A natural business year (NBY) is a fiscal year that ends when business activities are typically at a low point. This is often industry-specific, depending on the annual cycle of business operations. For example, a retailer might choose to end their fiscal year in January or February after the holiday season has ended, while a ski resort may end their fiscal year in the spring or summer, after the peak winter season has passed. Bench simplifies your small business accounting by combining intuitive software that automates the busywork with real, professional human support.
Natural Business Year Definition – What is a Natural Business Year?
The authors are of the opinion that the AICPA and its Committee on NBY grew too content when about one-half of U.S. corporations were filing on a fiscal year basis by 1958, as reported by Reiss. Perhaps this might explain the eventual dropping of the Committee, which with the NBY Council had achieved a great change in accounting. The authors believe that “proactive” will once again become a word that describes accountants’ behavior towards the NBY concept, as one can observe in the AICPA lobbying for the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987. This may mean the reconstitution of both the AICPA Committee on NBY and the NBY Council. The authors have an uneasy feeling that accountants may have contributed significantly to an overall lack of awareness of the NBY. For instance, there is almost a complete absence of financial/managerial items about the NBY during the last 20 years.
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We’ll explore how to think about picking a fiscal year, how adopting a fiscal year can impact your business, and whether you might be better off sticking with the calendar year. Your go-to source for tax developments and professional insights. Tap into expert guidance, tools, news, and career development. Many companies are so diversified that it is impossible to determine a natural business year common to all divisions of the business. The natural business year for a school year is July 1 through June 30. The reason is that school year classes are usually finished in June.
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Businesses with natural business years natural business year must align their tax reporting with this period. This can provide more accurate reflections of income and expenses as they relate to the business cycle. Since many businesses use the standard December 31st year end, accounting itself is a seasonal business.
Election
- Many companies, especially those in retail, have fiscal years that coincide with their operational cycle rather than the calendar year.
- Another example of this overall lack of awareness of the NBY is the relatively complete switch from a proactive to a reactive stance taken by the AICPA, by accountants and by accounting academics.