Financial Plan - Configure Custom Fiscal Periods

This article explains how to configure and manage custom fiscal periods in OnePlan. Custom fiscal periods allow organizations to define planning and reporting periods that start and end on any date, supporting fiscal structures, agile release cycles, or other business‑specific reporting rhythms.

What you will accomplish
By the end of this article, you will be able to create custom financial period categories, define individual periods, and apply them to Financial Plans.

Requirements

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A OnePlan account with Administrator permissions
• The Financial Plan module enabled
• Financials configured at the Daily level

Note
Custom fiscal periods are only available when financial data is configured as Daily.
If the Custom Periods settings are not available in your environment, contact your OnePlan representative to convert financials to Daily.

Background

Custom fiscal periods provide flexibility for organizations that do not rely on standard 12‑month calendars. Instead of being constrained to monthly or fiscal‑year boundaries, custom periods allow you to define exact start and end dates for planning, forecasting, and reporting.

Custom periods are commonly used for:

• Non‑standard fiscal structures
• Agile release cycles or program increments
• Rolling planning windows
• Industry‑specific reporting timeframes

Custom fiscal periods are organized into categories, with each category containing one or more defined periods. These categories can be applied to Financial Plans as needed.

Instructions

Access Custom Fiscal Period Settings

1. Click ⚙️ to access the backend configuration.
2. Go to Financial Plan > Calendars.
3. Locate the Custom Periods section.

Create a Custom Period Category

1. Under Custom Periods, select Add Category (+).
   The Add New Category form opens.
2. Enter a Category Name (for example, FY 2026 Custom, PI Planning, or Release Cycles).
3. Select Save.

The new category appears under the Custom Periods section.

Note
You can create multiple categories to support different planning or reporting needs.

Add Periods to a Category

1. In the desired category row, select the Periods icon.
2. Select Add Period.
   The Add Period form opens.
3. Enter a Period Name.
4. Select a Start Date.
5. Select an End Date.
6. Select Add.
   
7. Repeat these steps until all required periods are defined for the category.

Use Custom Periods in a Financial Plan

Once custom categories and periods are configured, they can be applied to Financial Plans.

1. Go to the OnePlan front end and open a Financial Plan.
2. Open the Dates menu and select Period.
3. Select the desired Category, then choose one or more Periods to display.
4. Select Apply.

The Financial Plan calendar updates to display financial data using the selected custom periods.

Guardrails & Best Practices

To ensure accurate financial planning and reporting when using custom financial periods, follow these recommendations:

Avoid Overlapping Periods

Ensure that each period within a category has a unique date range. Overlapping periods can create ambiguity in financial views and reporting.

Use Clear, Consistent Naming

Use descriptive, consistent names for both categories and periods (for example, FY26 Q1, PI‑3, or Release Cycle – July). Clear naming helps plan owners select the correct periods.

Fully Define Period Sequences

Define all required periods within a category whenever possible. Missing periods can result in gaps when displaying or reporting on financial data.

Do Not Modify Periods After Data Entry

After financial data has been entered or reported using a custom period category, avoid changing period start dates, end dates, or names. Modifications can shift historical data into incorrect periods and affect portfolio reporting.

Align Periods to Reporting Needs

Design custom periods based on how your organization reviews, forecasts, and reports financials. Misaligned periods can reduce comparability across plans and portfolios.

Use Separate Categories for Different Use Cases

If your organization uses multiple time structures (for example, fiscal reporting and agile planning), create separate custom period categories rather than reusing a single category.

Related Resources

Financial Plan – Configure Financial Plan Calendar
Learn how to configure standard and fiscal 12‑month calendars.