Accrued liabilities
Accrued expenses and deferred income record expenses relating to the current year that are not yet invoiced or paid, as well as payments received for services still to be delivered.
Definition
Typical items are staff holiday and overtime balances, the fiduciary’s fees still to be invoiced, and electricity bills that only arrive in January. All of these are expenses of the year just ended.
Holiday balances are regularly forgotten in small businesses. With ten people each carrying one week of leave, the item is not small.
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
In practice a report of holiday and overtime balances from time tracking serves as the basis for the accrual. Without a link between time tracking and the accounts it stays an estimate.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Bookkeeping and retention: Accrual principle Annual accounts Association accounting Balance sheet Balance sheet total Book value Break-even point Business assets Business expenses Cash book Cash flow statement Cash receipts Contribution margin Cost centre Current assets Debit and credit Depreciation Double-entry bookkeeping Duty to keep accounts EBIT EBITDA Equity Equity ratio Financial year Fixed assets Fixed costs Foreign currency General ledger Gross profit Hidden reserves Income statement Inventory count Journal Journal entry Liabilities Liquidity Loss carry-forward Membership dues Net profit Opening balance sheet Overheads Pass-through item Prepaid expenses Provision Record-keeping ordinance Reserves Retained profit Simple accounts Swiss SME chart of accounts Tamper resistance Turnover Value adjustment Variable costs Volunteer-run structure Voucher Year-end closing modules