define quarter of a year
A fiscal quarter is one of the four three-month periods that make up an organizationâs fiscal year. Fiscal quarter is abbreviated as Q and combined with dates to identify the specific period. For example, the fourth fiscal quarter of 2016 might be abbreviated as Q4 2016, Q4/16 or Q416. Because the fiscal years of some organizations donât correspond to the calendar year, fiscal quarters can be for various three-month periods. For example, the fiscal year of the United States government runs from October 1 to September 30, so its first quarter runs from October 1 to December 31.