Fiscal year that contains less than twelve months.

A shortened fiscal year could be necessary in the following cases, for example:

• Establishment of a company
• Changeover from a calendar year to a non-calendar fiscal year, or vice versa.

When you define a shortened fiscal year, you have to make the following specifications:

• A shortened fiscal year must always be defined as year-dependent, since it can only apply to a specific year and must be followed by a complete fiscal year.
• You define a shortened fiscal year and the following or previous complete fiscal year in one fiscal year variant.

The options available for defining a shortened fiscal year depend on whether you are using Financial Accounting with or without Asset Accounting.

• If you are using Financial Accounting without Asset Accounting, each fiscal year can start with any period.
• If you use Financial Accounting with Asset Accounting, each fiscal year must start with period 001, so that the depreciation can be calculated correctly.