A quarter is a three-month period on a company’s financial calendar that acts as a basis for periodic financial reports and the paying of dividends. A quarter means one-fourth of a year and is generally expressed as”Q1″ for the first quarter, “Q2” for its second quarter, and so forth.

The standard calendar quarters that make up the year are as follows:

January, February, and March (Q1)
April, May, and June (Q2)
July, August, and September (Q3)
October, November, and December (Q4)