The most common quarter abbreviation is qtr., and its plural is qtrs. In business and finance, a single capital Q plus a number names one of the four parts of a year: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. Sports scoreboards often use the same Q style, or the abbreviation QTR.
Quarter means one fourth of something, and English uses it for time, money, games and places. That is why the short form changes with the setting. A sales report, a basketball box score and a city map each have their own habit, and mixing them up can make a note hard to read.
Quick facts
Abbreviation
qtr. (general), Q (business quarters)Plural
qtrs.Period
qtr. usually has one; Q1 never doesCapitals
Lowercase qtr. in text; QTR on scoreboards and formsBusiness use
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, often with a year or fiscal yearNot to be confused with
qt, which means quart
Which quarter abbreviation to use where
| Setting | Short form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Business and finance | Q plus a number | Q2 sales rose |
| General notes and forms | qtr. or qtrs. | Due next qtr. |
| Sports scoreboards | QTR or Q | QTR 4, 2:15 left |
| School terms | Q1 or Qtr 1 | Q3 report card |
| Military housing | qtrs. | Family qtrs. on base |
In a full sentence aimed at the public, writing the word out is often clearer: "in the third quarter." Save the short forms for tables, charts, headers and notes where space is tight. More examples of this trade off appear in our how to abbreviate guide.
Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 in business
Companies split the year into four quarters of about three months each. On a calendar year, the quarters run like this:
- Q1: January, February, March
- Q2: April, May, June
- Q3: July, August, September
- Q4: October, November, December
Many organizations use a fiscal year that starts in a different month, so their Q1 may begin in July or October. When that matters, writers add FY for fiscal year next to the quarter, or say "first fiscal quarter." Quarterly results, budgets and goals such as OKRs are often set by quarter, and you will also see QoQ for quarter over quarter and YTD for year to date.
In a team email: "Please send your Q3 numbers by Friday so we can close the quarter." Here Q3 means the July to September period, unless the company's fiscal calendar says otherwise.
Quarter abbreviation rules: periods, plurals and capitals
- qtr. with a period is standard in American notes and forms. Some offices drop the period on spreadsheets, and that is fine if done the same way throughout.
- Plural: add s, qtrs. Write "two qtrs." not "two qtr's."
- Q style: no period and no space. Write Q4, not Q.4 or Q 4.
- All caps: QTR appears on scoreboards, labels and data headers.
- With ordinals: "1st qtr." and "4th qtr." are common in sports writing.
The letters stand for the word itself, so you read every form aloud as "quarter." Q2 is read "Q two" in an office meeting, or "second quarter" in more formal speech.
Quarters in sports and school
Football and basketball games split play into four quarters. Box scores and TV graphics show them as 1Q to 4Q, Q1 to Q4 or 1st to 4th, with OT for overtime. A line such as "Q4 0:42" means 42 seconds remain in the last quarter. Other sports split games differently: hockey uses periods, baseball uses innings, so the quarter abbreviation does not appear there.
Schools that grade by quarter use the same shorthand on report cards and calendars. "Q2 grades post Monday" refers to the second marking period. Some schools call these terms marking periods or nine weeks, so check the school calendar if the label is unclear.
Quarter in money and measurement
In US money, a quarter is a 25 cent coin. People rarely abbreviate it in writing; a price list shows 25¢ or 0.25 instead. A quarter pound is often written "1/4 lb," using the pounds abbreviation, and a quarter hour is simply "15 min."
The biggest trap is qt. That abbreviation means quart, a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon. A recipe that says "1 qt milk" wants a quart, not a quarter of anything. The gallon abbreviation page shows how quarts, pints and gallons fit together.
Sample sentences with the abbreviation
- "Revenue grew 6 percent in Q2."
- "Rent is billed per qtr. on this lease."
- "The team trailed by 10 points in the 3rd qtr."
- "Officers moved into new qtrs. near the gate."
- "Our Q4 goal is to finish the website update."
Find more short forms for time, money and measures in the common abbreviations section.
Questions people ask
What is the short form of quarter?
The general abbreviation is qtr., with qtrs. for the plural. In business and school settings, Q with a number, such as Q1 or Q4, names a specific quarter.
What does Q1 mean?
Q1 means the first quarter. On a calendar year that is January through March, but a company with a different fiscal year may start Q1 in another month.
Does qtr have a period?
In American writing it usually does: qtr. Spreadsheets and scoreboards often drop it, and the Q style, as in Q3, never uses one.
Is qt short for quarter?
No. Qt is the abbreviation for quart, a unit of liquid measure. Use qtr. or Q for quarter.
How do you write fourth quarter in short?
Write Q4 in business, 4th qtr. in general notes, or 4Q on some sports graphics. Spell out "fourth quarter" in formal sentences.