Indian financial years explained: what FY26, FY25 and H1 mean in startup news

A financial year (FY) is the twelve-month period companies use for their accounts and taxes. In India it runs from 1 April to 31 March, set by company and tax law.

The year is named by the calendar year in which it ends. So FY25 is April 2024 to March 2025, and FY26 is April 2025 to March 2026. Sometimes you will see FY2025-26 written in full for the second.

The choice of April is old. It lines up with the timing of the Indian farming and trading year, and the government presents its Union Budget in February, just before a year closes. Because banks, tax offices and companies all use the same period, their numbers can be matched.

For readers outside India, this means a company's FY26 sits across two calendar years. When you build a chart with several companies, put the financial year on the axis, not a calendar label, so the bars are comparable.

A calendar year runs January to December. Many global companies and most startups in the United States report on it, so a story comparing an Indian company with a foreign one needs care.

An Indian FY covers nine months of one calendar year and three of the next. When a story says 2025 revenue, ask whether it means calendar 2025 or FY25, because the two periods overlap but are not the same.

Foreign investors and global news sites often mix the two. A story about a startup's 2025 growth from a foreign outlet may use January to December, while an Indian filing for the same company uses April to March. The difference is enough to change a growth rate.

A good rule is to write the period in words the first time: April 2024 to March 2025. After that, use FY25. It avoids confusion for readers who live in a country with a calendar-year system.

Private companies must hold a board meeting to approve accounts, have them audited, hold an annual meeting and file with the Registrar of Companies. This takes time, and many startups file close to their deadlines, often in the later part of the year.

That is why FY25 numbers, for the year that ended in March 2025, may only reach the news between the middle of 2025 and early 2026. Data platforms then read the filings and outlets write the stories.

Late filing is not always a bad sign. Audits at fast-growing companies with many entities take longer. But a long delay, or a filing that arrives with notes from the auditor, is worth reading closely.

Annual filings go to the Registrar of Companies through a government portal, and data platforms then clean and publish the numbers. That adds a few more weeks before a story appears, so a story is often a year or more behind the real business.

Listed companies, such as recently listed new-age firms, report every quarter. They publish results for each three-month period and a full-year figure. The quarters of an Indian FY are:

Some startups that listed recently also publish a shorter set of numbers for the quarter, sometimes with a note on the previous quarter. The half-year and nine-month figures add the quarters together: nine months, for example, means April to December, or Q1 plus Q2 plus Q3.

• Q1: April to June.
• Q2: July to September.
• Q3: October to December.
• Q4: January to March.

H1 means the first half of the financial year, April to September. H2 means the second half, October to March. A listed company may show H1 results alongside its Q2 results.

Be careful when you read foreign sources. Some use H1 for January to June. In an Indian story about an Indian company, H1 normally follows the April to March year, but check the dates in the text if it matters.

The labels also appear in funding news. A company may say it expects to turn profitable by a certain quarter of a financial year. Always convert that to calendar months before comparing it with a date in a foreign story.

As a quick check, a quarter named Q3 FY26 is October to December 2025. The number after FY is the year in which the full twelve months end.

YoY means year on year: this period against the same period a year earlier. Comparing FY25 with FY24 is a fair comparison. Comparing Q3 with Q2 is a quarter-on-quarter comparison and can be distorted by festive or seasonal sales.

Another trap is the base effect. If a company had a very weak year, any recovery looks like fast growth. Growth of 40 percent from a small base is a different thing from 40 percent on a large one, so look at the rupee figures as well as the percentage.

Seasonality matters in India. Festive months, wedding season and the cricket calendar can lift some businesses in one quarter. For these companies, comparing the same quarter with last year is fairer than comparing it with the quarter before.

Take it in four steps. First, FY25 means April 2024 to March 2025. Second, find which revenue line is meant, such as revenue from operations or total income. Third, find the base: 40 percent over what? Usually it is FY24. Fourth, check whether the figures are consolidated or standalone.

Finally, count the months. A story in November 2026 that says latest annual results are almost always about FY25, and FY26 filings from private companies mostly arrive later in the following months. Listed companies are the exception, because their quarters come out within weeks.

Numbers for a year that ended many months ago describe the past, not the company today. Check whether a newer year or recent quarters exist before drawing any conclusion. This is general explanation, not investment advice.

When in doubt, ask the same two questions of any figure: which twelve months, and which line of the accounts. Those two answers settle most confusion.