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When and why was the 4-5-4 Calendar created?
The 4-5-4 Calendar, which is widely followed by retailers today, was derived in the 1930s during an informal inter-industry discussion. Prior to and during the 1930s, retailers used a straight calendar to report monthly sales. This calendar became problematic as Saturdays and Sundays became an increasingly large percentage of sales, since the number of weekends in a month varied year to year. A calendar that maintained the same number of weekends in comparable months was desired and the 4-5-4 Calendar was developed. Many stores began using the 4-5-4 Calendar in the 1940s.
What is the purpose of the 4-5-4 Calendar?
The 4-5-4 Calendar serves as a voluntary guide for the retail industry and ensures sales comparability between years by dividing the year into months based on a 4 weeks – 5 weeks – 4 weeks format. The layout of the calendar lines up holidays and ensures the same number of Saturdays and Sundays in comparable months. Hence, like days are compared to like days for sales reporting purposes. The 4-5-4 Calendar also establishes Sales Release dates, which have historically been on the first Thursday following the month’s end. In recent years, however, as the flow of information has improved, more companies are releasing sales data earlier in the week.
What is a 53-week year?
Due to the layout of the 4-5-4 Calendar (52 weeks x 7 days = 364 days), which results in one remaining day each year, and the occurrence of Leap Year, it is sometimes necessary to add a 53rd week to the end of the calendar for sales reporting purposes only. This occurs approximately every five to six years, though this is not always the case. 2006, 2012, 2017 and 2023 are all 53-week years.
How does NRF determine the need for a 53rd week?
If, after laying out the entire 52-week calendar for any given year, there are four or more days left in January during the 53rd week, then a 53rd week is added. For instance, if you look at the 4-5-4 Calendar for 2016-2018, you will see that in 2016 there were only three days remaining in January after the 52nd week (January 29-31). However, in 2017 there were four days remaining in January so a 53rd week was added on to the end of that year.
How are sales during a 53-week year compared to the subsequent year?
For comparability purposes, the NRF 4-5-4 Calendar restates a 53-week year in the subsequent year (ex. 2017 is restated for comparability to 2018). This is accomplished by pushing each week of the 53-week year back one week, thereby ignoring the first week of the fiscal year (in this example, 2017). The benefit in doing so is to align holidays, which naturally account for a significant percentage of retailers’ sales. The restatement is shown on the 2017-2019 restated calendar. The first week of sales for 2017 begins on February 5, 2017, and ends on February 11, 2017, versus January 29 – February 4, 2017 on the 2017-2019 non-restated calendar. An alternative approach is to not restate and instead ignore the 53rd week of sales for comparability.
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And then I thought, "well wait a minute, those calendars might actually work again some day."
For 12 month calendars where you select something other than January for the First Month of Fiscal Year, you must also select the Fiscal Year Start Date. The selection of this parameter is critical for the correct creation of the Years dimension and the underlying calculations for periods.
The Fiscal Year Start Date option is also required for 13-period calendars in Planning modules.
Fiscal Year Start Date options:
Same Calendar Year. Set the fiscal year (FY) to start with the current calendar year (CY).
For example, in a 12-month calendar, selecting the year 2024 with a starting period of Jun creates the starting year as FY24, defined as Jun-CY24 to May-CY25.
Previous Calendar Year. Set the fiscal year (FY) to start with the previous calendar year (CY).
For example, in a 12-month calendar, selecting the year 2024 with a starting period of Jun creates the starting year as FY24, defined as Jun-CY23 to May-CY24.
The following table provides examples of how the First Month of Fiscal Year and the Fiscal Start Year options affect the calendar for the application, assuming the Fiscal Start Year is 2022.
Table 2-2 Examples of First Month of Fiscal Year and Fiscal Year Start Date Calendar Options for 12 Month Calendars
| January | Not applicable. This option is not available when January is selected as the first month of the fiscal year. | Jan-CY22 to Dec-CY22 | FY22 |
| July | Same Calendar Year | Jul-CY22 to Jun-CY23 | FY22 |
| July | Previous Calendar Year | Jul-CY21 to Jun-CY22 | FY22 |
| February | Same Calendar Year | Feb-CY22 to Jan-CY23 | FY22 |
| February | Previous Calendar Year | Feb-CY21 to Jan-CY22 | FY22 |
| December | Same Calendar Year | Dec-CY22 to Nov-CY23 | FY22 |
| December | Previous Calendar Year | Dec-CY21 to Nov-CY22 | FY22 |
Examples of Fiscal Year Start Date for 13 Period Calendars with Same Calendar Year Selected
The following images show examples of how Fiscal Start Year options affect the calendar for the application, assuming the Start Year is 2022, with a fiscal year ending on the Saturday last occurring in the Fiscal Year in March.
When these options are selected (note that Same Calendar Year is selected)...:
...see the preview calendar for various fiscal years:
13 Period Preview Calendar for FY22 with Same Calendar Year selected.
FY22 (Same Calendar Year): 27 March 2022 to 25 March 2023:
13 Period Preview Calendar for FY23 with Same Calendar Year selected.
FY23 (Same Calendar Year): 26 March 2023 to 30 March 2024:
13 Period Preview Calendar for FY24 with Same Calendar Year selected.
FY24 (Same Calendar Year): 31 March 2024 to 29 March 2025:
Examples of Fiscal Year Start Date for 13 Period Calendars with Previous Calendar Year Selected
The following images show examples of how Fiscal Start Year options affect the calendar for the application, assuming the Start Year is 2022, with a fiscal year ending on the Saturday last occurring in the Fiscal Year in March.
When these options are selected (note that Previous Calendar Year is selected)...:
..., see the preview calendar for various fiscal years:
13 Period Preview Calendar for FY22 with Previous Calendar Year selected.
FY22 (Previous Calendar Year): 28 March 2021 to 26 March 2022:
13 Period Preview Calendar for FY23 with Previous Calendar Year selected.
FY23 (Previous Calendar Year): 27 March 2022 to 25 March 2023:
13 Period Preview Calendar for FY24 with Previous Calendar Year selected.
FY24 (Previous Calendar Year): 26 March 2023 to 30 March 2024: