Set up financial years

Add the financial year your appraisals belong to, and keep it active so appraisal templates can use it.

For hr administratorsUpdated 4 Nov 2026

In this article
  1. Steps
  2. If something goes wrong
  3. What employees and managers see
  4. Next steps

The financial year is the first performance setup. Every appraisal template is tied to an active financial year, so add the year before you build templates. This list is separate from the accounting fiscal years used to close the books.

Steps

  1. Open HR › Performance › Financial Years

    In the menu on the left, select HR, then Performance, then Financial Years.

    1. Add Financial Year creates a new year.
    2. Counters for all years, active, inactive and closed.
    3. Each card shows the year's name, code, period type, dates and how much of the year has passed. View opens it.
  2. Fill in the year

    Select Add Financial Year.

    1. Name: for example "Financial Year 2027". Required.
    2. Code: a short code such as "FY2027". Required.
    3. Period Type: Monthly, Quarterly, Biannually, Annually or Custom. It describes how the year is split; it doesn't create anything.
    4. Start Date. Required.
    5. End Date. Required, and it must be after the start date.
    6. Create Financial Year saves it.

    A new year is active straight away.

  3. Activate or pause a year

    Open a year with View, or use the ⋮ menu on its row in the list:

    • Activate makes the year available again for appraisal templates.
    • Deactivate pauses it: it no longer appears when you create a new template.
    • Delete removes it.

If something goes wrong

MessageWhat to do
Name is required / Code is requiredFill in both.
End date must be after start datePick an end date later than the start date.
"No active financial years found. Activate one first." (on the appraisal template form)Add a year here, or activate an existing one.

What employees and managers see

Nothing directly. The year decides which appraisal templates HR can build; employees see the template's cycle on their form. See Set up appraisal templates.

Next steps

Create the appraisal cycle: Set up appraisal cycles.