September 30, 2005
End of Quarter
Today marks the end of the third quarter for companies that use the calendar year for their fiscal calendar.
In large organizations, the end of the third quarter is accompanied by a brief pause in purchases as the companies determine whether they are on target to meet their year end goals. In business, there simply is no substitute for results and organizations live or die by their bottom line business results.
Filed by Coleen Davis at 6:37 pm under Business Trends
Two quick points
1. Most ‘results’ are judged on management accounts which, are only “a view”.
2. The other importance of that time is that the budgetary process for the next financial year should be well under way.
You are right in many instances on both points.
At publicly traded companies, the results that everyone is holding their breath for are the third quarter earnings per share. I wonder if a combination of management accounts and earnings per share should be used. Thoughts on this?
You are right about the budget process being under way. Whether at public companies or very large private companies, the budget is usually still locked up in finance at this point. As a result, it is difficult for functional managers to start making concrete plans until mid to late November.