What is a Fiscal Year and Fiscal Year Variant?

A fiscal year is the accounting period, which normally spreads over 12 months. Financial statements are drawn for a fiscal year. The fiscal year, in SAP, is defined as a Fiscal Year Variant. All Calendar Year Fiscal Year Variants, in standard SAP, are denoted usually as K1, K2, etc.

The fiscal year may or may not correspond to the calendar year. In the standard SAP system, the Non-Calendar Fiscal Year Variants are denoted V1, V2, etc. It is also possible that the fiscal year may be shorter than 12 months, and this is called a

Shortened Fiscal Year