Accounting question: If a company start their business in Nov, can the accounting period be 1st Nov 2006 to 31

If a company started their business in Nov 2006, can the accounting period be 1st Nov 2006 to 31st Oct 2007? Is the accounting can be started from any month of the year?

Yes. The accounting period can be started from any month of the year.

If the period is started in any month other than January, it is called a fiscal year.

Otherwise, it is called a calendar year, because it goes on with the calendar, starting in January and ending in December.

The answer is yes.

However, for tax purposes, it would be easier to conduct a business following a calendar year. The company is allowed to end the fiscal period on December 31, 2006. And start the calendar period January 31, 2007.

I'm from the Philippines. Hope this would help.

I presume you mean the accounting period for tax purposes - this is 1 July of first year to 30 June of following year. If you commence business any time in the year the cut-off period is still 30 June of any one year. This year, from 1 July to 30 June is called the "financial year" - you will often find diaries which are financial year diaries and not normal year diaries.

The accounting year can be for the period of your choosing, though there is merit in using a calendar or financial year as these are most common. It's a simple matter to run your first set of accounts for a part-year to bring you into line.

The tax year is generally July to June but you can apply to the ATO to have a different tax year. The application would need to supported by a strong argument for the ATO to approve. Unfortunately, I don't believe alignment with an accounting period will be sufficient.