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Use this guide when the same accrual comes back every period (unused vacation, an estimated utility charge, unbilled revenue) and you want to post it from a saved template instead of re-keying the journal entry. You finish with an accrual on the Accruals list, a posted journal entry (and its reversal, when you set one), and those entries linked back on the accrual. An accrual on Accounting → Transactions → Accruals is a reusable template. It does not post to the General Ledger on its own. Run opens a journal entry prefilled from the template. You set the dates, confirm the amounts, and post. Everything that governs a journal entry (balancing, period locks, approval routing, classifications) governs the entry that Run creates. For a one-time accrual you will not run again, skip the template and post a journal entry with a reversal date. See How to Post and Reverse Month-End Accruals.

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Before you start

Line these up before you open Accruals. The template only stores the reusable shape of the entry; the period dates and any amount change happen when you run it.
  • A role that can post journal entries. Accruals uses the same journal-entry permission as the Journal Entries list. Where an approval workflow covers journal entries, the entry Run creates is held in draft and routed instead of posting on save.
  • An open period for both dates you will set on Run. The posting date and the reversal date are each checked against the AP, AR, and Other GL period locks for the company.
  • An accrued liability (or accrued revenue) account in your chart of accounts, plus the expense or revenue account the accrual hits. Do not credit the A/P control account if you plan to run the accrual after an A/P cutoff.
  • The amount and the basis for it, or a starting amount you will revise on Run. A vacation accrual sized from current headcount changes with every joiner and leaver; the template holds the accounts and classifications, and you set this period’s amount in the Run Accrual drawer.
  • Classification values for any account that has Require classification enabled. Posting is blocked when a required classification is missing.

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Create an accrual

The Accruals page stores the company, currency, and lines you reuse. Create the template once; you do not date it here.
  1. Navigate to Accounting → Transactions → Accruals and choose New accrual. Accruals also appears in quick create next to Journal Entries, Intercompany Journal Entries, and Bank Transfers.
  2. Enter a Name that you can recognize on the list later, such as Monthly vacation accrual or Unbilled professional fees.
  3. Set Company first. The accounts available on the lines are the accounts that company can use.
  4. Set Currency to the currency the accrual posts in.
  5. Add a debit line for the expense (or receivable) account and a credit line for the accrued liability (or revenue) account.
  6. Add classifications on the expense or revenue line where you report by department, location, or project.
  7. Set Customer or Vendor on a line when you want the accrual visible in that sub-ledger.
  8. Confirm the totals row shows debits equal to credits.
  9. Save the accrual.
After you save, the accrual detail page opens. The record is active and has no General Ledger impact yet. The list Active tab shows it. An unbalanced template does not save: the save is blocked until debit and credit totals agree.
Saving the accrual does not post anything. The General Ledger changes only when you run the accrual and save the journal entry that Run creates.

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Run the accrual

Run posts this period’s entry from the template. Open Run from the Accruals list (row actions) or from the footer on the accrual detail page.
  1. Choose Run. The Run Accrual drawer opens with the company, base currency, and lines copied from the template, plus a reversal preview that flips every debit and credit.
  2. Set Date to the last day of the period the amount belongs to, such as 09/30/2026 for a September accrual, not the day you are working.
  3. Set Reversal Date to the first day of the next period when the accrual should clear itself. Leave it blank only when the amount should stay on the books until you true it up later.
  4. Confirm Transaction Currency. Base Currency shows the company’s currency so you can review both before you post.
  5. Revise any line amount, account, memo, or classification that is different this period. The template is unchanged by edits you make in the drawer.
  6. Choose Save and Post. Cancel closes the drawer without creating an entry.
The drawer footer stays pinned with Cancel and Save and Post. Where no approval workflow matches the entry, Save and Post posts it to the General Ledger. Where a workflow matches, the entry stays in draft until every stage approves, the same as a journal entry you open from Journal Entries. Both dates must fall in an open period. A reversal date earlier than the posting date is rejected. After a successful post, the drawer closes and the new journal entry appears on the accrual’s Related Records tab.

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Review the journal entries an accrual created

Each run creates a journal entry linked to the accrual, the same parent-and-child pattern as an allocation schedule and the journals it generates. Open the accrual and choose the Related Records tab. Every journal entry posted from Run is listed there and is clickable. Open an entry to confirm its GL Impact, its reversal (when you set a reversal date), and its Activity log. The entry is a normal journal entry. It also appears on the Posted tab of Accounting → Transactions → Journal Entries, and you can reverse or edit it there under the same rules as any other entry. Editing a posted entry that falls under an approval workflow returns it to draft and re-runs approval. Use Related Records on the accrual when you want the full history of a repeating accrual in one place (July, August, September) instead of searching Journal Entries by memo.

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Edit, archive, or recover an accrual

Change the template when the reusable shape changes. Archive it when you no longer run it. Recover it if you need that shape again. None of these actions posts or reverses a journal entry on its own.

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Edit the template

Open the accrual and choose Edit. Update the name, company, currency, or lines, keep the totals in balance, and save. The next Run uses the saved shape. Journal entries already posted from earlier runs stay as they were, including their dates, amounts, and reversals. If only this period’s amount changed, leave the template alone and revise the amount in the Run Accrual drawer instead.

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Archive a template you no longer run

Choose Archive on the detail page and confirm. The accrual moves off the Active tab and the list opens filtered to archived records. Archiving the template does not reverse or archive the journal entries it already created, and it does not prevent you from opening those entries from Journal Entries. You cannot run an archived accrual until you recover it.

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Recover an archived template

Open the accrual from the archived list and recover it. It returns to Active and can be run again with the same company, currency, and lines it had when you archived it. Related Records still lists every journal entry posted from earlier runs, so the history stays in one place.

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Choose a one-off entry or a recurring journal entry instead

Accrual templates are the on-demand path. Two other features cover nearby work, and picking the wrong one usually means re-work at close. Use a one-off journal entry with a reversal date when the accrual is unique to this period: a late audit invoice, a one-time true-up, a catch-up across locked months. There is nothing useful to reuse next month. Use a recurring journal entry when the amount is fixed and you want a draft generated on a calendar without anyone clicking Run. Recurring templates generate on the schedule you set. Accrual templates do not generate on their own. Use an amortization schedule when the amount was already paid and you are spreading a prepaid balance forward, not accruing a cost that has not been billed yet.

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Verify

The accrual is ready for close when all of these hold:
  • The accrual appears on the Active tab of Accounting → Transactions → Accruals.
  • After you run it, Related Records lists the new journal entry, and that entry’s Related Records tab shows the reversal when you set a reversal date.
  • The journal entry appears on the Posted tab of Journal Entries (or Pending Approval if a workflow matched).
  • The GL Impact tab on the entry shows the expense (or revenue) and accrued liability (or accrued revenue) accounts, and no line on the A/P control account if you ran the accrual after an A/P cutoff.
  • A second run in the next period creates a second linked entry. The first entry is unchanged.

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Troubleshooting

Most problems on an accrual come down to balancing the template, dates on Run, or the same posting rules that apply to any journal entry.
Last modified on October 6, 2026