# How to calculate the fiscal month (period) number from a date in Excel

Count the months since the fiscal year started: `=MOD(MONTH(A2)-$E$1,12)+1`, with the start month in E1.

**Excel:** `=MOD(MONTH(A2)-$E$1,12)+1` (Every current version)

**Google Sheets:** the same formula works.

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B | C | D | E |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Date | Fiscal period |  | FY starts in month | 7 |
| 2026-07-01 |  |  |  |  |
| 2026-09-15 |  |  |  |  |
| 2026-12-31 |  |  |  |  |
| 2027-01-02 |  |  |  |  |
| 2027-06-30 |  |  |  |  |
| 2027-03-09 |  |  |  |  |

Formula in B2, filled to B7: `=MOD(MONTH(A2)-$E$1,12)+1`

Result: 1; 3; 6; 7; 12; 9

## How it works

`MONTH(A2)-$E$1` is how many months the date is past the fiscal year start, negative for months before July. MOD(…,12) wraps those into 0 to 11, and +1 turns them into periods 1 to 12: July is period 1 and June is period 12.

## Other ways

- `="P"&TEXT(MOD(MONTH(A2)-$E$1,12)+1,"00")`: A period label like P07. (Text label.)
- `=MONTH(EDATE(A2,13-$E$1))`: Shifts the date so the fiscal year starts in January, then takes the month.

## Common mistakes

- Without MOD, January to June come out as negative periods.
- Retailers on 4-4-5 calendars have periods that don't follow calendar months; this formula doesn't apply to them.

## Questions

**How do I get the fiscal quarter from the period?**

`=ROUNDUP(B2/3,0)`.

**How do I get the fiscal year?**

`=YEAR(A2)+(MONTH(A2)>=$E$1)`, for a fiscal year named by the year it ends in.

Every formula and result on this page was checked by running it in the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine on 2026-10-30.

Source: https://spreadsheetpractice.com/formulas/fiscal-month-number-from-a-date