Changing your non-profit’s Fiscal Year (FY) start date is a significant step. When you move, for example, from a January 1st start to a July 1st start, you create a temporary "gap period" (Jan-Jun) that needs its own budget.

This guide walks you through the three simple steps to budget for this gap period and properly update your settings in Aplos.

Step 1: Update Your Organization’s Fiscal Year

Before creating any new budgets, you must update the master setting for your new financial year.

1. Navigate to Settings: Go to your Organization Info (or similar settings area).
2. Update Org Info: Select the update org info button and locate the Fiscal Year field and change it to your new start month (e.g., July 1).
3. Save Changes: Be sure to save your settings.

Why this is key: This ensures all future reports are correctly dated for your new FY. The next step is a workaround to budget for the months between your old and new FY start dates.

Step 2: Create the Gap Period Budget

You will create a unique, 12-month budget file, but you'll only enter amounts for the months that make up your gap period.

1. Start a New Budget: Go to the Budgeting feature and click to create a New Budget.
2. Define the Structure:
   • Set the Budget Type to Annual Budget.
   • Select the show monthly breakdown box.
3. Enter Gap Amounts Only (The Workaround):
   • Input your budget figures only in the monthly columns that belong to your gap (e.g., January through June).
   • Leave the amounts for the subsequent months (July through December) set to $0.00.

Tip: By only populating the gap months, the total annual amount of this budget will correctly reflect the total budgeted amount for your short, transition period.

Step 3: Run Reports with the Gap Budget

To compare your actual revenue and expenses against your new gap budget, you must tell Aplos exactly which budget and date range to use.

1. Adjust Budget Settings: After saving your gap budget, check or edit the budget settings to ensure the "Show in Reports" option is not selected. This prevents it from automatically cluttering your standard reporting.
2. Generate a Budget vs. Actual Report: Go to your reporting area and select a budget comparison report (e.g., Statement of Financial Activities).
3. Set a Custom Date Range: This is crucial. Define a custom date range that perfectly matches your gap period (e.g., January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024).
4. Select the Budget: Manually select the "FY [Year] Transition Budget" you created in Step 2 from the list of available budgets.

Result: Your report will now clearly show your actual performance for the six-month transition period compared only to the budget you created for those six months.

What Happens Next?

Be sure to create your new, full fiscal year budget (e.g., July 1st – June 30th) and select the "Show in Reports" option for that budget so it is used automatically going forward.