Apple Fiscal Calendar 2022 – know when you get paid

‍

How Apple Fiscal Calendar works

The rules are as follows:

1. The year always starts on the last Sunday of September.
2. The calendar year is divided into four quarters, each of which consists of three months.
3. The first month of each quarter always has 35 days, while the other two are 28-day long.
4. The year consists of 364 days, that is why each five years they add an extra week.
5. It’s also important to remember that the company uses the US calendar version, meaning that weeks start on Sunday and end on Saturday.
6. The beginning and the end of each period are always on the same day of the week. And most importantly, Apple’s payment dates usually come 33 days after the end of the previous fiscal month;

In 2022, we have the following quarters of the fiscal year:

Q1 – Sep 26 – Dec 25;

Q2 – Dec 26 – Mar 26;

Q3 – Mar 27 – Jun 25;

Q4 – Jun 26 – Sep 24;

Following the rule that the first month consists of 35 days, and the payment terms are pretty NET 33 we can predict that December payment(which is the term Nov 28 – Dec 25 accordingly) will be provided on Jan 27 on Thursday, while January payment(Dec 26 – Jan 29) should be sent on Mar 3. 

Feel free to check the Adapty estimation of Apple Fiscal Calendar for 2022. Please, pay attention to the colors of the periods: each corresponds to a concrete day:

As the developer you are to know about how to track your revenues with Apple. Earnings from the App Store are paid a bit differently than usual payments are provided as well as there is a delay. That is why it is eager to learn how special Apple Fiscal Calendar is, in order not to let your app’s economics get in trouble.

App Store moderation is not quite clear and transparent. They do a lot to make us understand how their review system works. Developers are provided with guidelines, but still in most cases you are not sure why there are issues with your app. Apple is a huge company, it can’t adapt to a changing digital environment timely. It keeps us nervous: if payments are not provided on the payday, you will get crazy (logging to App Store Connect account to check if the app itself is okay)…

It’s once and for all time to learn about Apple Fiscal Calendar! it matters because mistakes in planning your app’s economics may cost you too much! Let us start with the basics:

‍

Get Payment Notifications into your Google Calendar

Let us help you to be informed about App Store payment events. Submit the form to get a link to a notification calendar about paydays. Add it to your google calendar and you will always be warned about when you get paid.

Why it is so important

Funding Gap

You cannot consider the money from the App Store yours until Apple sends it. Funds on your Developer Account are not the funds one may use. These 33-days delays may affect the economics of your app and lead to funding gaps. May be a rather crucial mistake to wrongly plan your finances while your app is promoted through paid traffic only. Google and Facebook never care about your finances, they’re gonna bill you anyway 🙂

Billing Issues and Non-paid Ads

As previously mentioned, Ad networks want their services being paid on time, while Apple pays with a delay. Your ad campaigns optimize not as fast, thus it is not a good idea to stop your ads and restart them in the future. If you set campaigns on hold for a long period, they will not perform as they used to. So, if you purchase installs at a reasonable cost, try to keep them working as long as possible. And don’t even think of having your ads unpaid and leave your ad accounts with debts.

Funds and Numbers

What’s plain and simple is missed. Don’t forget to match your results and your earnings the right way. Do not look on payments, look at the stats you have. December payment will be related to Nov 28 – Dec 25, while December costs are the period Dec 1 – 31. Just keep it in mind and do not consider monthly payment as payment for a month 🙂

Subscription App’s economics is the thing built mostly on a “zero-profit” basis. That means CAC = LTV almost all the time. Even a small disorder may cause your business dead. Subscription recovery is a long term, and subscription app is a long term business itself! That’s why under any circumstances try to have some extra resources: if you struggle with a delay by Apple, your business will have the chance to survive.

Apple Fiscal Calendar for 2023

Apple Fiscal Calendar for 2024

Apple Fiscal Calendar for 2025