Year-To-Date

In accounting and related reporting contexts, year-to-date signifies that reported figures reflect the period from the start of the year until the indicated date. The year-to-date period is usually assumed to be a calendar year. Within an organization having a different fiscal year, internal year-to-date reports may instead be based on the fiscal year-to-date. Year-to-date figures are most useful for budgeting and other comparisons against a business unit’s goals. Financial performance, especially for a portfolio, will also be reported on a year-to-date basis, too. For instance, the financial press might report a stock index, such as the FTSE 100, as being up 2% year-to-date. For analysis of individual securities, year-to-date performance is typically superseded by a comparison of the most recent quarter against the same quarter the prior year, and perhaps also the prior quarter. Year-to-date is commonly abbreviated as YTD.