1) An institution's defined yearly period used for the purposes of financial reporting. 2) Defines the active fiscal years to which General Ledger entries can be posted. Any 12 month period used by an organization to plan and account for how its funds are budgeted and reported. The fiscal year is named by the year of the closing date; for example, a period with start date of November 1, 2005 and end date of October 31, 2006 is referred to as Fiscal Year (FY) 2006. Selecting a period other than the calendar year may have advantages. At the close of the fiscal year, finanical results are reported to stakeholders.