A company's financial year is determined as follows.
Its first financial year—
begins with the first day of its first accounting reference period, and
ends with the last day of that period or such other date, not more than seven days before or after the end of that period, as the directors may determine.
Subsequent financial years—
begin with the day immediately following the end of the company's previous financial year, and
end with the last day of its next accounting reference period or such other date, not more than seven days before or after the end of that period, as the directors may determine.
In relation to an undertaking that is not a company, references in this Act to its financial year are to any period in respect of which a profit and loss account of the undertaking is required to be made up (by its constitution or by the law under which it is established), whether that period is a year or not.
The directors of a parent company must secure that, except where in their opinion there are good reasons against it, the financial year of each of its subsidiary undertakings coincides with the company's own financial year.