Setting Up Tax Periods Using a Fiscal Calendar

You can set up tax periods using a fiscal calendar if you have the Multiple Calendars feature enabled.

Several subsidiaries can share one fiscal calendar. For more information, see Fiscal Calendars.

Warning:

After enabling Multiple Calendars, this feature can only be disabled if you have not yet assigned a new fiscal calendar to a subsidiary. If you have already created a new fiscal calendar and assigned it to a subsidiary, you can no longer disable Multiple Calendars.

If the Multiple Calendars feature is enabled in your account, you can do the following:

Set up different fiscal calendar definitions on the same subsidiary for accounting and tax calendars
Define a tax year for a subsidiary, independently of other subsidiaries.

The Multiple Calendars feature can be enabled in OneWorld accounts only. A fiscal calendar determines the start date for an accounting year or tax year, and rolls up the accounting periods and tax periods.

Example:

The following table shows how subsidiaries can be set up in a OneWorld account with Multiple Calendars:

Subsidiary	Fiscal Calendar (for accounting year)	Tax Fiscal Calendar (for tax year)
UK - London subsidiary	April Fiscal Calendar	July Fiscal Calendar
UK - Manchester subsidiary	April Fiscal Calendar	December Fiscal Calendar
Germany - Berlin subsidiary	January Fiscal Calendar	January Fiscal Calendar
Ireland - Dublin subsidiary	January Fiscal Calendar	March Fiscal Calendar

Subsidiary

Fiscal Calendar (for accounting year)

Tax Fiscal Calendar (for tax year)

UK - London subsidiary

April Fiscal Calendar

July Fiscal Calendar

UK - Manchester subsidiary

April Fiscal Calendar

December Fiscal Calendar

Germany - Berlin subsidiary

January Fiscal Calendar

Ireland - Dublin subsidiary

January Fiscal Calendar

March Fiscal Calendar

On the Manage Tax Periods page, you select a fiscal calendar to view tax periods that have been set up for that fiscal calendar. Periods shown as Unassigned are tax periods that have not been assigned to the selected fiscal calendar.

To set up a full year with calendar months and quarters. See Setting Up a Full Tax Year for a Fiscal Calendar. To set up individual years, quarters, and periods, each with a start date and an end date that you specify, see Setting Up Tax Periods Individually for a Fiscal Calendar.

Important:

If you enable Multiple Calendars in an account that already contains transactional data, you must first set up your historical and transitional periods using a fiscal calendar before you set up future tax periods. See Setting Up Historical and Transitional Tax Periods Using a Fiscal Calendar.

Make sure your Subsidiary records are set up with the correct accounting and tax fiscal calendars. You can open a fiscal calendar record to see the subsidiaries that the calendar has been assigned to. For more information, read Assigning a Tax Fiscal Calendar to a Subsidiary.

Setting Up a Full Tax Year for a Fiscal Calendar

When setting up tax periods, the best practice is to use months for posting tax, even if you only intend to run quarterly or annual reports. Go to the Manage Tax Periods page, select the Set Up Full Year option, and then choose the Calendar Months format.

To set up a full tax reporting year using a fiscal calendar:

Go to Setup > Accounting > Taxes > Manage Tax Periods (Administrator).
Select a fiscal calendar.
Click Set Up Full Year.
On the New Tax Reporting Periods for Full Year page, make sure that the values in the Fiscal Calendar field and First Fiscal Month field are correct.
In the Fiscal Year End field, enter or accept the fiscal year you want to generate tax periods for. For example, to set up tax periods for 2014, enter 2014 in the Fiscal Year End field.
In the Period Format field, select one of the following to divide the year into:
- Quarters – three-month long sub-periods. These quarters have the Is Posting box checked by default.
- Calendar Months – twelve sub-periods.
- 4 Weeks – thirteen four-week long sub-periods
- 4–4–5 Weeks – four quarters in which the weeks follow this pattern, instead of the actual calendar dates.
In the Year in Period Name field, select the starting or ending year to include in the period name.
Click Save. On the Manage Tax Periods page, the full year that you have created includes quarters and months.

Setting Up Tax Periods Individually for a Fiscal Calendar

You can create periods individually using these options: New Year Only, New Quarter Only, and Base Period. However, setting up tax periods individually can create incomplete or incorrect period rollups if you are not careful. Be sure to review all rollups on the Manage Tax Periods Page to verify that each tax year is complete and correct.

Note:

If you set up quarters without months, you will be able to run only quarterly tax reports. If you set up years without children, you will be able to run only annual tax reports. Consequently, you will not be able to run monthly tax reports in the event of internal or external needs such as tax audits, unless you have tax periods set up as months. The best practice is to use months for posting tax, even if you intend to run only quarterly or annual reports. Go to the Manage Tax Periods page, select the Set Up Full Year option, and then choose the Calendar Months format.

To set up a new tax reporting year using a fiscal calendar:

Go to Setup > Accounting > Taxes > Manage Tax Periods (Administrator).
Select a fiscal calendar.
Click New Year Only.
In the Period Name field, enter a name for this tax year. For example, FY 2014.
Enter or select a start date for this tax year.
Enter or select an end date for this tax year.
Make sure that the value displayed in the Fiscal Calendar field is correct.
Click Save. On the Manage Tax Periods page, note that the tax year that you have just created does not include the sub-periods such as quarters or months.

To set up a new tax reporting quarter using a fiscal calendar:

Go to Setup > Accounting > Taxes > Manage Tax Periods (Administrator).
Select a fiscal calendar.
Click New Quarter Only.
In the Period Name field, enter a name for this quarter. For example, Q1 2014.
Enter or select a start date for this quarter.
Enter or select an end date for this quarter.
Check the Is Posting box to enable NetSuite to post tax to this quarter period. If the Is Posting box is not checked, then you must set up months as sub-periods of this quarter.
Make sure that the fiscal calendar displayed is correct.
In the Sub-period of field, select the tax reporting year that this quarter belongs to. For example, FY 2014. The parent period must be already set up. Otherwise, it will not be available in the dropdown list.
Click Save.

To set up a new tax reporting period using a fiscal calendar:

Go to Setup > Accounting > Taxes > Manage Tax Periods (Administrator).
Select a fiscal calendar.
Click Base Period.
In the Period Name field, enter a name for this base period.
Enter or select a start date for this period.
Enter or select an end date for this period.
If the period is for the Standard Fiscal Calendar, select a parent period in Sub-period of column of the Standard Fiscal Calendar. If this period is for a different fiscal calendar, then add a new row and select the fiscal calendar to use for this tax reporting period.
Click Save.