Accrual basis w/Quickbooks - how to enter bill so expense is reflected in correct month?

Ted Monohon VP -Finance / Controller • June 12, 2012

My recollection is that QB does not allow a different expense date and your two methods on how to deal with that are the only options.

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Sarah Jackson Associate Editor • April 24, 2016

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Karen Adams Owner • June 12, 2012

If you have an actual invoice keep the date as 4/30 to record in proper period but manually change the due date to correspond with the actual date of the invoice. I also recommend incorporating the actual invoice date in the invoice# field so that you know why the due date may not appear correct based on posted invoice date. All QB versions I'm familiar with allow for the manual entry of the due date when you enter an invoice.

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Joseph D'Urso Controller • June 10, 2016

I use this same approach at my company and it works very well. Expenses get recorded in the proper period, and the integrity of the A/P aging is maintained.

Christine McKay Controller/Finance • June 12, 2012

If you have already closed the month of April then dating the invoice as 4/30 will cause your April financial statement to change. If that does not matter then accrue the expense in April and reverse the entry in May. Enter the invoice in May with the actual invoice date so it will age appropriately. The expense will be in April and your invoice entered in May will be cleared from the reversal entry. QB has a reverse option at the make journal entry function. AP accruals are common especially for invoices not received by month end. Keep a list of those which are typical accruals such as utility bills, freight invoices, rent, and sometimes common area maintenance, etc.

Hope this helps!

Barrett Peterson Senior Manager, Actg Stnds & Analysis • June 12, 2012

You have your two options above: record with a April 30 posting date, and change the due date, or accrue with automatic reversal, and record the invoice in May. For the occasional item, the former may be more practical. For more frequent occurences, the latter may be more efficient.

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Anonymous Founder • July 19, 2017

I've joined this nonprofit last month (in Q3) without handover with previous controller.

Since beginning of the FY, insurance invoices have been recorded as he noted above - by invoice date not the actual month of coverage.

Moving forward in Q4 I'm adjusting invoice date as noted in this thread.

For past 3 quarters, can I go back and make adjustments to the invoice dates to accurately reflect month of coverage? She hadn't reconciled the bank from beginning of year or "officially" closed out any months, however, we did report to 2 grants already.

Please advise. Or you think I do a end of FY adjusting entries instead?

Thank you,

Katherine Simmonds Agent • January 23, 2013

I enter the posting date of the last date of the month that the expense needs to be matched to as others have suggested. I also change the due date. However, in the description line next to the amount I state the original invoice date and that the expense was a "name the month" expense so that others know what was done when looking at the bill.

I really wish Quickbooks would figure out a way to handle this.

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les Ordway Financial Consultant - collateral auditor • April 29, 2014

Agreed! One solution is for QB to track two dates...Posting Date and Document Date. The Posting date would default to the Document date. If the Document date is in a period which has been closed (i.e. arrived late) then the posting date would default to the 1st of the new month. The aging reports would age based on document date and only include transactions posted on or before the aging report date (so that the aging report totals match the trial balance).

Anonymous Founder • July 19, 2017

I've joined this nonprofit last month (in Q3) without handover with previous controller.

Since beginning of the FY, insurance invoices have been recorded as he noted above - by invoice date not the actual month of coverage.

Moving forward in Q4 I'm adjusting invoice date as noted in this thread.

For past 3 quarters, can I go back and make adjustments to the invoice dates to accurately reflect month of coverage? She hadn't reconciled the bank from beginning of year or "officially" closed out any months, however, we did report to 2 grants already.

Please advise. Or you think I do a end of FY adjusting entries instead?

Thank you,

Anonymous Agent • January 27, 2013

A. When you enter a "Bill" (the AP invoice), the invoice date will be used for the accrual expense. In the accrual basis report the transaction will appear with "Bill" next to the invoice date.

B. When you "Pay Bills", the payment date is used as the cash basis transaction date. In the cash basis report the transaction will appear with "Bill" next to the payment date.

While it seems that QB is set up to report both cash basis and accrual basis reports, Intuit has made it very clear that cash basis may not be actually cash basis as defined by accounting standards or tax basis methods of accounting.

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Jaime Campbell Chief Financial Officer • August 26, 2013

Simplest solution: Yes, keep using the April 30 date on the bill. Enter the due date as appropriate and adjust your settings so that your aging reports are based on the due date, not the bill date:
Edit>Preferences>Reports & Graphs>Company Preferences>Age from due date

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Anonymous Founder • July 19, 2017

I've joined this nonprofit last month (in Q3) without handover with previous controller.

Since beginning of the FY, insurance invoices have been recorded as he noted above - by invoice date not the actual month of coverage.

Moving forward in Q4 I'm adjusting invoice date as noted in this thread.

For past 3 quarters, can I go back and make adjustments to the invoice dates to accurately reflect month of coverage? She hadn't reconciled the bank from beginning of year or "officially" closed out any months, however, we did report to 2 grants already.

Please advise. Or you think I do a end of FY adjusting entries instead?

Thank you,

Anonymous Sr. Manager, Accounting & Finance • June 13, 2016

This feature isn't available because you are describing the exact use of an accrual. If the company is purchasing an item or having work performed, they should have a purchase order or quote (prefer not to exceed) that has the purchase price (accrual amount)/

Accrual basis w/Quickbooks - how to enter bill so expense is reflected in correct month?

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