# Accruals

Most publications have fiscal periods that end on the same date as a billing period (often the last day of the month). Because it is necessary to do an account billing run in order to update general ledger accounts, a fiscal period that does not end with a billing period creates a challenge.

In these cases, you should run the Accruals option to force a “premature” billing run, so that GL accounts can be updated for reporting purposes. However, it will also create reversal transactions on the following day. When the real billing run takes place, the transactions placed in the GL will be canceled out by the reversal transactions—except for the transactions that took place *between* the accrual billing run and the real billing run, and which were therefore not reversed.

For example, suppose the fiscal period ends on February 5, but the account billing period ends on January 31. On January 31, an account billing run would take place, and the GL accounts would be updated for reporting. Then, on February 5, accruals would be run, creating GL transactions for February 1-5. Reverse transactions (dated February 6) would also be created, so that when account billing is run on February 28, the entire month of February will be billed.

![](/files/K60PCb29e0CJbbviouv4)

For more information about account billing runs, see [Selection](/circulation-user-manual/accounting/account-billing-menu/selection.md). 

Performing an account accruals run involves the following steps:

1. Set up a date for the accruals billing run by selecting Setup | Accounting | Account Billing | Accrual Calendar (in the character interface). The date should be the date on which you run your accruals. Be sure the date is set for the correct bill source code (the one for which you are doing accruals). See Accrual Calendar in the Setup Manual for details about the Accrual Calendar. Note: This is the only step performed in the character interface. The remainder of the steps are performed in the Graphical Accounting module.
2. Open an accrual billing run by selecting Account Accruals | Selection in the Graphical Accounting module. You will be able to enter only those dates that are set up in the Accrual Calendar.
3. Process the billing in Account Accruals | Processing.
4. Optionally, run the Accrual Journal (Account Accruals | Accrual Journal) so that you can preview the information that will be sent to the General Ledger and Undo the accrual processing, if necessary.
5. Run Create Accruals (Account Accruals | Create Accruals) to create the GL entries and complete the accrual process.
6. If it is necessary to reverse the accruals (because mistakes were made), select Undo Accruals.

## Accrual Selection

To open an account accruals run:

1. Choose **Selection** from the Account Accruals menu. The Account Accrual Selection window appears, showing all of the open runs, both accrual and billing.<br>

   <div data-gb-custom-block data-tag="hint" data-style="warning" class="hint hint-warning"><p><strong>Note:</strong> <em>Before running Account Accruals, all Account Billing runs scheduled on or before the accruals run date must be completed.</em></p><p><em>If an unclosed Account Billing exists for a date that is the same as or earlier than the accruals run date, the following error message is displayed and the accruals run does not proceed: "Billing is scheduled for MM/DD/YYYY but has not been completed. Billing must be completed if scheduled before Accruals are run for a date greater than or equal to the Billing Date."</em></p><p><em>Ensure that all relevant Account Billing runs are closed before running Accruals for the specified date.</em></p></div>

   ![](/files/3YTa7jfV7ikzHDhevcgS)

2. Click **Add** and complete the following fields:<br>

   <table><thead><tr><th width="159">Field</th><th width="109.14592658907787">Type</th><th width="370.2">What to enter</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>COMPANY</td><td>setup</td><td>Enter the company ID for the group of accounts being selected.</td></tr><tr><td>ALL ACCTS</td><td>display</td><td>All accounts will be selected.</td></tr><tr><td>BILL SOURCE</td><td>setup</td><td>Enter the bill source for the group of accounts being selected.</td></tr><tr><td>BILL DATE</td><td>date</td><td>Enter the billing date for the group of accounts being selected. This date must be specified as a billing date in the accrual calendar (see Accrual Calendar in the Setup Manual).</td></tr><tr><td>NEXT BILL DATE</td><td>date</td><td>The next billing date, based on the accrual calendar for the bill source entered, is displayed.</td></tr><tr><td>BILL PRD (period)</td><td>setup</td><td>Enter the billing period to include in this selection. The bill period determines what charges are included in the accrual billing. Enter “*” for a multi-select window. See <a href="/pages/kpH8WEH0GJeB2JXqFe0w#about-bill-periods">About Bill Periods</a> for more information about bill periods.</td></tr><tr><td>ADV PRD (advanced bill period)</td><td>setup</td><td>Enter the advance billing period(s) if some of these accounts are set up to be billed in advance.</td></tr><tr><td>DESCRIPTION</td><td>open (30)</td><td>Enter a description of the group of accounts being selected for accrual billing.</td></tr><tr><td>STATUS</td><td>display</td><td>This field displays the status of the billing run. See <a href="/pages/VQhK26aBfqImZuaLffhw">Billing Run Status</a> for an explanation of the various statuses.</td></tr></tbody></table>

3. Click **OK** to finish the selection.

4. Click **Accept** and then **Continue** to exit the window.

## Accrual Processing

To process an account accruals run:

1. Choose **Processing** from the Account Accruals menu. The Account Accrual Processing window appears, showing all of the account accrual selections that are ready to be processed.<br>

   ![](/files/xdmzbj3ZxBoQqGFtiab5)
2. To process a selection, select the **Process** checkbox next to the selection and click **Continue**.

## Accrual Journal

To run the Accrual Journal:

1. Select **Accrual Journal** from the Account Accruals menu. The Account Accrual Journal window appears, showing the processed account accruals that can be selected.<br>

   ![](/files/05efHwqdaDu7KDtSilSj)
2. Select the **Process** checkbox next to the accrual run for which you want to generate the journal.
3. Enter the following sort parameters:<br>

   <table><thead><tr><th width="150">Field</th><th width="150">Type</th><th width="372.2">What to enter</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>SORT ORDER</td><td>predefined</td><td>Indicate whether the Accrual Journal should be sorted by <em>account, account group, area, depot, district, name, region, route, truck,</em> or <em>zone</em>. You can also sort by <em>publication</em> and then district, zone, region, or area.</td></tr><tr><td>TRUCK SEQUENCE</td><td>setup</td><td>If the sort order is by truck, enter the truck sequence in which you want the journal to print. The truck sequence is the pattern that describes which routes are dropped from which trucks on a given day. Examples are “daily” and “Sunday”.</td></tr><tr><td>TRUCK DEPARTURE</td><td>setup</td><td>Enter the truck departure sequence in which you want the journal to print when the sort order is “Truck.” The departure sequence is the departure pattern trucks follow on a given day, for example “City” or “Monday”.</td></tr></tbody></table>
4. Click **Continue** to produce the journal.

## Undo Accrual Processing

Use this option when you need to reverse the accrual processing for any reason.

1. Select **Undo Processing** from the Account Accruals menu. The Undo Account Accrual Processing window appears, showing the processed account accruals that can be selected.<br>

   ![](/files/QnZabKhpv0A2LTbWrWNn)
2. Select the **Process** checkbox next to the accrual process you want to undo.
3. Click **Continue** to undo the accrual process.

## Create Accruals

Use this option to create the GL entries and complete the accrual process.

1. Select **Create Accruals** from the Account Accruals menu. The Account Accruals window appears.<br>

   ![](/files/AsFWqGmahGRhZmA7SThC)
2. Select the **Process** checkbox next to the accrual process for which you want to create accruals.
3. Click **Continue** to create the accruals.

## Undo Accruals

Use this option to undo the Create Accruals process.

1. Select **Undo Accruals** from the Account Accruals menu. The Account Accruals window appears.<br>

   ![](/files/UbwjCxDX6T7CsmVaVbt1)
2. Select the **Process** checkbox next to the accruals you want to undo.
3. Click **Continue** to undo the accruals.


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