Extending the financial year in quickbooks desktop.

I'd like to share how it works, Accountsunbrako.

In QuickBooks, we're unable to extend the financial year. As you've noticed, when you try to change it, the Report Information section shows "First month" in your fiscal year. Our software registers the first month that your fiscal year starts and it automatically understands when it ends. For instance, if the fiscal year ends in April, you'll have to pick May as the first month. Or, if December is the end of your fiscal year, you'll have to pick January then.

Moreover, the data will remain intact after changing the financial year. It will only affect the report. Cases like this, you can manually change the date to get the 16 months worth of information.

If there's anything else or if you have additional questions, please feel free to click the Reply button below. 

Yes P&L can be generated for 16 months (as per the extended year end). But the Balance sheet can I create it for 16 months? The closing entries that create the retained earnings/profit for the year will that reflect as 16 months as well in the P&L?

Thanks for getting back to us, @accountsunbrako.

To answer the first question, yes, you can. All you need to do is to customize the Balance Sheet report and manually change the date to 16 months.

Here's how:

1. In the Balance Sheet report, click the Customize Report option at the top left. 
2. Proceed to the Display tab.
3. In the Report Date Range section, choose Custom in the Dates drop-down.
4. Enter the correct dates in the From and To section. 
5. Hit OK to refresh the report.

As per the second question, as long as you've set the right dates in the Profit and Loss report, the closing entries that create the retained earnings/profit will reflect.

Just in case, I'll add this article for future reference: QuickBooks year end guide.

Please leave a comment in this thread if you have any other issues or concerns. I'm more than happy to answer them. Take care and have a wonderful day!