VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

calendar quarter

noun·Advancedbusinessfinance

Last updated

UK/ˌkæl.ɪn.də ˈkwɔː.tər/
US/ˌkæl.ɪn.dɚ ˈkwɔːr.tɚ/

Meanings

  1. nouncountablebusinessfinance

    One of the four three-month periods of a calendar year, starting in January, April, July, and October.

    Grammar: Countable: say 'a calendar quarter', 'two calendar quarters'. Often written with a number: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4.

    Patterns

    • in the first calendar quarter
    • during a calendar quarter
    • the second calendar quarter of something

    Sales rose by eight percent in the first calendar quarter.

    The report covers each calendar quarter from January to December.

    We review our spending at the end of every calendar quarter.

  2. nouncountablebusinessfinance

    A period of three months used for accounting or reporting that follows the months of the ordinary year.

    Grammar: Countable and usually used with an ordinal number or a year: 'the third calendar quarter of 2024'.

    Patterns

    • the third calendar quarter of a year
    • compare calendar quarters

    The two companies report results on the same calendar quarter, so the figures are easy to compare.

    Taxes are paid once per calendar quarter in many countries.

Word forms

pluralcalendar quarters

Common combinations

the first calendar quarter
Profits were strongest in the first calendar quarter.
the fourth calendar quarter
Holiday shopping usually lifts the fourth calendar quarter.
end of the calendar quarter
Invoices must be sent before the end of the calendar quarter.
calendar quarter earnings
Calendar quarter earnings beat expectations.
per calendar quarter
The fee is charged once per calendar quarter.

Synonyms and how they differ

quarter
Shorter and more common; it usually means the same thing, but it can also refer to a company's fiscal quarter, so use 'calendar quarter' when the exact months matter.
three-month period
A plain descriptive phrase rather than a business term; it fits general writing better than reports and accounts.

Word family

quarterly adjective
Happening or produced once every three months.
quarterly adverb
Once every three months, as in 'The magazine comes out quarterly'.
calendar year noun
The period from January 1 to December 31.

Commonly confused: calendar quarter or fiscal quarter? calendar quarter or semester?

calendar quarter vs fiscal quarter

A company's own three-month accounting period, which may begin in any month. A calendar quarter always follows January, April, July and October.

calendar quarter vs semester

A half-year school or university term, not a three-month business period.

Practice

A company's financial year starts in April, so its second quarter is not the same as ______.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “calendar quarter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words