December 26, 2014 at 8:58 am
Jeff Moden (12/25/2014)
CELKO (12/25/2014)
Why do some companies use weird Fiscal Years, such as starting in April? What is the purpose there?
The last time I looked the GAAP had about 150 fiscal calendars. I have no idea why. Hell, I am still hoping that the US will switch to the Metric system, UTC time and the Edwards Calendar (four quarters of 30, 30, 31 day months with an intercalendaral New Years day every year and a leap year day every four years).
Heh... it's funny that you bring up the metric system. I remember doing some work concerning solar heat and I had a question. Someone on that particular forum (I forget which forum it was... it was a long time ago) was British and my question concerned BTUs (British Thermal Units) so I naturally assumed that he would know about BTUs. Man, was I wrong! 😀
Companies report and finalize results by fiscal year. If they have cyclical revenue/sales, they might prefer report after a high-sales period rather than a low-sales period.
Also, companies need time -- sometimes quite a bit of time -- to prepare these (fiscal)-year-end reports. It might be difficult to get that done in, say, early Jan because of the holidays, whereas pushing it out 3 months to Apr removes that issue.
SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".
December 26, 2014 at 11:23 am
Thanks, Scott. I was afraid it would be something like that. I can see those reasons for companies back when spreadsheets where 11x17 accounting papers that were resolved with calculators but I don't understand it anymore. It just doesn't make sense to me anymore especially when things like vacation, sick time, medical and other benefits and taxes (especially taxes) are usually done by calendar year even in companies with Fiscal Year offsets.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
December 26, 2014 at 11:35 am
Jeff Moden (12/26/2014)
Thanks, Scott. I was afraid it would be something like that. I can see those reasons for companies back when spreadsheets where 11x17 accounting papers that were resolved with calculators but I don't understand it anymore. It just doesn't make sense to me anymore especially when things like vacation, sick time, medical and other benefits and taxes (especially taxes) are usually done by calendar year even in companies with Fiscal Year offsets.
True, some of those are still done by calendar year, sometimes because the law requires it, and/or employees would be confused if their vacation (or "holiday" in Britain, etc.) ran from, say, Apr to Mar rather than year to year ;-).
Some companies also adjusted their fiscal years to match the U.S. govt's, which runs from Oct thru Sep, since they have big govt tie-in with their revenues. All sorts of reasons to go a different fiscal year.
But, yep, this accounting is extremely complex now. When I was a manager, I disliked budgeting the most. I really didn't understand it ... and didn't want to, I was still a technician at heart.
SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".
December 26, 2014 at 3:11 pm
CELKO (12/26/2014)
it's funny that you bring up the metric system. I remember doing some work concerning solar heat and I had a question. Someone on that particular forum (I forget which forum it was... it was a long time ago) was British and my question concerned BTUs (British Thermal Units) so I naturally assumed that he would know about BTUs
I collect “anti-metric” literature and laugh my *** off. My collection has:
A clipping from the New York Time explaining why the US will always dominate the world automobile industry; automobile parts are made to US traditional measurements!
A book entitled “Metric Madness” (http://www.amazon.com/Metric-Madness-Hundred-Reasons-Converting/dp/0815962207/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419626754&sr=1-1&keywords=Metric+Madness) from 1981 when the US almost went Metric.
A history of the textile industry and how Imperial measurements (not US Traditional –there is a difference!) . After all, the British Empire will always dominate the textile industry.
A history of the Australian construction industry conversion to Metric. The big problem was that they did not get enough waste material to burn at job sites, so they had to rent butane heaters.
The saving that IBM had in their internal printing operation in the UK when they went to A series paper sizes.
It's all Betty Crocker's fault. 😉
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
December 26, 2014 at 4:19 pm
CELKO (12/26/2014)
It's all Betty Crocker's fault. 😉
Actually, Fanny Farmer's Cook book! Seriously. Her cookbook introduced the concept of using standardized measuring spoons and cups, as well as level measurement. She used volume instead weights like Europe and commercial kitchens. American never got over it. :crazy:
Didn't know that. Interesting bit o' trivia there.
It would be funny though, to change recipes to call for 25 grams of egg yolk fully encapsulated by 33.7 grams of egg white instead of just calling for "1 large egg".
I have to admit that I find the volumetric measurement of food stuff for a recipe rather easier than measurement by weight. Might be why America never got over it... it's easy. Heh... and I refuse to turn down a good "pint" of ale just because it's not metric or a measure by weight.
Yeah... I know... it's actually my fault. While others are counting (kilo) calories, I'm counting pizzas. 😀
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
December 26, 2014 at 10:24 pm
Companies use a fiscal year and fiscal periods that best suit their business.
Retail companies often use a fiscal year that nominally starts in February, but on a week boundary so that the fiscal year always starts on a Monday, with the actual start of the fiscal year being the first Monday on or before February 4th. The reason they start the fiscal year with February is so they can include the busy Christmas shopping season, along with the large number of returns of Christmas purchases that happen in January.
Some retail companies use fiscal periods of 4 weeks then 5 weeks then 4 weeks to give 12 fiscal periods and 4 quarters of 13 weeks, while others use 13 fiscal periods of 4 weeks. Since the fiscal year only has 364 days, every few years they have to add an additional week to one fiscal period, usually the last, to keep in sync with the Gregorian calendar of 365 days.
Retail fiscal years were my first encounter with a fiscal year table when I developed a database for a retail data mart product.
January 5, 2015 at 8:54 am
It would be funny though, to change recipes to call for 25 grams of egg yolk fully encapsulated by 33.7 grams of egg white instead of just calling for "1 large egg"
I've actually got a few recipes that call for equal weights of eggs and other ingredients. You weigh the eggs in the shells then match the other ingredients accordingly. It does allow a bit more precision than using 'one egg'. It also makes scaling up recipes much easier; particularly when all I've got left are ostrich eggs....
