Period Format Standards

This page defines the canonical string formats used to identify reporting periods, and explains the critical distinction between calendar periods and fiscal periods when working with company financials.

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Supported formats

Always use these formats when specifying or parsing a period:

Format rules

• YYYY is always a four-digit year.
• The period suffix is uppercase (Q1, not q1).
• Quarters run Q1–Q4; halves run H1–H2; the annual suffix is always FY.
• There is no zero-padding beyond the four-digit year (2024Q1, never 2024Q01).

Tip: Treat the period string as an opaque, canonical identifier. Parse it with a fixed pattern (^\d{4}(Q[1-4]|H[1-2]|FY)$) rather than slicing by position, so semi-annual and annual suffixes are handled correctly.

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Calendar periods vs. fiscal periods

The single most important concept to understand about periods is that the year in a period string refers to the company's fiscal year, not the calendar year. A company's fiscal year does not necessarily align with the January–December calendar, and the difference materially changes what a label like 2024Q1 actually represents.

Definitions

Why they diverge

Many companies adopt a fiscal year that ends on a date other than December 31 — to align with industry seasonality, retail cycles, or historical convention. When the fiscal year is offset from the calendar year, every quarter inside it is shifted accordingly.

Worked example

Consider a company whose fiscal year ends in late September (a common pattern for technology hardware companies):

Notice that 2024Q1 for this company occurs entirely within calendar year 2023. A consumer who assumes 2024Q1 means January–March 2024 would be off by an entire quarter — and would be comparing it against the wrong calendar window for peers on a December fiscal year-end.

Implications for consumers

• Period labels are fiscal by default. Unless a field is explicitly named as calendar-based, assume the year and quarter reflect the company's fiscal calendar.
• Cross-company comparison requires alignment. Two companies reporting 2024Q1 may be describing different calendar windows. Normalize to calendar periods before comparing companies with different fiscal year-ends, or before joining against macro/calendar-indexed data.
• Fiscal year labeling conventions vary. Some companies name a fiscal year after the calendar year in which it begins, others after the year in which it ends. Rely on the period as Daloopa returns it rather than re-deriving it from the report date.
• Year boundaries can be surprising. A fiscal Q1 may fall in the prior calendar year (as above), so date-range filters built on calendar assumptions can silently exclude or misplace data.

Rule of thumb: Use fiscal periods when analyzing a single company's trend over time (it matches how the company reports and guides). Convert to calendar periods when comparing across companies or aligning with external calendar-based datasets.

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Quick reference

• Quarterly → YYYYQQ (2024Q1)
• Semi-annual → YYYYHH (2024H1)
• Annual → YYYYFY (2024FY)
• The year is fiscal, not calendar.
• A fiscal quarter can fall partly or entirely in a different calendar year.
• Align to calendar periods before cross-company or external comparisons.