LoopfourPrepare accruals at month end
Build a workflow that drafts accrual entries at month end from open purchase orders and recurring costs, and posts them only after approval.
The job
At month end you book costs you have incurred but not yet been billed for. Someone reviews open purchase orders and recurring vendor costs, estimates each accrual, books the entry, and reverses it next month.
By hand
With Loopfour
How the workflow runs
- TriggerA few days before month endA schedule you choose, in your time zone.
- StepPull open POs and recurring costsFrom your ledger, such as QuickBooks.
- StepEstimate each accrualUsing the rule you describe, such as the open PO amount or last month's bill.
- StepSave the draft accrualsTo a table you can review and adjust.
- ApprovalController approvesA rejection stops the run before the entry is posted.
- OutputAccrual journal entry created
What you need
- Template: Studio has no ready-made template you can run for this job. You build it by describing it in chat.
- Systems to connect: your ledger. QuickBooks, NetSuite and Sage Intacct can all receive a journal entry from Loopfour.
- A table: for the draft accruals, so reviewers can see each line. See Tables.
- Who approves: the controller or the person who signs off close entries.
Set it up
Connect your ledger
Go to Integrations and connect your ledger. See Connect a system.
Describe the workflow in chat
On Home, describe your accrual rule. For example: "On the 28th of each month, get open purchase orders and last month's recurring vendor bills from QuickBooks. Estimate one accrual per vendor. Save them to the Accruals table. Ask controller@yourcompany.com to approve, then create one journal entry in QuickBooks dated the last day of the month." See Build a workflow by describing it.
Check the calculation
Ask your developer to use a Code step for accrual calculations. Transform only renames fields or filters lists; it does not calculate estimates. Compare a sample estimate with your working paper.
Check the posting step
Open the last step and confirm it creates a journal entry, with the accounts you use for accrued expenses. A bill is not the same as an accrual entry, so change the step if chat chose the wrong action.
Check the approval
Open the Approval step. Set Approvers, a Reason such as "Month-end accruals", and a Timeout that fits your close calendar. See Add an approval step.
Deploy, then test
Select Deploy, then Run. Review the draft accruals in the table and reject the approval so the test entry is not posted. See Deploy, test and change a workflow.
Run works only when the workflow is Active. Deploying also switches on its trigger; choose a safe schedule or test source before deploying. Runs make real changes in connected systems.
What you review
- The draft accruals table: each line, its source and the estimate, before anything posts.
- Approvals: the entry waits under Approvals until the controller decides. See Approve or reject a request.
- Each run: under Runs, each run shows the sources pulled, the estimates and the entry created. See Read a run.
- Who did what: the Audit trail tab under Runs records who approved and who changed the workflow.
Adapt it
- Reverse next month: build a second workflow that runs on the first day of the month and creates the reversing entry.
- Add accrual sources: include a table of known costs, such as contractor hours your team enters by hand.
- Set a materiality floor: ask chat to leave out accruals under a set amount.
Prepare revenue recognition entries
Set up a workflow that builds a monthly revenue schedule from your contracts or subscriptions and posts the entries after your review.
Track receivables on a dashboard
Set up workflows that save a weekly AR aging snapshot to a table, flag at-risk accounts and report collections, then chart the results on a dashboard.