This article explains how ScaleXP generates accrued revenue suggestions automatically as part of revenue recognition - how it reads draft and future-dated invoices, where the suggestions appear, and how to view those invoices - so you can see how ScaleXP handles accrued revenue before you set it up. For the full process of adding, releasing and posting accrued revenue, see Accrued revenue 1: Add accrued revenue.
How ScaleXP identifies accrued revenue
Revenue is often invoiced at the end of a contractual term, yet it needs to be allocated by month before the invoice is issued. ScaleXP solves this by importing draft and future-dated invoices that have been saved in your accounting system, even if they have not been sent to the customer. ScaleXP reads the text on each invoice and allocates the revenue to the months it relates to, even when the invoice is dated a month or a year ahead. This gives you the flexibility to save invoices in Xero or QuickBooks without issuing them: as invoices are created, saved or changed, ScaleXP processes them and keeps the revenue in the right months.
Where the suggestions appear
On the Add Accrued Revenue page (the Add step of the Accrued Revenue Journal on the Journals tab’s Month-End Close page), ScaleXP scans every issued and draft invoice for the months displayed and identifies invoices with revenue earned before the invoice date.
- The system checks banner at the top reports how many items were found and when the data was last scanned. Click View items to see the draft documents to review and issued documents to review, each with the customer, invoice number, amount and the months in which revenue was identified.
- In the customer list, suggested invoices are shown in orange and marked Suggested based on the invoice line description. Click Add to journal to accrue one, or Approve All to accept every suggestion in the displayed months.
- Keep Draft checked under Included Data so draft invoices are read. Once a draft invoice you have accrued is issued, ScaleXP releases the accrual automatically on the issue date.
The step-by-step instructions are in Accrued revenue 1: Add accrued revenue, and the release rules are in How to release accrued revenue.
Suggestions cover revenue that will be invoiced. For revenue with no invoice at all - including the value of a free period that you want to recognize straight-line across a contract - add manual accrued revenue instead and release it over the invoiced months; see How to handle revenue recognition for multi-year contracts with different annual amounts, free periods, and contract extensions.
Viewing future-dated invoices
To see future-dated invoices on the Customers page, set the end date of the date range into the future - one year ahead generally works well - so the page picks up the month each invoice is issued. You can then review the detail behind these invoices in the same way as any other customer invoice. You can also view future-dated invoices by month of issue: see How to review invoices issued in the month and download a list in Excel; how to find a missing invoice.
Related articles
- Accrued revenue 1: Add accrued revenue
- How to release accrued revenue
- How to review invoices issued in the month and download a list in Excel; how to find a missing invoice
- Start here: Automate revenue journals
- Setup 1: Configure and validate revenue recognition
- Setup 2: Prepare your accounts
- How to handle revenue recognition for multi-year contracts with different annual amounts, free periods, and contract extensions