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January 5, 2015 at 1:34 pm
CELKO (1/5/2015)
I've actually got a few recipes that call for equal weights of eggs and other ingredients. You weigh the eggs in the shells then match the other ingredients accordingly. It does allow a bit more precision than using 'one egg'. It also makes scaling up recipes much easier; particularly when all I've got left are ostrich eggs....
This is usually done in commercial kitchens. Traditionally a pound cake is made with a pound of each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. I have not found a kilogram cake 😎
Especially in baking. For example, the compactness of the flour can throw off the recipe when use volumetric measurements. Measuring by weight negates the differences. I actually use this in some of my recipes.
However, if you only have ostrich eggs left, I'd love you see your refrigerator. My guess is that it wouldn't be the standard residential model. 😉
January 6, 2015 at 1:03 am
Ed Wagner (1/5/2015)
CELKO (1/5/2015)
I've actually got a few recipes that call for equal weights of eggs and other ingredients. You weigh the eggs in the shells then match the other ingredients accordingly. It does allow a bit more precision than using 'one egg'. It also makes scaling up recipes much easier; particularly when all I've got left are ostrich eggs....
This is usually done in commercial kitchens. Traditionally a pound cake is made with a pound of each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. I have not found a kilogram cake 😎
Especially in baking. For example, the compactness of the flour can throw off the recipe when use volumetric measurements. Measuring by weight negates the differences. I actually use this in some of my recipes.
However, if you only have ostrich eggs left, I'd love you see your refrigerator. My guess is that it wouldn't be the standard residential model. 😉
My wife's a trained chef so we've got quite a few commercial\catering recipes about. They often give proportions rather than actual weights or volumes. On this side of the pond it's pretty rare to give dry goods as a volume, largely for the reasons you give. I'd love to have a fridge large enough to store ostrich eggs in, although I'm starting to consider converting the cellar.
@celko, it follows that a if a pound cake is made with a pound of each, a kilogram cake should work, just be twice the size. I'll take one for the team and start researching this 🙂
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January 6, 2015 at 2:12 am
Some interesting quirks mentioned.
A lot of UK have 2 'fiscal years', one is tied to the UK government tax year, which runs Apr-Mar and is the basis for Tax and Payroll, they also have their internal accounting year which is generally Jan-Dec.
In the insurance industry, especially P&I mutual clubs, there is a third type of year, which is known as the Baltic Year, and traditionally starts at around the time the Baltic sea 'unfreezes', this runs from Midday (yes 12 noon GMT), on the 20th Feb to Midday on the following 20th Feb.
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January 6, 2015 at 5:31 am
BWFC (1/6/2015)
Ed Wagner (1/5/2015)
CELKO (1/5/2015)
I've actually got a few recipes that call for equal weights of eggs and other ingredients. You weigh the eggs in the shells then match the other ingredients accordingly. It does allow a bit more precision than using 'one egg'. It also makes scaling up recipes much easier; particularly when all I've got left are ostrich eggs....
This is usually done in commercial kitchens. Traditionally a pound cake is made with a pound of each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. I have not found a kilogram cake 😎
Especially in baking. For example, the compactness of the flour can throw off the recipe when use volumetric measurements. Measuring by weight negates the differences. I actually use this in some of my recipes.
However, if you only have ostrich eggs left, I'd love you see your refrigerator. My guess is that it wouldn't be the standard residential model. 😉
My wife's a trained chef so we've got quite a few commercial\catering recipes about. They often give proportions rather than actual weights or volumes. On this side of the pond it's pretty rare to give dry goods as a volume, largely for the reasons you give. I'd love to have a fridge large enough to store ostrich eggs in, although I'm starting to consider converting the cellar.
@celko, it follows that a if a pound cake is made with a pound of each, a kilogram cake should work, just be twice the size. I'll take one for the team and start researching this 🙂
I believe it does. You just have to adjust your baking time.
January 6, 2015 at 7:43 am
CELKO (1/6/2015)
You just have to adjust your baking time.
You mean I have to use kiloseconds for a kilogram cake :w00t:
Silly me - I still use minutes in baking. And before you ask, the answer is no - I will not buy a timer that has a kiloseconds setting. 😉
January 6, 2015 at 7:49 am
Ed Wagner (1/6/2015)
CELKO (1/6/2015)
You just have to adjust your baking time.
You mean I have to use kiloseconds for a kilogram cake :w00t:
Silly me - I still use minutes in baking. And before you ask, the answer is no - I will not buy a timer that has a kiloseconds setting. 😉
With the oven we've got at the moment, the best ways of telling if something's done are smell and sight. Never mind kiloseconds, cakes have gone from raw to burnt in milliseconds!
Ed, it appears we've dragged another thread round to food.
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January 6, 2015 at 8:06 am
BWFC (1/6/2015)
Ed Wagner (1/6/2015)
CELKO (1/6/2015)
You just have to adjust your baking time.
You mean I have to use kiloseconds for a kilogram cake :w00t:
Silly me - I still use minutes in baking. And before you ask, the answer is no - I will not buy a timer that has a kiloseconds setting. 😉
With the oven we've got at the moment, the best ways of telling if something's done are smell and sight. Never mind kiloseconds, cakes have gone from raw to burnt in milliseconds!
Ed, it appears we've dragged another thread round to food.
Yeah, it looks like it happened again. 😛
You have my sympathy regarding your oven. I had one like that about 15 years ago and was convinced I couldn't bake. When I moved to a different oven, things came out right. I still remember some of the cakes that could have been used to fill in holes in the road, but I'm happy that's not the case any more.
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