The period covered by a set of financial statements is called the accounting period. For most entities, the official accounting period is one year, usually the calendar year, ending on December 31. Some entities find that another 12-month period, such as the year ending June 30, is more useful.
The manager of an organization cannot wait for 12 months to find out how the organization is performing. Therefore, Sage 50 is set up to provide you with financial statements every accounting period. These are called interim statements, to distinguish them from the annual statements.