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As of May 31, you have not received an invoice from the company for the office cleaning, nor has the bill been paid. If you don’t have an exact total, you’ll need to estimate the expense.Īs an example, on May 1, you contract with a cleaning company to clean your office four times a month. Your accrual should always reflect the amount due when possible. Goods received prior to receiving an invoice from the supplier.Services received prior to receiving an invoice from the vendor.Sales commissions earned in the current month that will not be paid until the following month.Wages and related expenses for employees who have not yet been paid.Here are a few expenses that should be accrued at the end of an accounting period: Journal entry : Journal entries record the financial transactions of your business into the general ledger.There are three basic financial statements that should be run after each accounting period: balance sheet, income statement (profit & loss statement), and cash flow statement. Financial statements : Financial statements report on the financial performance of your business and are used internally and externally.Expenses: Expenses are the cost of doing business and are necessary in order to earn revenue.Accrual accounting: Accrual accounting records transactions when they occur, rather than when money changes hands.Accounts payable: Accounts payable is the money you owe vendors and suppliers for goods and services purchased on credit.An accounting period can be one month, a quarter, or one year, depending on your business. Accounting period: A specific period of time that is covered by financial statements.To better understand accrued expenses, it may be helpful to become familiar with the following accounting terms: Overview: What is an accrued expense?Īs a small business owner, you need to account for any incurred expenses that have not yet been invoiced or paid, and you do this by accruing expenses. Both the matching principle and the expense recognition principle are core components of the accrual method of accounting. In order to accrue expenses, you must be using the accrual method of accounting, which records revenue and expenses when they occur. To ensure that period-ending reporting is accurate, accrued expenses need to be recorded prior to running financial statements. To report expenses in the correct accounting period, you may have to accrue certain expenses and use the accrual method.Īccrued expenses are expenses incurred that have not yet been paid. An accrued expense is one that has been recognized but has not yet been paid.
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