I've always wondered why the financial year appeared so far out of sync with everything else; the calendar year, the school year etc etc.... So, I did a little research and it appears that maybe it's the financial yaer that's always been the same and everything else that's moved around it!!

In 45BC Julius Caesar set the New Year at the Spring Equinox, at that time the 25th March., hence why we have 'SEPTember' (7th), 'OCTober', 'NOVember' (9th) and 'DECember' (10th). By 325AD at the Council of Nicea, the Equinox had wandered back to the 21st March, where it was set, but the Tax and Legal year remained the 25th

The reason why the end of the financial year is the 5th April goes back to the year 1751. In 1751 England had also become adrift with other countries in Europe with its calendar keeping. It was out of sync by eleven days, which made international trade difficult. It was clear that England had to adopt a new system and it moved from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1751/2. The eleven days were taken out of September 1751 and the year ended on December 31st. 1752 began on January 1st.

Not everyone was happy with this decision and banks, one of the most traditional and conservative of all establishments, refused to fall in line. Not only did they not recognise that the year now began on January 1, they also refused to accept that the eleven days in September had been eliminated from their calendar. So, they regarded their year as starting on 25 March – which everyone else regarded as being 11 days further on – on the 5 April. And so it has been ever since.