The fiscal-year setting is one of the platform''s most under-discussed configuration choices. Verifying the current setting takes 30 seconds.
- Open Setup, Fiscal Year
Setup, Quick Find, type Fiscal Year, click the result. The page shows the current fiscal-year structure.
- Confirm the setting
Gregorian Year is the default. The page shows the current setting at the top with a Change link next to it.
- Decide whether a change is needed
Most orgs leave it on Gregorian Year. Change only when finance or operations require a non-calendar fiscal year, such as a February-start corporate calendar.
- Plan the change for January 1
Pick a date that aligns with a fresh fiscal period start. Mid-quarter changes cause downstream report and forecast disruption.
- Run regression tests
After changing, verify standard reports (THIS_FISCAL_YEAR filters), forecast grids, and any custom Apex that references fiscal-year functions still return expected values.
- Formula functions ignore the fiscal-year setting. YEAR(date) always returns the Gregorian year regardless of the org configuration.
- Switching from Gregorian to Custom Fiscal Year is supported but rare; document the rationale before flipping the switch.
- Reverting from Custom Fiscal Year to Gregorian deletes the custom period definitions and breaks any reports that referenced them.
- Collaborative Forecasts immediately recomputes period boundaries when fiscal-year settings change. Plan the change for January 1 to avoid mid-quarter chaos.