> This is the Markdown of a Backed Help Centre page, https://admin.backed.giving/help/administrator/outcomes/quarterly-cycles-and-returns.md. Every page is listed at https://admin.backed.giving/help/llms.txt.

> This page uses Backed's default terms, such as Funding Round and Application Template. An organisation may rename them, so read each as your organisation's own term if you've renamed it.

Each quarter, partners file a return for each of their projects, and the Epic's Captain writes the
quarter's report from them. You open the quarters and set their dates. This appears only when it is
turned on for your organisation.

## Open a quarter and set its dates

1. Go to `Settings > Reporting cycles` and choose the `Epic`.
2. Under `Quarters`, every quarter the Epic reports across is listed with when it `Opens` and its
   `State`. Select `Open the next quarter` when it is time, or change a quarter's state. Backed says
   which partner windows were closed or reopened.
3. Under `Milestones in the current quarter`, set the `Starts` and `Due` dates of the seven steps the
   Captain and the partners work through. These are the dates the Captain sees. Backed warns you if a
   step ends before it starts or starts before the previous one is due. Reminders move with the dates.

## Follow a quarter

`Report > Epics` lists the Epics you can read. Open an Epic, then a quarter, to see where it
is up to: the returns partners have filed, the requests sent, the meetings, and the Captain's report.
A finalised report opens read-only, exactly as the Captain finalised it, and can be downloaded as a PDF
or, once the quarter is finalised, exported as CSV.

`Report > Captain's report` takes a Captain to the report of their working quarter.

## See also

- [Epics and projects](epics-and-projects.md)
- [Board packs](board-packs.md)