in a region, seasonal patterns in sales, lower cost of auditing services, and so on. In Zoho CRM, you already have the option of choosing the starting month of the fiscal year. This lets businesses shift their fiscal year based on their specific needs.

In many industries, there is an additional need to divvy up the fiscal year into periods that are more uniform than calendar months. So, they look at a fiscal year as 52 weeks instead of 12 months.

For example, in the retail industry, the contribution of weekend sales usually outstrips weekday sales. In such cases, retail businesses would like to split the fiscal year into periods that include the same number of weekends. This enhances the comparability of sales data (across weeks, periods, and quarters), improves forecasting, eases payroll calculation, and simplifies accounting work. So, many retail businesses have adopted the 4-5-4 fiscal year format.

To address the needs of businesses that follow such calendars, we've now added custom fiscal year formats in Zoho CRM. These include:

  • 4-4-5, 4-5-4, or 5-4-4: In these quarter-based formats, each quarter has 13 weeks. Within a quarter, these 13 weeks are spread across 3 periods. The number of weeks in these three periods gives the names of these formats: 4-4-5, 4-5-4, and 5-4-4.

  • 3-3-3-4, 3-3-4-3, 3-4-3-3, or 4-3-3-3: In these year-based formats, each period consists of 4 weeks. A fiscal year consists of 13 such periods. These periods are distributed across 4 quarters in 3-3-3-4, 3-3-4-3, 3-4-3-3, and 4-3-3-3 formats. The names indicate the number of periods in each of those four quarters.

What's changed?

  • Choose your fiscal year type
    A new option called Custom Fiscal Year will be available on the Fiscal Year tab. The previous option of choosing the starting month and following the Gregorian calendar will be available under the Standard Fiscal Year option.

  • Pick a format and start date that works for you
    You can choose one of the seven formats we'd described before. The preview section tells you what each format means in terms of quarters, periods, and weeks.

    A start date can be set to precisely align your CRM's fiscal year to your organization's calendar.

  • Check your fiscal year visually
    You can preview in calendar to know which dates fall in which period and to get a visual representation of your fiscal year. If you're not satisfied, you can change the pattern and check the preview again.

  • Configure display options
    You can also choose how you want the fiscal periods to be displayed in CRM.

  • Manage the surplus week
    Since these formats split the year into 52 weeks (364 days), there is always a slip of a day each year. Depending on your needs, you may need to add an extra week to a financial period. For example, you may need to do this if you want your fiscal year to begin on the first Monday of April always. You can add an extra week to any of the upcoming fiscal periods to correct for this.

  • Track fiscal year changes
    You can also view the history of fiscal year changes in the Fiscal Year tab. For entries with custom fiscal year formats, you can preview them in calendar.

  • Custom fiscal year and forecasts
    Once set, fiscal years can be managed only from the Fiscal Year page. Previously, it was managed in the Forecast Configuration page. Once a custom fiscal year is chosen, we can create forecasts based on quarters or periods. The Monthly option will be replaced by the Periodly option.

 

Note: Changing the fiscal year type will delete all existing forecasts.


To learn more about custom fiscal year, see: Set up fiscal year in Zoho CRM.


Do let us know your thoughts!


      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Fill Colors

                                    Hello, Just curious, is it possible to manage the Used and standard colors in the fill drop down menu ? I would like to change/edit them is possible to colors I frequently use. Thanks for you reply, Bruce
                                  • Client scripts for Zoho Books ?

                                    Good day everyone, I am looking for a way to be able to interact with the Quotes and Invoices as they are being created. Think of it like Zoho client script in Zoho CRM. But for the life of me I dont see a way to do this. The issue with having function
                                  • Fillable template with dynamic tables?

                                    Is there a way to build a fillable template so that users can add rows to a table? To describe what I'm trying to accomplish the table has 3 sections; a header row, some number of rows with custom information, and a summary row with totals. I can't figure
                                  • Invoicing multiple expense items as a single line item

                                          My client would like me to invoice them for multiple expense items on a single line item on an invoice.  Can this be done?  I know I can import billable expenses to an invoice, but I don't know how to show them as a single line item or have them
                                  • Tables improvement ideas / features

                                    Heya, I've been using Zoho Tables for a few months now and wanted to post some features that I think will be greatly beneficial for the tool: 1. Ability to delete a record in automation or move a record in automation. - Usecase: I move a record from one
                                  • Announcing offline payment modes for event tickets

                                    Hello everyone,   Collecting ticket payments from prospective attendees can be a tricky part of event planning. While Zoho Backstage has always allowed you to collect payments online as people buy tickets from your event microsite, we have now enabled
                                  • Gmail is ramping up its email sender policy from November 2025

                                    Hello marketers, As you may be aware, Gmail introduced a guideline for bulk senders starting February 2024. If not, here's a quick refresher straight from Google: After this policy was announced first in 2023 and soft-implemented in February 2024, we
                                  • Is there a list of Zoho Icons?

