---
name: accruals-schedule-builder
description: "Builds a period-end accruals schedule from expense inputs, producing line-by-line accrual amounts, debit/credit account coding, calculation basis, reversal timing, and supporting rationale for each entry. Use when preparing month-end or quarter-end accruals, documenting accrual estimates for review or audit, or standardizing an accruals workpaper."
argument-hint: "[period] [expense-inputs]"
allowed-tools: ["Read"]
---

# Accruals Schedule Builder

## Purpose
Convert a list of unbilled or partially incurred expenses into a review-ready accruals schedule — with calculated amounts, GL account coding, calculation basis, and reversal timing for each line — so the close is defensible, consistent, and fast to review.

## When to Use
Invoke this skill when the user asks to:
- Build a month-end or quarter-end accruals schedule
- Calculate accruals for expenses incurred but not yet invoiced
- Document accrual estimates for manager review or external audit
- Standardize an accruals workpaper across periods
- Determine accrual amounts and the accounts to book them against
- Prepare accrual journal entries with supporting rationale

## Inputs Required
Before starting, collect:
- **Period being closed**: Month/quarter and period-end date
- **Expense items to accrue**: List of vendors/services/categories with any known amounts, contract values, or run-rates
- **Basis available per item**: Invoice pending, contract/PO, prior-period actuals, run-rate estimate, or usage data
- **Chart of accounts references**: Expense account and accrued liability account naming/numbering convention in use
- **Accounting basis**: Accrual (GAAP) or other; monthly reversing vs. specific-reversal preference
- **Materiality threshold**: Minimum dollar amount worth accruing (to avoid immaterial clutter)
- **Known one-offs**: Bonuses, severance, legal, true-ups, or non-recurring items for this period

If the chart of accounts convention or materiality threshold is missing, use standard expense/accrued-liability pairings and a default $500 threshold, and note the assumption.

## Instructions

### Step 1: Classify Each Expense by Accrual Type
Sort every input item into one of these types, which drives the calculation method:
- **Invoice-pending accruals**: Goods/services received, invoice not yet arrived. Accrue the expected invoice amount.
- **Recurring/run-rate accruals**: Predictable ongoing costs (utilities, SaaS, rent overages). Accrue based on prior-period actuals or contract monthly rate.
- **Usage-based accruals**: Costs tied to consumption (cloud, telecom, hourly contractors). Accrue based on usage data × rate.
- **Time-proportion accruals**: Costs spanning the period boundary (annual fees, insurance). Accrue the portion earned/consumed within the period.
- **Estimate accruals**: No firm figure available (legal, bonuses, professional fees). Accrue a documented best estimate with the estimation logic stated.

### Step 2: Calculate the Accrual Amount per Line
For each item, apply the method for its type and show the calculation basis explicitly:
- **Invoice-pending**: expected invoice value; if a PO exists, use PO amount less any portion already invoiced
- **Run-rate**: (prior-period actual or contract monthly rate) × applicable fraction of period
- **Usage-based**: units consumed × unit rate
- **Time-proportion**: total cost × (days in period / total days covered)
- **Estimate**: stated inputs (headcount, hours, %-complete) × rate, with the assumption named

Exclude any item below the materiality threshold and flag it as intentionally omitted.

### Step 3: Assign GL Account Coding
For each accrual, specify the double entry:
- **Debit**: the relevant expense account (mapped to the provided chart of accounts)
- **Credit**: the accrued liabilities account (or a sub-account if the convention separates payroll accruals, vendor accruals, etc.)
- Use the client's account numbers/names where provided; where absent, use a clear descriptive account name and flag it for mapping

### Step 4: Set Reversal Timing
For each line, state when and how the accrual unwinds:
- **Auto-reversing** (default for invoice-pending and run-rate): reverses on the first day of the next period; actual invoice is then booked normally
- **Specific-reversal**: reverses when the actual event occurs (e.g., bonus paid) — used for estimates that won't be replaced by a routine invoice
- Note the expected reversal period date for each line

### Step 5: Write Supporting Rationale per Line
For every accrual, include a one-to-two sentence rationale a reviewer or auditor can rely on: what was incurred, the basis for the amount, and the source (invoice, contract, run-rate, usage report, estimate). This is the audit trail — it must stand alone without the preparer present.

### Step 6: Summarize and Reconcile
- Total the accruals by account and provide a grand total
- Provide a summary journal entry (aggregated debits/credits by account)
- List items intentionally excluded (below threshold or no basis) with a one-line reason each

## Output Format
- **Structure**: A schedule table (one row per accrual line) followed by a summary journal entry and an exclusions list
- **Length**: Scales with input count; typically 600–1,200 words plus the table
- **Format**: Table for the schedule; structured blocks for summary and exclusions
- **Sections**: (1) Accruals Schedule table — columns: Line | Description/Vendor | Accrual Type | Amount | Debit Account | Credit Account | Calculation Basis | Reversal Timing | Rationale; (2) Summary Journal Entry (aggregated); (3) Totals by Account; (4) Intentional Exclusions
- **Tone**: Precise, workpaper-ready, review-oriented — no hedging, every number traceable to a stated basis

## Quality Checklist
Before delivering output, verify:
- [ ] Every accrual line has a stated calculation basis — no amount appears without its derivation
- [ ] Every line has both a debit and a credit account assigned
- [ ] Debits and credits in the summary journal entry balance to the same total
- [ ] Each line specifies reversal timing (auto-reversing or specific) with a reversal period
- [ ] Items below the materiality threshold are listed as exclusions, not silently dropped
- [ ] Each rationale identifies the source (invoice/contract/run-rate/usage/estimate) and stands alone

## Notes
- Auto-reversing accruals are the safest default — they prevent double-counting when the actual invoice arrives next period
- For estimate accruals, always name the assumption (headcount, %-complete, rate) so the number is defensible if the actual differs
- Where an amount is uncertain, accrue the best estimate and flag it for true-up rather than omitting it — omission is a bigger close risk than a modest estimate variance
- Recurring accruals should be built to carry forward: keep the schedule structure identical period to period so only the amounts and bases change

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## How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in [Anthropic's standard format](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

**Installing in Claude Code:**
- `~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
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Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

**Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:**

1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

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