The Complete Guide to Year-To-Date (YTD) And How To Use It

Introduction to YTD

Year-to-date refers to a time period that starts from the beginning of a 12-month period and ends on a specified date before those 12 months are over. The YTD metric is used to track and analyse financial data. It measures progress from the beginning of the year up until the current date.

As year-to-date is a financial performance metric, it has multiple applications:

• Businesses use YTD to monitor performance in terms of meeting revenue, income, expense, and payroll goals. Other financial metrics such as dividends, taxes, and reimbursements can also be tracked and assed with the help of YTD.
• Investors use YTD data to check on investment returns and to compare the performance of various stocks.
• Individuals can use YTD to monitor their personal earnings.
• Finance and accounting teams use YTD data for financial reporting and accounting purposes, analysing financial statements, preparing budgets, and financial planning.
• Year-to-date data is also used to compare rival businesses within the same industry.

Year-to-date: Fiscal year vs calendar year

When calculating year-to-date, businesses use either the calendar year or fiscal year as the base year. One must remember that calendar year and fiscal year do not necessarily begin on the same date.

If YTD is based on calendar year, the starting date is January 1 and the current date is anywhere on or before December 31 of the same year.

However, if YTD is based on fiscal year, this can mean different things for companies in different countries because the fiscal year is not the same universally. For some countries, the fiscal year is the same as the calendar year, spanning January 1 to December 31 of the same year. In the United States, the fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends on September 30 of the following year. In Singapore, the fiscal year for most companies starts on April 1 and ends on March 31 of the following year.

Now, let's say a Singapore-based company carries out a mid-year performance review on June 20, 2025. If it goes by calendar YTD, the review period would be from January 1, 2025, to June 20, 2025. However, if it calculates fiscal YTD, the period under review would run from April 1, 2025, to June 20, 2025.

How to calculate YTD

One can calculate YTD by using this formula:

YTD = (Current value - Starting value) / Starting value x 100

Here, starting value is the value of the business or asset on the first day of the review period and current value is the value on the specified end date. As YTD is almost always depicted in percentage rather than decimal, hence need to multiply by 100.

Another YTD formula that can also be used is:

YTD = Current value / Starting value - 1 x 100

Both formulas yield the same result.

YTD calculation example

Here's an example of how to calculate YTD.

Say, an investor's stock portfolio is worth SGD 200,000 at the beginning of the calendar year and is currently worth SGD 245,000 in May. Using the first formula:

YTD = (245,000 - 200,000) / 200,000 x 100

YTD = 22.5%

Using the second formula:

YTD = 245,000 / 200,000 - 1 x 100

YTD = 22.5%

This means the year-to-date return for the first five months of the year is 22.5%.

By measuring their stocks' performance till date, the investor can then compare current YTD with YTD information from past years. This will help them see how the stocks' current growth trajectory compares with the past as well as with any forecasts or projections that may have been made.

Financial planning with YTD

Preparation is key to running a successful business and year-to-date greatly enhances a company's financial planning.

With YTD, a company can track its performance on multiple financial metrics – such as revenue, sales, expansion, etc – in real time. This gives it the power to fix problems and make course corrections before it is too late, or make good on opportunities before they pass it by.

By knowing where it stands on a specific business plan, the company can quickly update its sales forecasts or cash flow projections and readjust its annual budget to achieve its stated objective.

Year-to-date calculations help businesses set achievable goals, make contingency plans, manage risk effectively, and strategically map out short-term and long-term objectives. It enables data-driven decision-making that is targeted, accurate, and aligned with business objectives. Such a proactive approach to financial planning naturally has a positive impact on the business' financial health, stability, and growth.

Business performance and YTD

By elevating planning processes, YTD naturally helps improve business performance Fromm year to year.

When executives and managers analyse YTD revenue or YTD sales data, for example, they are able to clearly see if the company is on course to meet its revenue and sales targets. And by comparing current YTD with last year's performance, they can easily discern if the company's performance is on the rise, in decline, steady, or stagnant.

