Accrual reports available in ApprovalMax

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There’s no denying that Xero comes out of the box with a whole host of fantastic functions and features. In fact, it’s hard to fault it at all. But there is, in our opinion, something missing: a complementary workflow approval process for the payment of invoices.

By Dee Jones

6 min read •

December 15, 2024

Accrual reports help businesses keep accurate financial records by tracking income and expenses as they’re earned or incurred, even if the cash hasn’t changed hands yet. We’re excited to announce that ApprovalMax now lets you create and approve accrual reports directly within the platform, making it easy for customers using Xero to manage accruals and related journal entries. The report provides valuable insights and guarantees account balance accuracy to accountants, bookkeepers, and businesses. By tracking income and expenses in real-time, you gain a clear, up to date understanding of your financial position.

With ApprovalMax, creating and managing accrual reports becomes simple, especially for businesses needing to accurately reflect expenses incurred in a given period but not yet posted to the general ledger. This is invaluable for accountants and auditors who manage manual journal workflows, as it provides them with comprehensive access to accrual reporting.

Creating a workflow for accrual reports helps to make sure every journal entry is accurate and approved before pushing it to Xero. This provides consistent and reliable data across both systems to help make more informed decisions. Ryan Pearcy, Associate Partner at Scrutton Bland and Fin-tech host of Digital Disruptors podcast, highlights the power of ApprovalMax’s accrual reporting:

The ability to push a button, create a journal, push it to review, and then send it directly to your financial system is something I’ve never come across. It’s an incredibly powerful feature.

Why use accrual reports?

Accrual reports offer many benefits:

Accurate financial insight

Accrual reports give you a true sense of profitability and financial position by showing earnings and expenses in their relevant periods.

Better cash flow management

Manage cash flow and avoid unexpected surprises by tracking unpaid invoices.

Stronger decision-making

With accurate data at your fingertips, you can make better and more strategic budgeting decisions for the future.

How ApprovalMax gives you confidence in accrual reporting

What are the advantages of using ApprovalMax to manage accrual reports? There are plenty – here are just a few.

Automation and integration: Create and approve accrual reports automatically within ApprovalMax to cut down on manual tasks and reduce the risk of errors. Approved data flows seamlessly into Xero for accuracy across both systems.
Real-time data: Access up-to-date gross/net–amount tracking and without delay for an easy approval process, and better visibility.
Built-in audit trail: ApprovalMax’s audit trail records every change, approval, and rejection, for easier audit preparation.

How to get started with accrual reports in ApprovalMax

Kick things off in just few steps – you can:

Access the report

Go to ‘Reports’ in ApprovalMax and select ‘Line item reports.

Customise your report

Choose transaction types, date ranges, status, and categories to focus on key data.

Create and review

Click ‘Create Accruals Journal’ to see all accrued expenses for your selected period.

Submit for approval

A manual journal will be created for review once the report has been generated. If the report is correct and has no edits, you can submit it for approval.

Approve and push to Xero

When all the approvals have been collected in ApprovalMax, the accrual report will be pushed to Xero. You can even create a reversal journal in ApprovalMax to prevent double-counting and simplify bookkeeping.

For more detailed instructions, watch the step-by-step tutorial video

Accrual reporting in ApprovalMax supports and simplifies cash flow management and budget reporting. With the ability to create, edit, and approve reports in one place, it saves time and reduces errors.

Not only does it save you from manual entry errors, but it also makes collaboration easier. Team members involved in the approval process can review and approve journals remotely, making sure that financial information is managed efficiently and accurately across the team.

Once approved, reports are seamlessly pushed to Xero, maintaining consistent financial records. This rare and powerful integration workflow keeps your records accurate and lets you focus on the big picture, instead of getting bogged down by manual bookkeeping tasks.

Learn more to get started with accrual reports in ApprovalMax today.