FY 2024–25 (ends 2025-03-31)
Income, Expenses, Statements, and Contracts for April 2024 through March 2025.
Accountant handoff · Fiscal year
Setting up a fiscal-year folder structure that doesn't blur
A fiscal year that ends in March or June trips up folder systems built around the calendar — a March invoice and an April invoice belong to different fiscal years even though they're days apart. The fix is a folder convention that puts each fiscal year in its own root and never lets one year's records leak into another. Cash Workspace lets you define that convention once and file every income record, expense receipt, statement, and contract into the year it actually belongs to.
The problem
Why non-calendar fiscal years cause folder chaos
When the fiscal year boundary isn't December 31, records near the boundary get filed by calendar month and end up in the wrong year.
- An invoice dated April 2 lands in last fiscal year if your year ends March 31, but gets filed under the new calendar year.
- Two fiscal years overlap one calendar year, so 'the 2026 folder' is ambiguous.
- Statements that span the year boundary get filed once and miss the other year entirely.
- A contract signed mid-fiscal-year is filed by signing date instead of the fiscal year it covers.
- At handoff the accountant can't tell where one fiscal year stops and the next begins.
The workflow
Define the convention, then file by fiscal year
Decide the boundary first, name the years unambiguously, and every record has exactly one correct home.
- 1
Set your year end
Write down your fiscal year-end date (e.g. March 31) so there's no question where the boundary falls.
- 2
Name each year unambiguously
Label roots like 'FY ending 2026-03-31' rather than just '2026' so overlapping calendar years stay clear.
- 3
Add the four subfolders
Under each fiscal-year root, create Income, Expenses, Statements, and Contracts subfolders.
- 4
File by fiscal date, not calendar
Place each invoice and expense in the fiscal year its date falls into, even when that crosses a calendar boundary.
- 5
Handle boundary statements
When a statement spans the boundary, file a copy in each fiscal year it touches and note the split.
Record structure
What defines each fiscal-year folder
These details keep two adjacent fiscal years from ever merging.
- Fiscal year-end date
- The exact boundary (e.g. March 31 or June 30) that decides which year a record belongs to.
- Unambiguous year label
- A root name that can't be confused with a calendar year, like 'FY 2025–26'.
- Income subfolder
- Invoice records and documents whose dates fall inside this fiscal year.
- Expenses subfolder
- Categorized expense records and receipts dated within the fiscal year.
- Statements subfolder
- Bank and card statements for the fiscal period, with boundary months handled deliberately.
- Contracts subfolder
- Agreements filed by the fiscal year they cover, not just their signing date.
- Boundary note
- A short note recording the year-end date and how spanning items were split.
Example setup
An example two-year setup
How a March 31 fiscal year-end looks across two adjacent years in your workspace.
FY 2025–26 (ends 2026-03-31)
Income, Expenses, Statements, and Contracts for April 2025 through March 2026.
Boundary notes
A note on how March/April statements and any spanning contracts were split between the two years.
Common mistakes
Mistakes to avoid
- Naming roots by calendar year alone when your fiscal year doesn't match the calendar.
- Filing boundary-month records by calendar date instead of fiscal date.
- Filing a spanning statement in only one of the two fiscal years it touches.
- Filing contracts by signing date when they cover a different fiscal year.
- Reinventing the structure each year so adjacent years look inconsistent.
How it helps
How Cash Workspace helps
Fiscal-year roots
Create a clearly labeled root per fiscal year so non-calendar boundaries stay unambiguous.
Four consistent subfolders
Keep Income, Expenses, Statements, and Contracts in the same place inside every year.
Records filed by fiscal date
Record each invoice and expense with its real date so it lands in the correct fiscal year, not the wrong calendar year.
Related
Related folder workflows
Year-end folder structure
Build the full year/category/month tree on this convention.
Year-end document checklist
Confirm a fiscal year is complete before handoff.
Small business finance folders
A broader folder layout for everyday records.
Naming convention workflow
Name files so fiscal years stay sortable.
All finance workflows
Browse the full Cash Workspace workflow library.
FAQ
Fiscal-year folder FAQ
- My fiscal year ends June 30 — how should I name folders?
- Use an unambiguous label like 'FY 2025–26 (ends 2026-06-30)' so it's clear the folder spans two calendar years and where the boundary is.
- What do I do with a statement that crosses the year boundary?
- File a copy in each fiscal year it touches and add a boundary note explaining the split, so neither year is missing it.
- Does Cash Workspace know my fiscal year automatically?
- You set the convention and file records by their real dates; Cash Workspace keeps each fiscal-year folder separate so the years don't blur.
Organizing help — not tax, accounting, or legal guidance
Cash Workspace is a free workspace for organizing invoices, expenses, receipts, clients, and documents. This page is organizing guidance only — not tax, accounting, legal, or bookkeeping guidance. Cash Workspace does not connect to your bank, does not scan or read your receipts for you, and does not move or collect payments. Whether an expense is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional.
Keep every fiscal year in its own clean folder
Start a free workspace and set a fiscal-year convention that handles non-calendar year ends, so adjacent years never merge at handoff.