Financial reporting dates

Also when they talk the years, are we now in the 1H2026 by the financial calendar?

Short answer - sort of. Companies get to decide their own financial year. In Australia most will use the default 30 Jun year end but it's not mandated. For instance, education providers often use 31 Dec because it makes more sense to align the financial year to the teaching year. I used to work at GE and at the time our year end was the second Friday in December and, therefore, wasn't fixed! In NZ the default is 31 Mar. So, yes, in most cases we are in 1H FY26 in Australia but it's company specific.

@Saiton - I would add to what @Noddy74 said, that most US domiciled companies have a financial year that aligns with the calendar year (so, January to December rather than Australia's default financial year of July to June) - but it is not mandated, companies get to choose their own fiscal year (which means the same as financial year) for the purposes of reporting. And they can change it if they wish to, as long as they provide proper notice of their intention to do so.

The calendar year is used as the fiscal year by about 65% of publicly traded companies in the United States and for most large corporations in the United Kingdom, and there are a bunch of companies here in Australia that also align their own fiscal year with the calendar year, such as companies who sell what they produce to mostly overseas customers and/or have substantial overseas operations (YAL, ILU, RIO, RKN, GPT, 360, WDS, STO) however CSL has a June 30th fiscal year-end, despite having most of their business in the USA and Europe.

One of the reasons why an Australian listed company might choose to end their fiscal year on December 31st is because they are dual listed, such as Life360 (ticker code 360 here) who are also listed on the NASDAQ with the ticker code LIF.

Our banks and insurance companies are all over the shop, for instance CBA's fiscal year ends June 30, ANZ, NAB & WBC have an October 1st to September 30th fiscal year, while QBE and AMP align with the calendar year for their fiscal year. And Macquarie (MQG) end their own fiscal year on March 31st.

Also according to Google, In the US, sectors that typically use a September 30 fiscal year-end include companies with substantial U.S. government contracts, as it aligns with the federal government's fiscal year and budget planning cycles. Additionally, some consumer electronics and technology companies like Apple choose this date to capture new product launches and the crucial holiday sales season within the same fiscal year. 

So there are no rules around it - it's up to each individual company to choose how they want to structure their own fiscal year. The majority of ASX-listed companies do choose to end their fiscal year on June 30th, but clearly not all.

In all cases the year refers to the date that the fiscal year ends, so:

• Q1 of FY2026 for ANZ and NAB will end on December 31, 2025, because their fiscal year ends on September 30. They are currently in H1 of FY2026 (today being October 1st), Q1.
• Q1 of FY2026 for CSL and BHP will end on September 30, 2025 because their fiscal year ends on June 30. They are currently in H1 of FY2026, Q2.
• Q1 of FY2026 for MQG will end on June 30, 2025, because their fiscal year ends March 31. They are currently in H2 of FY2026, Q3.
• Q1 of FY2026 for WDS and RIO will end on March 31, 2026, because their fiscal year ends on December 31. They are currently in H2 of FY2025, Q4.

Oh wow, ok that explains some of my confusion, I didnt realise they had a choice. I thought the TAX man wants his figures ending year June 30 so the rest would be the same. I was very intimidated asking this question as it seemed stupid. Obviously not. Thanks @Noddy74 / @Bear77. I have more stupids coming soon