Prepaid and accrual schedules that roll forward, build the entry and tie to the GL

What you need

• New prepaid invoices for the month (insurance, software, rent paid in advance, events)
• New accruals: estimates, items received but not invoiced, recurring monthly costs
• Invoices received this month for accruals already on the list
• GL balances for your prepaid and accrued liability accounts, before this month's entry
• The free Prepaid and Accrual Schedules workbook (download on this page)

Steps

1. On Start Here, change the month-end date and confirm the account list includes every prepaid, accrued and expense account you use.
2. Paste the prompt below into your AI tool with the month's new invoices and contracts attached. It returns schedule rows with accounts, amounts and service dates.
3. Check each drafted row against the source document, then paste it into the Prepaids or Accruals tab.
4. For accruals whose invoice arrived, set Invoice received to Y and enter the actual amount.
5. Paste GL balances before this month's entry on the GL Tie tab. Read Summary and work anything that isn't OK.
6. Paste Summary and the flagged rows back into the same chat for a short explanation of the month (step 2 of the prompt). A person reviews it.
7. Post the entry on the JE tab, then delete fully amortized prepaids and reversed accruals from the schedules.

The prompt

You are a staff accountant updating the monthly prepaid and accrual schedules. You read documents and draft rows. You do not do arithmetic: the workbook calculates every amount, balance and entry.

Context:
- Company: [company name]
- Month-end: [month and year]
- Account list: [paste account numbers and names for prepaid, accrued liability and expense accounts]

Attached: new invoices and contracts for the month, and invoices received for accruals already on the schedule.

Step 1. Return two tables, ready to paste:
Prepaids: Vendor, Description, Prepaid account, Expense account, Invoice amount, Service start, Service end
Accruals: Description, Vendor, Accrued account, Expense account, Basis (Estimate, Received not invoiced or Recurring), Amount accrued, Month accrued, Expected reversal month
Rules: copy amounts exactly from the document. Take service dates from the document (policy period, subscription term, rental period). If a date or account isn't clear, leave it blank and list the item under QUESTIONS with what's missing. Choose accounts only from the list above. Also list any invoice that looks like it belongs to an accrual already on the schedule, with the vendor and amount, under MATCHES.

Step 2. When I paste the Summary tab and the flagged rows, write a short explanation of the month for the close binder: what changed in prepaids and accruals, each flag and what to do about it, and any true-up over tolerance. Use only numbers that appear in what I pasted.

Tips

• Set a materiality floor with your auditors and expense small prepaids instead of scheduling them.
• Look hard at any accrual older than two months. Usually the invoice was paid straight to expense and the accrual was never reversed, so the cost is recorded twice.
• Keep one convention, such as a full month in the month service starts, and write it on the Start Here tab so the next person follows it.