                                    Is there a list of Zoho Icons you can reference: i.e. business-gold is <image marginRight='7px' color='#2A70E7' bgColor='#FFFFFF' width='52px' height='52px' type='icon' value='business-gold' size='24px' cornerRadius='26px' iconType='solid' /> Thanks!
                                  • Item images

                                    Can we get an "On hover" expanded image for items please ?
                                  • Ability to Create and Manage YouTube Video Chapters in Zoho Social

                                    Hi Zoho Social Team, How are you? We would like to request an enhancement to Zoho Social that would allow users to create and manage YouTube video chapters directly within the platform. Currently, Zoho Social does not support manually adding chapters
                                  • What happens to my current site SEO if i opt for zoho creator?

                                    I have an existing website and I need to use Zoho creators for the rapid creation of my webpage creation. Currently, my IT team is creating the web pages, but I am concerned about the SEO of my current website if I shift to zoho will i loose it all?
                                  • Preview Emails with Merge Fields before sending

                                    Hello, Are there plans to preview an email with merge fields before sending out? Currently, all you see in the preview are the merge field values, but before I send out the email I want to make sure the merge is working. Also, the saved emails only show
                                  • User Filter not selecting All Items

                                    We are encountering 2 issues when using the user filter. When users are trying to search using the filter option, the OK button is grayed out. Users have to unselect or make a change before it filters properly. 2. When filtering and the OK button works,
                                  • Support Nested JavaScript Variables in PageSense Pop-up Targeting

                                    Hello Zoho PageSense Team, I hope you're doing well. I’d like to request a feature enhancement for the PageSense pop-up targeting functionality. Current Limitation: Currently, PageSense pop-ups can be triggered using simple JavaScript variables. However,
                                  • Cannot Invert Axis for Rankings

                                    Hi there I want to be able to create a ranking graph in Analytics/BI, with 1 at the top of the Y axis, but I am unable to invert the axis. Super simple example in Excel below. Higher rankings need to be higher up on the graph to give the correct visual
                                  • How to copy value from a single line field into a picklist field within a module's subform?

                                    Hello there, I have a single line field in a module's subform. I would like the value in the field to automatically update a picklist field within the same subform (both have items with the same names). Is this possible via function? Unfortunately, workflows
                                  • Committed Stock and To Be Received Stock via API?

                                    Is it possible to retrieve Committed Stock and/or To Be Received Stock for an Item via the API? I want to use this information for calculating the amount of inventory needed to be purchased.
                                  • Creating Email template that attaches file uploaded in specific field.

                                    If there's a way to do this using Zoho CRM's built-in features, then this has eluded me! I'm looking to create a workflow that automatically sends an email upon execution, and that email includes an attachment uploaded in a specific field. Email templates
                                  • Marketer’s Space - Automate a Personalized Holiday Workflow with Zoho Campaigns

                                    Hello marketers, Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space! From Thanksgiving through Christmas, you have a flurry of opportunities to connect with your audience. In this post, we’ll see how you can plan an entire month-long automated workflow
                                  • Sorting columns in Zoho Projects

                                    Hi, In project management best practice, sorting columns (ascending, descending) is an important tool. Sorting dates to see the order of tasks starting, sorting on priority or even on planned hours is a must for an efficient project control. Currently,
                                  • Zoho CRM - Calendar Cards View - Let Users Decide What Is Displayed On Calendar Entries

                                    Imagine planning your week of face-to-face meetings across three counties. You’re trying to group appointments by location to make the best use of your time, but Zoho CRM’s calendar doesn’t show where each meeting is happening. You’re left trying to remember
                                  • Zoho Inventory - How to pay a supplier up front then receive multiple deliveries

                                    How do we manage situations where we pay a supplier up front, then the receive the products in increments? Example Workflow: Create Purchase Order > Receive Bill for full amount > Receive Items 2 or more deliveries. Currently, once a Bill is created against
                                  • How can I add or change the active customer in Zoho Projects?

