# Is this definition of calendar year wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323 "2016-03-08T20:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/1 "2016-03-08T20:29:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Past Year - In the last calendar year (i.e. if today’s date is 15th December 2015, the count would include anything from 16th December 2014 onward) > > Year to Date - In the current year Isn’t ‘calendar year’ the year from January 1 of 2016? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/2 "2016-03-08T20:36:45Z")
These terms can be used in all sorts of different ways in different contexts, and by different people. Which is exactly why the source of your quote was careful to define their terms. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/3 "2016-03-08T20:37:28Z")
I agree with the definition you’ve quoted. So no, I don’t think it’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/4 "2016-03-08T20:39:34Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > I agree with the definition you’ve quoted. So no, I don’t think it’s wrong. calendar year is the most recent 365 days? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/5 "2016-03-08T20:48:47Z")
Interesting. I think I would intuitively use calendar year to mean what they’re using Year To Date to mean. But I understand where they’re coming from. I guess the phrase is itself somewhat ambiguous. Does calendar year mean the time as of now measured by the current calendar or the total amount of time measured by a yearly calendar. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/6 "2016-03-08T20:49:21Z")
Here’s what [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calendar%20year) has to say: > [@](#): > > 1: a period of a year beginning and ending with the dates that are conventionally accepted as marking the beginning and end of a numbered year > 2: a period of time equal in length to that of the year in the calendar conventionally in use So they take either definition you’ve provided as accepted. **Chronos** is right, context matters. As a payroll accountant, I agree with the “year from January 1 to December 31” definition, and I generally use the term “calendar year” to differentiate from our fiscal year (July through June). But clearly other people use it different ways. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/7 "2016-03-08T20:53:02Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > calendar year is the most recent 365 days? [It can be.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calendar%20year) For me personally, I consider it Jan 1 - Dec 31, but I don’t make the definitions.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/8 "2016-03-08T20:55:00Z")
We also use the fiscal year vs. calendar year designation where I work. Calendar year means any date that ends with that year. Fiscal year for us is Sept. 1st through Aug. 31st. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/9 "2016-03-08T21:02:54Z")
Man, that’s messed up. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/10 "2016-03-08T22:09:30Z")
In our accounting software, the calendar year is Jan 1 to Dec 31 and the fiscal year is the 12-month period from the start of your fiscal year, as others have said above. It uses “Rolling 12” to indicate the previous 12 months from today (or some specified date). But I agree there isn’t a single correct definition. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/11 "2016-03-08T22:27:39Z")
From a finance perspective: Calendar year - Jan 1st to Dec 31st Year to date - from the beginning of the year (calendar or fiscal) to current period end, i.e. 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, etc. Last twelve months (LTM) - The last twelve month period to the current period end, i.e. July 1st to June 30th, or October 1st to September 30th. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/12 "2016-03-08T23:02:15Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Man, that’s messed up. What’s messed up? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/13 "2016-03-08T23:41:56Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > What’s messed up? All my life I thought it was simple and obvious. Now it’s complicated :eek: ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/14 "2016-03-09T01:35:35Z")
Not complicated, just ambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/15 "2016-03-09T05:30:40Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > All my life I thought it was simple and obvious. Now it’s complicated :eek: I wrote Treasury software. We had 4 different ways of defining the year that starts around the 1st of January, and that was not exhaustive: there are more in common use. It doesn’t matter much in Treasury, because those are just accounting dates, used to calculate your postition in Year To Date reports… Dates used in Treasury to calculate the day difference between two points, like “6 Months” are much more comples. I had 10 of those, (30 days hath February, and January, and all the other months…) and that was only the most common, including the Chicago and NYC and London and Zurich methods. That didn’t at all cover the methods from when there were more and smaller exchanges, or when people wrote their own contracts. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/16 "2016-03-09T06:17:22Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > Here’s what [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calendar%20year) has to say: > > So they take either definition you’ve provided as accepted. **Chronos** is right, context matters. > > As a payroll accountant, I agree with the “year from January 1 to December 31” definition, and I generally use the term “calendar year” to differentiate from our fiscal year (July through June). But clearly other people use it different ways. This is my understanding of the meaning of “calendar year”. It avoids the complication of counting dates… i.e. “you may submit one claim per calendar year”. Let’s pick a practical example: the rule says … You can submit a claim anytime in 2015, even, say Dec. 31; then you can submit a subsequent claim anytime in 2016, even Jan 1. The major advantage of this definition in a restriction clause such as this - the person presenting the claim, the person authorizing the claim, do not have to look up the last time you submitted a claim - only whether you have submitted one this year. It avoids everyone having a different “anniversary date”. (My benefits company has this - after your first December 31st on the job, all limits on claims are per calendar year.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/17 "2016-03-09T06:18:30Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Isn’t ‘calendar year’ the year from January 1 of 2016? No, calendar year is the year from January 1 of whatever year you’re talking about. It’s most commonly used in opposition to fiscal year, which some countries such as the US begin in a different date than January 1st. The first line in the quote, I would normally have heard it referred as “the last twelve months” or “the last year period”. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/18 "2016-03-09T11:30:27Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I wrote Treasury software. We had 4 different ways of defining the year that starts around the 1st of January, and that was not exhaustive: there are more in common use. It doesn’t matter much in Treasury, because those are just accounting dates, used to calculate your postition in Year To Date reports… > > Dates used in Treasury to calculate the day difference between two points, like “6 Months” are much more comples. I had 10 of those, (30 days hath February, and January, and all the other months…) and that was only the most common, including the Chicago and NYC and London and Zurich methods. That didn’t at all cover the methods from when there were more and smaller exchanges, or when people wrote their own contracts. That’s very interesting. I see it’s mostly for statistical purposes but it’s good to know 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/19 "2016-03-10T01:27:10Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Isn’t ‘calendar year’ the year from January 1 of 2016? To clear things up, the simples answer is: the word “Calendar” just adds nothing to the word “year”. In some contexts, there is a 9 month “FBT year” or a “10 month working year”, and that sort of thing, and school years and tax years … you know… these are all named as special years, but “calendar” gives no extra meaning to “year”. A calendar year is just a regular year as per a regular calendar. (Gregorian since 1752, in English ) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323/20 "2016-03-10T01:49:29Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > the word “Calendar” just adds nothing to the word “year”. Speak for yourself, I guess. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-definition-of-calendar-year-wrong/748323.md?page=2)