Capterra Glossary
Finance
Fiscal Quarter

Capterra Glossary

Fiscal Quarter

A fiscal quarter can be defined as a three-month period within a company’s fiscal year that serves as a basis for financial reporting and dividend payment. Some businesses have fiscal quarters that do not correspond to the fiscal quarters of the calendar, depending on their company financial strategy. For instance, it is commonplace for companies to close their fourth fiscal quarter after the most profitable time of the year for their business. Typically, organizations abbreviate their fiscal quarters using the letter Q, followed by the corresponding quarter number. For instance, Q3 would be the abbreviation for a company’s third fiscal quarter.

What Small and Midsize Businesses Need to Know About Fiscal Quarter

The IRS requires most small business owners to estimate and pay quarterly taxes if they expect to owe $1,000 or more in taxes by the end of their fiscal year. By breaking their fiscal year into fiscal quarters, small businesses that have to pay quarterly taxes can easily estimate the amount of money they will need to pay to the IRS.

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