                                    I'm trying to change the customer in an active Zoho project. Is it possible to add or change the customer?
                                  • What happens when someone clicks 'unsubscribe' in a zoho CRM email

                                    Hello, As per, i am going round in circles trying to find an answer to these 2 question. I have an email template that has an unsubscribe link in the footer in zoho CRM. First, what happens when someone clicks it - where does the contact get unsubscribed
                                  • Zoho CRM - Scheduled Reports Which Contain Chart

                                    Hi Zoho CRM Team, I'm requesting that the Report Export and Scheduling feature be enhanced to include a chart, if one has been created on a report. At the moment I have a report which shows Sales This Week by Deal Owner and a pie chart at the top of the
                                  • Cadences

                                    I have just started using Cadences for follow-up up email pipeline. Is it just me or do you find the functionality very basic? For example, it will tell me (if I go looking for it) if someone has replied to a follow-up and been unenrolled; but it won't
                                  • Canvas View in Zoho Recruit

                                    Is it possible or would it be possible to have the new 'Canvas View' in Zoho Recruit?
                                  • Zoho Inventory - Move Orders

                                    Quick question about Move Orders... Why is there no status to say something like "Draft", "In Progress" and "Completed", similar to Transfer Orders? I'm assuming that when something needs to be moved it should be planned in Inventory, executed and then
                                  • Kaizen #215 - Workflow APIs - Part 3 - Create and Update Workflow Rules

                                    Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve joined Zylker Cloud Services as they review and improve their workflows. In Part 1, we discovered and audited their sprawling workflow landscape. In Part 2, we learned how to
                                  • DataPrep Bigquery Connection failed

                                    Hello everybody, I want to create a connnection beetwen Bigquery and Dataprep but when I try to connect my project I got this error Loading tables has failed. Table list fetched from the data source expired.
                                  • Issue in Zoho People Regularization – Incorrect Hour Calculation

                                    I have noticed that when applying attendance regularization in Zoho People for previous dates, the total working hours are not calculated correctly. For example, even if the check-in is 10:00 AM and check-out is 6:00 PM, the system shows an incorrect
                                  • Allow Multiple usage units to items while adding them to sales/purchase transactions

                                    The usage unit of items added in zoho books are static right now and can not be changed. But certain items are received or sold in multiple usage units. One example is fabric. It can be bought in Meters, inches, kgs or other units. Another example would
                                  • PO receive quantities

                                    At last, Zoho has finally got around to allowing us to receive a larger qty than recorded in the PO :-) Saves us all from editing the PO's before receiving larger quantities ( usual for us ) ! It's still in "beta" but available upon request, I've tested
                                  • Analytics : How to share to an external client ?

                                    We have a use case where a client wants a portal so that several of his users can view dashboards that we have created for them in Zoho Analytics. They are not part of our company or Zoho One account. The clients want the ability to have user specific,
                                  • Reference Deal Categories in Deluge

                                    Hello, Is there a way to reference Deal Category in deluge functions? So for our Deals, we have several different WON stages in a pipeline.  Rather than type each stage into our functions, we'd like to be able to reference the Deal Category.  Similar
                                  • Users Name & Email in Reports

                                    Hi, I would like to show the Users Name from their Zoho Acount in All Entries/Reports as well as the current Account Email. Thanks Dan
                                  • Workflow Creation with Zia gets stuck

                                    It gets stuck here:
                                  • Unable to Add Asset to Work Order Due to Different Contact and Company

                                    Hello Zoho Team, I’m facing an issue in our environment related to asset linking in Work Orders. Here’s the situation: When our engineers go for field activities, they initially create the Work Order using the salesperson’s contact details. After completing
                                  • I NEED MORE CUSTOM FIELDS!!!

                                    Why can I only have 60 custom fields! It's not enough. I want another 100 extra custom fields to do what's necessary for my business! I'm sure I can't be the only one with this problem!!! How hard would it be to fix this? Just fix it for me please at
                                  • Zoho Webinar et Zapier : de la prise de rendez-vous aux relances — une automatisation performante

                                    Organiser un webinaire réussi et gérer efficacement les participants peut être un véritable défi. Avec Zoho Webinar et Zapier, vous pouvez rendre vos processus plus simples. Vous gagnez du temps en automatisant les tâches répétitives. Résultat : une expérience
                                  • Next Page