For businesses, leveraging YTD information is particularly useful at times of unusual activity – say, when the business is in expansion mode, experiencing internal turmoil, or in the midst of a merger. By comparing YTD information from different periods in the past, the business can effectively discern the difference in net income or total expenses from the current year.

Apart from self-assessment, YTD allows businesses to compare their performance with those of other organisations, which is essential to staying competitive and relevant.

Investment returns and YTD

Investors and fund managers rely on YTD returns to earn handsome rewards on investments. A YTD return is simply the profit or loss made on an investment since the start of the YTD period.

By using YTD returns to check the performance of a single investment (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc) or an entire investment portfolio, investors can see how the investment or portfolio stacks up against stated goals, past performance, or industry benchmarks. Using the insights they gain, they can tweak their portfolios to get the best return on investment. This might include selling overvalued stocks at the right time or offloading undervalued investments to prevent further loss.

It must be noted that while YTD returns are a reliable way of measuring the performance of investments, they tend to be focused on short-term trends and might not account for seasonality.

Payroll and YTD

Employees account for a significant chunk of a business' expenses and year-to-date plays an important role in payroll management and forecasting. In the context of payroll, YTD stands for the total amount a company spends on payroll from the beginning of the pay period till the current date. It includes all earnings (salaries, bonuses, commissions, overtime pay, etc), deductions (income tax payments, any other taxes, insurance premiums, etc), and contributions (health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, etc).

The key components of YTD earnings are:

Net pay

This is an employee's take-home amount after all the necessary deductions.

Gross pay

This is the employee's total earnings before deductions.

Pay stub

An employee can find their YTD net pay and gross pay in a document called a pay stub, which is provided by their employer periodically. An employee's pay stub, in fact, carries a detailed breakdown of payroll components, including all deductions as well.

Human resources teams frequently use YTD earnings data to monitor total spend on payroll. This exercise is crucial for staying within budget, fulfilling tax and financial reporting obligations, and optimising recruitment processes to cut down on expensive hiring and onboarding costs. Furthermore, HR leaders also use YTD earnings and pay stub data to make accurate year-end payroll-related expense forecasts and set corresponding budgets.

Independent contractors and YTD

Certain businesses are sole proprietorships, owned and run by an individual. These self-employed individuals provide paid services or products to other businesses and work on project basis. Example, a web developer who designs websites for other businesses or a data analyst who is hired by companies.

Year-to-date is a useful metric for these independent contractors, who are solely responsible for invoicing their clients and receiving payments. Like any other business, they use YTD to track the company's earnings and expenses through the year as well as to assess its performance and financial health over a period of time. This helps them make informed decisions aligned with business goals.

Income earned by independent contractors is considered business income, not salary, and is subject to income tax. In Singapore, tax rates vary based on income level. Additionally, sole proprietors are also required to make mandatory social security contributions. As they are personally liable for their company's tax payments, they need to be extra cautious when calculating taxes and ensure they make timely tax filings. Year-to-date is a useful tool in this regard. It helps them make accurate tax calculations and ensures tax compliance when tax season comes.

Month-to-date vs year-to-date

Like year-to-date, month-to-date (MTD) is a metric that measures the performance of a business or investment. What sets the two apart is the time frame. Month-to-date reviews the period from the first day of the current month to the last business day before the current date. Unlike YTD, it does not take the current day into account. The MTD metric works in the exact same way as YTD, but over a much shorter time period. When used together, YTD and MTD provide a comprehensive view of company performance over the short and long term.

There are a few other financial metrics that assess performance the same way as YTD and MTD. These are:

• Week-on-week: This is used to measure one week's data to that of another week.
• Month-on-month: This tracks the progress of a specific financial metric (such as revenue, sales, etc) from one month to another. Month-on-month data is used when compiling quarterly reports as it allows businesses to monitor monthly changes and short-term trends so they can evaluate their goals for the next quarter.

Year-on-year: This tracks progress over a year. It is also the most commonly used time frame for reviews as businesses tend to compare performance or data from one year to another. What's good about year-on-year is that it accounts for seasonality.