How to change the start of your business year

3 min read By TimeOff Support

In TimeOff.Management, your business year is the yearly period used for leave tracking.

Many companies use the calendar year:

1 January to 31 December

Other companies use a different year, such as:

1 April to 31 March

You can set the start of your business year in company settings.

This is important because TimeOff.Management uses this date when showing employee allowance, PTO, leave reports, and carry over.

How the business year affects allowance and PTO

Your business year controls the period used for employee leave allowance.

For example, if your business year starts on 1 January, employee allowance normally runs from:

1 January to 31 December

If your business year starts on 1 April, employee allowance normally runs from:

1 April to 31 March

This setting affects:

  • when allowance starts
  • when allowance resets
  • which year a leave request belongs to
  • how allowance is shown to employees
  • how reports are grouped
  • when unused allowance is reviewed
  • when carry over is prepared

Before changing the business year, check your allowance setup first.

Read more: Setting up allowances

Before you change the business year

Before changing this setting, check:

  • your current allowance year
  • whether employees already have booked leave
  • whether carry over has already been prepared
  • whether reports have already been downloaded for the current year
  • whether your company uses accrual schedules
  • whether employees have individual allowance overrides

Changing the business year can affect how leave data is grouped and reviewed.

If you are not sure, download your current reports before making changes.

Read more: Reports

How to change the start of your business year

To change the start of your business year:

  1. Go to General Settings.
  2. Go into Edit mode.
  3. Find the Year Start setting.
  4. Choose the month your business year should start.
  5. Save your changes.

After saving, TimeOff.Management will use the new business year for leave tracking and allowance views.

Example

Your company currently uses the calendar year:

1 January to 31 December

You want to move to a financial year:

1 April to 31 March

After changing the business year start to 1 April, TimeOff.Management will use that period when showing allowance and reports.

Business year and carry over

Carry over is normally reviewed at the end of your business year.

For example:

Business yearCarry over is usually prepared
1 January to 31 Decemberaround the end of December or start of January
1 April to 31 Marcharound the end of March or start of April

If your company allows unused leave to move into the next year, check your carry over settings before the new business year starts.

Read more: End-of-Year Guide: How to Manage Vacation Carry Over Efficiently

Business year and reports

Reports use date ranges.

The business year helps you decide which period to report on.

For example, if your business year starts on 1 April, you may want to run reports from:

1 April to 31 March

This helps you review:

  • leave used during the year
  • remaining allowance
  • absence records
  • carry over
  • PTO usage

Read more: Reports

When should I change this setting?

Change the business year if:

  • your company leave year has changed
  • you use a financial year instead of a calendar year
  • your company policy says allowance should run from a different date
  • your previous setup used the wrong year start date

If your employees already have leave booked, check the impact before changing the setting.

Best practice

Choose the correct business year before adding a large number of employees or preparing carry over.

This keeps allowance, reports, and year-end checks easier to understand.