What Is Accrue?

To accrue means to accumulate over time—most commonly used when referring to the interest, income, or expenses of an individual or business. Interest in a savings account, for example, accrues over time, such that the total amount in that account grows. The term accrue is often related to accrual accounting, which has become the standard accounting practice for most companies.

How Accrue Works

When something financial accrues, it essentially builds up to be paid or received in a future period. Both assets and liabilities can accrue over time. The term “accrue,” when related to finance, is synonymous with an “accrual” under the accounting method outlined by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

An accrual is an accounting adjustment used to track and record revenues that have been earned but not received, or expenses that have been incurred but not paid. Think of accrued entries as the opposite of unearned entries—with accrued entries, the corresponding financial event has already taken place but payment has not been made or received.

Accepted and mandatory accruals are decided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which controls interpretations of GAAP. Accruals can include accounts payable, accounts receivable, goodwill, future tax liability, and future interest expense. 

Special Considerations

The accrual accounting procedure measures the performance and position of a company by recognizing economic events regardless of when cash transactions occur, giving a better picture of the company’s financial health and causing asset or liability adjustments to “build up” over time.

This is in contrast to the cash method of accounting where revenues and expenses are recorded when the funds are actually paid or received, leaving out revenue based on credit and future liabilities. Cash-based accounting does not require adjustments.

While some very small or new businesses use cash accounting, companies normally prefer the accrual accounting method. Accrual accounting gives a far better picture of a company’s financial situation than cost accounting because it records not only the company’s current finances but also future transactions.

If a company sold $100 worth of product on credit in January, for example, it would want to record that $100 in January under the accrual accounting method rather than wait until the cash is actually received, which may take months or may even become a bad debt.

Types of Accrues

 All accruals fall into one of two categories—either revenue or expense accrual.

Accrued Revenue

Revenue accruals represent income or assets (including non-cash-based ones) yet to be received. These accruals occur when a good or service has been sold by a company, but the payment for it has not been made by the customer. Companies with large amounts of credit card transactions usually have high levels of accounts receivable and high levels of accrued revenue.

Assume that Company ABC hires Consulting Firm XYZ to help on a project that is estimated to take three months to complete. The fee for this job is $150,000, to be paid upon completion. While ABC owes XYZ $50,000 after each monthly milestone, the total fee accrues over the duration of the project instead of being paid in installments.

Accrued Expense

Whenever a business recognizes an expense before it is actually paid, it can make an accrual entry in its general ledger. The expense may also be listed as accrued in the balance sheet and charged against income in the income statement. Common types of accrued expense include:

• Interest expense accruals—these occur when a owes monthly interest on debt prior to receiving the monthly invoice.
• Supplier accruals—these happen if a company receives a good or service from a supplier on credit and plans to pay the supplier at a later date.
• Wage or salary accruals—these expenses happen when a company pays employees prior to the end of the month for a full month of work.

Interest, taxes and other payments sometimes need to be put into accrued entries whenever unpaid obligations should be recognized in the financial statements. Otherwise, the operating expenses for a certain period might be understated, which would result in net income being overstated.

Salaries are accrued whenever a workweek does not neatly correspond with monthly financial reports and payroll. For example, a payroll date may fall on Jan. 28. If employees have to work on January 29, 30, or 31, those workdays still count toward the January operating expenses. Current payroll has not yet accounted for those salary expenses, so an accrued salary account is used.

There are different rationales for accruing specific expenses. The general purpose of an accrual account is to match expenses with the accounting period during which they were incurred. Accrued expenses are also effective in predicting the amount of expenses the company can expect to see in the future.

What Is an Allowance for Bad Debt?

An allowance for bad debt is a valuation account used to estimate the amount of a firm’s receivables that may ultimately be uncollectible. It is also known as an allowance for doubtful accounts. When a borrower defaults on a loan, the allowance for bad debt account and the loan receivable balance are both reduced for the book value of the loan.

How an Allowance for Bad Debt Works

Lenders use an allowance for bad debt because the face value of a firm’s total accounts receivable is not the actual balance that is ultimately collected. Ultimately, a portion of the receivables will not be paid. When a customer never pays the principal or interest amount due on a receivable, the business must eventually write it off entirely.

Methods of Estimating an Allowance for Bad Debt

There are two primary ways to calculate the allowance for bad debt. One method is based on sales, while the other is based on accounts receivable.

Sales Method

The sales method estimates the bad debt allowance as a percentage of credit sales as they occur. Suppose that a firm makes $1,000,000 in credit sales but knows from experience that 1.5% never pay. Then, the sales method estimate of the allowance for bad debt would be $15,000.

Accounts Receivable Method

The accounts receivable method is considerably more sophisticated and takes advantage of the aging of receivables to provide better estimates of the allowance for bad debts. The basic idea is that the longer a debt goes unpaid, the more likely it is that the debt will never pay. In this case, perhaps only 1% of initial sales would be added to the allowance for bad debt.

However, 10% of receivables that had not paid after 30 days might be added to the allowance for bad debt. After 90 days, it could rise to 50%. Finally, the debts might be written off after one year.

Requirements for an Allowance for Bad Debt

According to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the main requirement for an allowance for bad debt is that it accurately reflects the firm’s collections history. If $2,100 out of $100,000 in credit sales did not pay last year, then 2.1% is a suitable sales method estimate of the allowance for bad debt this year. This estimation process is easy when the firm has been operating for a few years. New businesses must use industry averages, rules of thumb, or numbers from another business.

