What is a shortened fi scal year? When is it used?

A shortened fi scal year is a fi nancial year that has fewer than 12 normal posting
periods. This type of fi nancial year is used for shifting an accounting period from
one fi nancial period to another fi nancial period. For example, say Company X
was following accounting period Apr xxxx to Mar xxxx+1, and has now decided
to follow accounting period Jan xxxx to Dec xxxx. Now the current accounting
period duration is only 9 months, i.e., from Apr xxxx to Dec xxxx, which is less than
12 months. This type of fi scal year is called a shortened fi scal year.