Does your company's accounting year run from, for example, 1 April to 31 March, or from 1 July to 30 June? Then you have a deviating accounting year. Catacloud needs to know which month your accounting year starts in. Otherwise the result, the trial balance and the budget are split incorrectly between years.
How do I see that the client has a deviating accounting year?
In the period picker: Open a report, for example Accounting → Reports → Result, and click the period at the top. If you see a row with Accounting year 2024/25, Accounting year 2025/26 and so on above the calendar years, the client has a deviating accounting year. The selected accounting year is marked with its start and end dates. The row is not shown when the accounting year starts in January.
In the settings:
Go to Administration → Module settings → Accounting. You can also get there from Settings at the bottom of the menu in Accounting.
Stay on the General tab.
Under Deviating accounting year you'll find the Accounting year start field. If it says January, the accounting year follows the calendar year.
How to set up a deviating accounting year
Go to Administration → Module settings → Accounting → General.
Under Deviating accounting year, choose the month the accounting year starts in, in the Accounting year start field.
Click Save settings.
Good to know:
You need permission to change the client settings. Otherwise the field is greyed out.
The voucher inbox e-mail address at the top of the page must be filled in, or the form won't save.
Set the start month before you start posting. If you change it later, every report changes how it splits the result between years, including years that have already been posted. Existing budgets also shift – see «Frequently asked questions» at the bottom.
What is the accounting year called?
The accounting year is named after the year it starts in. With an April start:
Accounting year 2025 = 01.04.2025–31.03.2026
The period picker says Accounting year 2025/26. The report heading says Accounting year 2025. It's the same period.
Budgets are named the same way: a budget for 2025 covers 2025/26.
Choose the accounting year in reports, not the calendar year
Result and Balance open on the current accounting year automatically. Trial Balance and General ledger open on the current month. There you need to choose Accounting year … in the period picker yourself when you want to see the whole year.
If you choose a calendar year, the period crosses the end of the accounting year. For example, if you choose calendar year 2025 in the Trial Balance for a client whose accounting year starts in April, this happens:
The opening balance on the result accounts is calculated from 1 April 2024.
The closing balance includes everything from 1 April 2024 to 31 December 2025, which is 21 months.
The figures are calculated correctly, but they don't match any annual accounts. So always choose Accounting year when you reconcile or report for a whole year.
VAT always follows the calendar year
VAT terms follow the calendar year, whatever accounting year the company has. That's correct, and nothing you need to change.
Read more
The trial balance doesn't add up to zero with a deviating accounting year: why a difference appears in the opening balance, and how to find and fix it.
Result report and budget with a deviating accounting year: how to set up the Result report and compare with the budget.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the start month after we've started posting?
Yes, but three things change:
Every report splits the result between years in a new way, including years that are already closed.
Existing budgets shift. Budget months follow the accounting year, so what was entered under January ends up under the new start month. Check your budgets and move the figures if needed.
The budget then covers a different year. A budget for 2026, for example, covers 2026/27 instead of the calendar year 2026.
Talk to your accountant first, or contact us.
The result accounts have an opening balance when I look at the calendar year. Is that wrong?
No. The opening balance is calculated from the start of the accounting year, not from 1 January. Choose Accounting year … in the period picker, and the result accounts start at 0.
When should you contact us?
If you're unsure about the setup, send us the name of the client and which month the accounting year should start in.