Default Considerations

When a lender confirms that a specific loan balance is in default, the company reduces the allowance for doubtful accounts balance. It also reduces the loan receivable balance, because the loan default is no longer simply part of a bad debt estimate.

Adjustment Considerations

The allowance for bad debt always reflects the current balance of loans that are expected to default, and the balance is adjusted over time to show that balance. Suppose that a lender estimates $2 million of the loan balance is at risk of default, and the allowance account already has a $1 million balance. Then, the adjusting entry to bad debt expense and the increase to the allowance account is an additional $1 million.

What Is an Account Number?

An account number is a unique string of numbers and, sometimes, letters and other characters that identify the owner of an account and grant access to it. In the U.S., the Social Security number was the primary identifier until its vulnerability to identity theft forced the practice to be abandoned. In today’s electronic age, the most important account number for many people is the checking account number.

How an Account Number Works

The checking account number is located at the bottom of the paper check. You’ll see three sets of numbers in a computer-readable font at the bottom of the check:

• The first number on the left is the nine-digit bank routing number.
• The middle number is your account number.
• The third number is the number of the check.

Payroll processing offices use checking account numbers to set up direct deposit payments for employees.

In addition to checks, account numbers are attached to just about any transaction a consumer or business can make. Sales receipts, subscription services, credit card accounts, and store club memberships all have them.

Protecting Account Numbers

Identification numbers, in addition to passwords, are vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. This is why we have to answer annoying questions about our mothers’ maiden names when we try to make routine changes to an account. The means of making it difficult for hackers to steal account numbers currently are taking the form of password managers along with multi-factor authentication systems.

Modern businesses now often employ a hard-to-hack master password to unlock an electronic vault of customers’ account numbers and other sensitive data. Consumers are becoming accustomed to multifactor authentication, which adds another step before accessing an account, such as a fingerprint, voice activation, or a time-sensitive code sent to the cellphone number on record.

These are just some of the means of protecting users’ account numbers in an increasingly vulnerable online environment.

Account Number vs. Routing Number

On a paper check, the nine-digit routing number identifies specific financial institutions within the U.S. The number identifies the check as having been issued by a federal- or state-chartered bank that maintains an account with the Federal Reserve.

This system dates back to 1910 and was developed initially as a way to help bank clerks sort through piles of checks and assign them to the correct drawer. Today, electronic services use them in much the same way for wire transfers, to draw a payment from a deposit at the correct institution.

The account number works together with the routing number to identify the right account holder at the right institution.

How to Locate Your Account Number

You can find your account number on your monthly bank statement, or by visiting a branch of your bank.

If you are using a checking account, the account number is also printed on your paper checks. You can find it printed between the bank’s routing number and the check number, as shown below.

The Bottom Line

An account number is a unique identifier for each account at a bank or other financial institution that you have. Along with the routing number, this number is used to make payments and deposits. Due to the increase in identity theft and fraud, it is important to protect your account number and other banking information.

What Is an Automatic Bill Payment?

An automatic bill payment is a money transfer scheduled on a predetermined date to pay a recurring bill. Automatic bill payments are routine payments made from a banking, brokerage, or mutual fund account to vendors.

Automatic payments are usually set up with the company receiving the payment, though it’s also possible to schedule automatic payments through a checking account’s online bill pay service. Automatic bill payments occur over an electronic payment system, such as the Automated Clearing House (ACH).

How an Automatic Bill Payment Works

Automatic bill payments can be scheduled for all types of payment transactions. This can include installment loans, auto loans, mortgage loans, credit card bills, electric bills, cable bills, and more. These payments can be automated quite easily from a checking account.

Setting up automatic bill payment involves making arrangements with the bank holding the checking account to make the exact payment each month. The set of instructions is typically created online by the account holder. More frequently, this power is given to the vendor (the utility company, for example) to charge the checking account for whatever amount is owed that particular month. In both cases, the individual paying the bill must initiate the automatic bill payment and provide the necessary information required to make automated recurring payments.

Example of an Automatic Bill Payment

Automatic payments save consumers the hassle of having to remember to make a payment month after month. They can also help consumers avoid late payments.

For example, suppose you have a $300 car payment due on the 10th of every month for the next 60 months. Instead of logging into your online account with the auto loan company to schedule the same payment each month, you could set up automatic payments one time and agree to have $300 automatically transferred from your checking account to the auto loan company on the fifth day of each month. This way, you know your payment will never be late, and you’ll avoid the trouble of doing the same task each month. You’ll also improve—or maintain—a good credit score.

Disadvantages of Automatic Bill Payments

Automatic payments have a couple of potential downsides. If you forget about your scheduled automatic payments and do not maintain a cushion in your checking account, an automatic payment could bounce. Not only will your bill remain unpaid but you might also incur a returned payment fee from the company you were trying to pay, as well as a late fee for missing the due date. And automatic payments aren’t infallible. You still need to check regularly to make sure your scheduled payments have gone through as expected.

Another problem can occur when you authorize automatic payments that vary in amount. For example, suppose you set up automatic payments of your credit card bill from your checking account. If you don’t look at your credit card bill when it arrives, you might have an ugly surprise when it’s automatically paid in a much higher amount than you expected because of a mistake or fraud—or because you simply didn’t realize how much you had spent.

Automatic payments can also be difficult to cancel. Additionally, consumers might forget about certain automatic payments and continue to pay for services that they no longer want.