Quarter calculator
Calendar quarters run January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December. A fiscal quarter may differ. Many companies and governments run a year that starts in April, July or October instead.
How to find a quarter
Fiscal years diverge widely and the mismatch causes real confusion in reporting. The UK tax year for individuals starts on 6 April, a legacy of the calendar switch in 1752. Japan and India start in April, the US federal government in October, and most companies pick whatever suits their trading cycle. "Q3" therefore means nothing without knowing whose year is being counted. The quarters are not even the same size, which quietly distorts any comparison between them. Q1 is 90 days in a common year and 91 in a leap one, Q2 is always 91, and Q3 and Q4 are 92 apiece, so setting Q1 against Q4 pits 90 days against 92, a 2.2 per cent head start before anything about the business is considered. Retail gets around it with the 4-5-4 calendar, which builds every quarter from thirteen weeks so all four hold exactly 91 days and the same number of weekends; the cost is a 53-week year every five or six years to stop the whole thing drifting away from the calendar.
Questions
Q1 January–March, Q2 April–June, Q3 July–September, Q4 October–December.
Only if the fiscal year starts in January. Many start in April, July or October.
Q1 is 90 days, or 91 in a leap year. Q2 is 91, and Q3 and Q4 are 92 each, so they are not directly comparable.
A legacy of the 1752 calendar change, which moved the year start and lost eleven days.
1 October, so their Q1 is October to December.
A retail convention where each quarter is thirteen weeks, split into months of four, five and four. Quarters come out equal and weekends line up, at the price of a 53rd week every few years.
Around 64 to 66. In 2026 the four quarters hold 64, 65, 66 and 66 weekdays before any public holidays.