What's the difference between calendar and fiscal period naming?

The period naming format determines the year that's appended to the prefix for each period in the calendar.

For the example, your accounting year has a set of twelve accounting period with:

  • Start date of September 1, 2014.

  • End date is August 31, 2015.

  • Period's date range following the natural calendar month date range.

Calendar period naming format: Select the calendar period format to append the period's start date's year to the prefix. For the period covering September 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014, then 2014 or just 14, depending on the period format selected, is appended to each period's name. For the remaining periods covering January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015, then 2015 or 15, is appended to each period's name.

Fiscal period naming format: Select the fiscal period format to always append the period's year assignment to the prefix. If the accounting periods in the set of twelve are all assigned the year of 2015, then 2015 or just 15, depending on the period format selected, is appended to the period name of all 12 periods.