What is 4-4-5 accounting? | AccountsIQ (2024)

That means that in each quarter of a 4-4-5 accounting calendar:

  • The first financial period consists of the first four weeks
  • The second period consists of the next four weeks
  • The third period consists of the next five weeks.

This quarter consists of 13 weeks. And four such quarters give you 52 weeks (a full calendar year).

The grouping of 13 weeks may be set up as 5–4–4 weeks or 4–5–4 weeks, but 4–4–5 seems to be the most common arrangement.

What industries use 4-4-5 accounting?

The 4-4-5 calendar structure is most frequently used in sectors such as retail, hospitality, publishing and manufacturing.

What are the pros and cons of using a 4-4-5 accounting calendar?

What are the pros of using a 4-4-5 accounting calendar?

The major advantage over a regular calendar is that each period is the same length and ends on the same day of the week. Some businesses find this useful for aligning operational forecasts, production schedules, resource planning and budgeting. Consistent, predictable accounting periods, month over month, year over year, can make payroll, prepaid and accrual transactions, annual sales plans, and financial budgets easier to manage.

What are the cons of using a 4-4-5 accounting calendar?

Using a 4–4–5 calendar means one month is 25% longer than the other two. That can make month-by-month comparisons, or tracking trends over periods, more difficult. However, you can still compare a period to the same period in the prior year or use week-by-week data comparisons.

Another potential issue is that the 4–4–5 calendar has 364 days (7 days x 52 weeks). That means that approximately every 5 years there will be a 53-week year. This can make year-on-year comparisons more difficult.

If you’re a group company, you will also need to consider the statutory reporting periods for all the countries you operate in. You may need to make some minor closing adjustments when you consolidate your overall financial results.

It’s essential to ensure your finance system supports a 4-4-5 accounting calendar

Alastair Manson, Group Finance Director with Tindle Newspaper Group, explains how AccountsIQ’s financial management software supports their 4-4-5 accounting calendar.

“Tindle’s publications are weekly, so reporting by week is more meaningful against weekly budgets. The business applies the 4–4–5 calendar accounting method. Our implementation partners, flinder, were able to configure this within AccountsIQ.

“The 4-4-5 accounting method wasn’t achievable with Sage because it runs on calendar months. We always reported in 4-4-5, but that meant we had to shift invoices around in the background which left the process exposed to human error. The implementation team at flinder helped us scope this process when we were designing the system and it performs very well.”

Read the full Tindle Newspaper Group case study.

What is 4-4-5 accounting?  | AccountsIQ (2024)

FAQs

What is 4-4-5 accounting? | AccountsIQ? ›

4–4–5 accounting is a method of managing accounting periods. Accounting cycles, or calendars, define the number of weeks in each financial period in each financial quarter. The 4-4-5 accounting calendar divides a year into four quarters of 13 weeks, each grouped into two 4-week "months" and one 5-week "month".

What is 4-4-5 accounting basis? ›

4-4-5 Accounting Calendar is one of the methods of managing accounting periods. The 4-4-5 accounting calendar means that in each quarter, the first accounting period consists of the first four weeks, the second period consists of the next four weeks, and the third period consists of the next five weeks.

What are steps 4 and 5 in the accounting cycle? ›

At the end of the accounting period, a trial balance is calculated as the fourth step in the accounting cycle. A trial balance shows the company its unadjusted balances in each account. The unadjusted trial balance is then carried forward to the fifth step for testing and analysis.

What is the 4-4-5 calendar algorithm? ›

In a 4-4-5 calendar, every quarter consists of 13 weeks with two 4-week months and a 5-week month. This helps make comparisons consistent, can simplify financial reporting, and can streamline operational and financial planning. We can build one in Excel with just a few functions.

What is the 4 5 4 calendar quarters? ›

In the United States, the National Retail Federation maintains a 4-5-4 retail calendar for its members. The NRF's 4-5-4 retail calendar for 2024-to-2026 divides the year into consistent three-month quarters, wherein the months have four, five, and four weeks, respectively.

What does 4 4 5 mean in accounting? ›

The 4–4–5 calendar is a method of managing accounting periods, and is a common calendar structure for some industries such as retail and manufacturing. It divides a year into four quarters of 13 weeks, each grouped into two 4-week "months" and one 5-week "month".

What is a 4 4 5 payroll? ›

On a 4-4-5 payroll, workers are paid each month. However, the number of weeks included in their pay each month may be either four or five, depending on how many complete weeks are included in that month. There are 12 pay periods in the annual 4-4-5 cycle.

What are the golden rules of accounting? ›

What are the Golden Rules of Accounting? 1) Debit what comes in - credit what goes out. 2) Credit the giver and Debit the Receiver. 3) Credit all income and debit all expenses.

What are the 5 basic accounting cycles? ›

Defining the accounting cycle with steps: (1) Financial transactions, (2) Journal entries, (3) Posting to the Ledger, (4) Trial Balance Period, and (5) Reporting Period with Financial Reporting and Auditing.

What are the 4 stages of accounting? ›

The four phases of accounting are as follows:
  • Recording transactions.
  • Classifying transactions.
  • Summarising.
  • Interpreting financial data.

Why do companies use 4-4-5? ›

The major advantage over a regular calendar is that each period is the same length and ends on the same day of the week. Some businesses find this useful for aligning operational forecasts, production schedules, resource planning and budgeting.

What is the 4-4-5 calendar in SAP? ›

In SAP/b1 the creation of a fiscal year assumes a 365-day year. However, when a company is running on a 4-4-5 period definition, the fiscal year is 364 days. Many users do not follow the 365-days rule and will have a short fiscal year.

What are the benefits of 4-5-4 Calendar? ›

The 4-5-4 Calendar serves as a voluntary guide for the retail industry and ensures sales comparability between years by dividing the year into months based on a 4 weeks – 5 weeks – 4 weeks format. The layout of the calendar lines up holidays and ensures the same number of Saturdays and Sundays in comparable months.

What is the 4 4 5 billing cycle? ›

Under the 4-4-5 calendar system, each year is divided into quarters of 13 weeks each. Each of those quarters is itself split into three periods or “months”. The first and the second of those periods run for four weeks, while the third runs for five weeks.

What is the 4 4 5 calendar for 2024? ›

The 4-5-4 retail calendar for 2024 starts on Sunday, 4th of February 2024 and ends on Saturday, 1st of February 2025. Since retail calendar days need to be multiple of 7, the calendar year is 364 days and not 365, and so every 5 to 6 years one extra week is added to the calendar and makes it 53 weeks.

What is a 53 week year called? ›

An ISO week-numbering year (also called ISO year informally) has 52 or 53 full weeks. That is 364 or 371 days instead of the usual 365 or 366 days.

What are the 5 basis of accounting? ›

Although the guidelines for accountants are extensive, there are five main principles that underpin accounting practices and the preparation of financial statements. These are the accrual principle, the matching principle, the historic cost principle, the conservatism principle and the principle of substance over form.

What are the 4 measurement basis in accounting? ›

This DP identified the following measurement bases as the possible bases for measurement on initial recognition. (a) Historical cost; (b) Current cost; (c) Net realisable value; (d) Value in use (of an asset) (e) Fair value; and (f) Deprival value.

What is the 5% rule in accounting? ›

Auditing practice has held that the misstatement or omission of an item that falls under a 5% threshold is not material in the absence of particularly egregious circ*mstances, such as selfdealing or misappropriation by senior management.

What is the basis of the accounting formula? ›

The basic accounting equation gives meaning to the balance sheet structure and is the foundation of double-entry accounting. It has the following formula: Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity.

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