What is Year-to-date?

Year to date (YTD) refers to the time elapsed between the start of the current year and a specified date before the end of the year.

Year-to-date (YTD) refers to the time period from the first day of the current calendar year or fiscal year to the present date. YTD data is useful for analysing long-term business trends or comparing performance data to competitors or peers in the same industry.

For instance, for a calendar year company, the year-to-date net income on September 30, 2022, is the net income from January 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022. For a fiscal year company whose year starts from April 1, 2022, the year-to-date net income at September 30, 2022, is the net income for the 5-month period of April 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022.

The majority of YTD calculations are as simple as addition. For example, if a company wants to calculate its YTD sales, it simply adds the sales figures from each budget period since the start of the fiscal or calendar year. To calculate your YTD salary, simply add the gross pay from each paycheck since the beginning of the year.

For interest or yield figures, which are frequently expressed in terms of annual percentage rates, the math becomes more complicated. This enables investors to compare returns over various time periods: If your portfolio is up 4% in June, it may be difficult to determine whether it is on track to outperform last year’s 8% returns.