April 2022

Then, come January, you want to record your rent expense for the month. You’ll move January’s portion of the prepaid rent from an asset to an expense. Suppose in February you hire a contract worker to help you out with your tote bags. In March, when you pay the invoice, you move the money from accrued expenses to cash, as a withdrawal from your bank account. Types and examples of adjusting entries: According to the matching concept, the revenue of the current year must be matched against all the expenses of the current year that were incurred to produce the revenue. After preparing all necessary adjusting entries, they are either posted to the relevant ledger accounts or directly added to the unadjusted trial balance to convert it into an adjusted trial balance. Adjusting entries requires updates to specific account types at the end of the period. When you generate revenue in one accounting period, but don’t recognize it until a later period, you need to make an accrued revenue adjustment. To get started, though, check out our guide to small business depreciation. Depreciation expense and accumulated depreciation will need to be posted in order to properly expense the useful life of any fixed asset. Deferred revenue is used when your company receives a payment in advance of work that has not been completed. This can often be the case for professional firms that work on a retainer, such as a law firm or CPA firm. In all the examples in this article, we shall assume that the adjusting entries are made at the end of each month. Step 3: Recording deferred revenue Even though you’re paid now, you need to make sure the revenue is recorded in the month you perform the service and actually incur the prepaid expenses. After you prepare your initial trial balance, you can prepare and post your adjusting entries, later running an adjusted trial balance after the journal entries have been posted to your general ledger. The purpose of adjusting entries is to ensure that your financial statements will reflect accurate data. Adjusting entries, also called adjusting journal entries, are journal entries made at the end of a period to correct accounts before financial statements are made. Fees earned from providing services and the amounts of merchandise sold. Step 2: Recording accrued expenses Payroll is the most common expense that will need an adjusting entry at the end of the month, particularly if you pay your employees bi-weekly. Revenue must be accrued, otherwise revenue totals would be significantly understated, particularly in comparison to expenses for the period. His firm does a great deal of business consulting, with some consulting jobs taking months. Now that all of Paul’s AJEs are made in his accounting system, he can record them on the accounting worksheet and prepare an adjusted trial balance. In other words, we are dividing income and expenses into the amounts that were used in the current period and deferring the amounts that are going to be used in future periods. If you have a bookkeeper, you don’t need to worry about making your own adjusting entries, or referring to them while preparing financial statements. In August, you record that money in accounts receivable—as income you’re expecting to receive. Then, in September, you record the money as cash deposited in your bank account. If you don’t, your financial statements will reflect an abnormally high rental expense in January, followed by no rental expenses at all for the following months. Shaun Conrad is a Certified Public Accountant and CPA exam expert with a passion for teaching. After almost a decade of experience in public accounting, he created MyAccountingCourse.com to help people learn accounting & finance, pass the CPA exam, and start their career. 11 Financial is a registered investment adviser located in Lufkin, Texas. 11 Financial may only transact business in those states in which it is registered, or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration requirements. 11 Financial’s website is limited to the dissemination of general information pertaining to its advisory services, together with access to additional investment-related information, publications, and links. These expenses are often recorded at the end of period because they are usually calculated on a period basis. This also relates to the matching principle where the assets are used during the year and written off after they are used. Accrued expenses and accrued revenues – Many times companies will incur expenses but won’t have to pay for them until the next month. Recall that unearned revenue represents a customer’s advanced payment for a product or service that has yet to be provided by the company. Since the company has not yet provided the product or service, it cannot recognize the customer’s payment as revenue. At the end of a period, the company will review the account to see if any of the unearned revenue has been earned. It is normal to make entries in the accounting records on a cash basis (i.e., revenues and expenses actually received and paid). The two examples of adjusting entries have focused on expenses, but adjusting entries also involve revenues. This will be discussed later when we prepare adjusting journal entries. Deferrals refer to revenues and expenses that have been received or paid in advance, respectively, and have been recorded, but have not yet been earned or used. Unearned revenue, for instance, accounts for money received for goods not yet delivered. As an example, assume a construction company begins construction in one period but does not invoice the customer until the work is complete in six months. Comprehensive Guide to Inventory Accounting Similarly, for the company’s balance sheet on December 31 to be accurate, it must report a liability for the interest owed as of the balance sheet date. An adjusting entry is needed so that December’s interest expense is included on December’s income statement and the interest due as of December 31 is included on the December 31 balance sheet. The adjusting entry will debit Interest Expense and credit