A fiscal year is the 12-month period used for budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting. The Canadian federal government and most provinces use April 1 to March 31 as their fiscal year, while many municipalities use the calendar year (January 1 to December 31). Fiscal years provide defined periods for planning expenditures, measuring financial results, and producing comparable reports year over year. Budget documents present planned revenues and expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year, and financial statements report actual results. Using a fiscal year different from the calendar year can align government finances with natural planning cycles—the April-March year allows provincial budgets to inform municipal planning for the following calendar year. Understanding which fiscal year applies is important when comparing financial information across governments or tracking when budgets and financial statements are released.