Learn about reporting periods

Reporting periods enable you to limit the data shown on reports based on the way your company works.

Standard system reporting periods

Standard system reporting periods are included with Sage Intacct out-of-the-box. The following generic reporting periods are the most commonly used:

  • Prior/Current/Next month
  • Prior/Current/Next quarter
  • Prior/Current/Next year
  • Current <month/quarter/year> to date

Standard system reporting periods create reports that you can run repeatedly without modification. These generic reporting periods align with standard accounting periods that begin as of the first calendar or fiscal month. For more information on how accounting periods affect reporting periods, see Accounting periods overview.

The main difference between a to date period and a full period, such as current month to date and current month, or Inception to date and Inception to current month:

A full period takes the balance amount but a to date period takes the last balance amount and computes the accumulated daily amounts to include. This adds to the report run time.

Additionally, if you're using a to date reporting period with a budget amount, additional processing time is needed to perform dividing the budgeted period into a daily amount.

You are not allowed to use Current Month, or any standard system reporting periods to close or open the books.

When you use a to date time period with a budget, the daily rate is applied to partial periods. For example, if your report ‘to date’ is as of Dec 27 you get 27 Days in the month. Assuming that you have a budget of £105 in the budget, that amount is divided by 31 Days in December = 3.387x27 =91.25. 91.25 is the value that appears on the report.

Custom reporting periods

You can create custom reporting periods if the standard system reporting periods are not suitable for your company. A custom reporting period allows you to specify a specialized time period for your report.

A custom reporting period is recommended for date-driven reports. Date-driven reports are fixed and use a specific calendar period with a matching reporting period. Custom reporting periods are typically used for budgeting periods in reporting and for closing books.

About using first fiscal month

If your company uses standard accounting periods, you can set the first fiscal month to be any month in the standard calendar. Because each standard fiscal period starts on the first of the month, your fiscal year will start on the first of the month you select as the first fiscal month. The default is to start in January, but you can choose to start on any month.

If you set a first fiscal month, Sage Intacct creates these periods as well, adding FISCAL-- to the beginning of the accounting period name. First fiscal months are used to set reporting ranges. First tax month doesn't affect reporting.

Selecting a first fiscal month affects reporting. When you choose a fiscal reporting period in a report, the report results are based on the setting of the first fiscal month.

For example, suppose you set your first fiscal period to July and then run a report using the “as-of” date of Nov 17, 2025.

  • If you use Fiscal‑‑Current Year, the report will contain data from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 because that's the fiscal year that includes Nov 17, 2025.
  • If you use Current Year, the report will contain data from Jan 1, 2025 to Dec 31, 2025 because that's the calendar year that includes Nov 17, 2025.

How to choose a reporting period

You choose a specific reporting period based on how your company functions.

  • Choose a standard system reporting period if your company:

    • Creates reports that run repeatedly without modification.

    • Operates on a standard of first calendar or fiscal month schedule.

  • Create a custom reporting period if your company:

    • Runs and reports on a weekly basis.

    • Does not end periods at the end of the month.

    • Work from a 28-day cycle instead of a calendar month.

    • Requires past or future reporting periods.