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If I booked accrual expenses more or less than the actual one, how to record ?

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Question added by abdelrahman altayib , Supply Chain coordinator , Hikma Pharmaceuticals
Date Posted: 2015/04/09
Kaushal Hemani
by Kaushal Hemani , Associate General Manager-Internal Audit , Welspun Corp Limited

If the books of that particular month is already closed, then reverse the provision in the subsequent month and book the actual one. In this case the impact of earlier period shall be in the current period.

Mohammed Shahid Ullah
by Mohammed Shahid Ullah , Executive Director (Finance) , Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited

At first accrual expenses will be debited. If actual actual expenses less then accrual expenses, retained earning/actual expenses will be credited & equal amount of accrual expenses will paid i.e. cash/bank account credited. In other side if actual expenses more then accrual expenses, accrual expenses debited and difference of accrual & actual expenses will debited and total amount of expenses will be paid i.e. cash/bank credited.

Podiyan Sudarsanan
by Podiyan Sudarsanan , Finance Controller - Logistics , GAC

Reverse if booked excess and book the difference if accrued short.

OWAIS QAZI
by OWAIS QAZI , Accounts & Finance Manager , Skyhigh Industries (Pvt) Ltd.

Simple. if you have recorded less accrual then make an entry in which raise your expense with the difference amount doing Debit and Credit the accrual account with the difference amount.

 

if record more accrual expense, the aforesaid entry will be in reverse order.

Usman Ahmed
by Usman Ahmed , Quality Control & Marketing Manager , Damascus Copper Knife Industry

As a small business owner, you understand the importance of producing accurate financial statements by matching revenue and expenses during the relevant time period. For example, you know that if you purchase supplies for a job in April that your customer does not pay for until May, your expenses in April appear greater than they should. You are therefore diligent about accruing expenses and revenue in the accounting period during which they were incurred, regardless of when the money changes hands. Your accruals are often based on a fixed fee, such as rent or a purchase order you have not yet posted, so you can accrue the exact amount. At times, however, you will have a situation in which the actual amount does not equal your accrual. Handling the discrepancy is seldom difficult.

 

About Accruals

You accrue income and expenses by recording a journal entry rather than the actual sale or invoice. The normal way to do this is to record an amount to the proper income or expense account, with the offset to an accrued liability or accrued revenue account. This places the activity in the accounting period during which the activity occurred. When you are ready to post the actual transaction, such as when you receive the actual invoice from the vendor, you typically reverse the journal entry and post the actual transaction.

Alternative Accounting Methods

If you use the cash method of accounting, you do not make accruals; under the cash method, you record activity when money changes hands. However, if you maintain an inventory, the Internal Revenue Service requires you to either use the accrual method of accounting or a hybrid method in which you use the accrual method for sales and expenses, but are free to use the cash method to account for other revenue, overhead and other assets.

 

Reversing Accruals

The first method of recording a difference between the accrued and actual amounts is to reverse the prior month's accrual in the current month. If your software has the capability, and you posted your journal entry to reverse automatically, your computer performs this reversal as soon as you close the previous month. All you need to do is post the actual amount of the transaction. It is also acceptable to leave the accrual in place and not reverse it. If you choose this method, you will post the actual transaction by recording the amount you accrued directly to the accrued liability account and the discrepancy to the proper income statement or balance sheet account. The disadvantage of this method is that it does not provide as clear a picture of what transpired as if you reverse the accrual in full and post the transaction in full.

Example

You received a shipment of office supplies. Based on your purchase order, you accrued the amount you estimated the vendor would invoice you, $250. When you receive the invoice, you realize that the price reflects a special price on one item that results in the invoice being $20 less than you had expected. If you reversed the accrual, just post the actual invoice. If you did not reverse the accrual, credit office supplies for $20, debit accrued expenses for $250 and credit accounts payable for $230.

Material Discrepancy

Rarely, you might discover a discrepancy that has a material impact on your prior month's financial statements. Most software packages allow you to reopen a prior period, post the correcting entry, and then run your financial statements again. Materiality depends on the nature and profitability of your business. For example, if your total profit for the month was $200, an expense overstated by $100 is material. If your total profit was $12,000, the discrepancy is not material.

Reopening a closed period carries the potential for complications and confusion, especially if you have already distributed financial reports and must now issue revised copies. Therefore, use this correction only if it is absolutely necessary.

                                                                      

Dr Accrued expense     xxx                          Dr  Expense        xxx       

       Cr Expense                    xxx                              Cr Accrued Expense    xxx

To record the Accruals                                  To record the actual expense

 

Ahmed kandil
by Ahmed kandil , Cost Controller , Battour Holding Cpompany

agree with all previous answers 

Tawfiq Nabeel Tawfiq  Abdulaal
by Tawfiq Nabeel Tawfiq Abdulaal , Group Chief Financial Officer , Ritaj Investment / Holding Group

You have to determine the actual and correct expense based on occurrence of event or received service or product, therefore if you overstated the accruals or understated the accruals it is not correct and the correction if

During the same month you discovered that it is so easy to reverse  the journal entry and book the correct one.

If you discovered that on next month and already that month / period you may book an adjusting entry in open period.

 

If this discovered in different financial year subsequent to year end and audit still not yet issued your annual financial you are welcome to adjust that year if it is material amount.

MUJTABA GHARADE
by MUJTABA GHARADE , Accountant , ANAM AND ASSOCIATES (Chartered Accountants)

expenses  debit

expenses payable credit

lakshminarasimham mallareddi
by lakshminarasimham mallareddi , Manager Finance & Accounts , M/s. Vandana Global Limited, Raipur, Chhattisgarh

by Journal Voucher entry if it cannot be route through ledger

Wajahat Hussain
by Wajahat Hussain , Accounts Officer , Samra Enterprises

These expenses are recorded as Payable/ Advance

i.e. Salaries Dr and Salaries Payable Cr 

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