Expense timing adjustments

How Sterling calculates an exact, review-only prepayment or accrued-expense journal without altering the books.

Exact calculation and review-only journal

Reviewed · Current · Sterling explanation · From 11 September 2026

Sterling preserves the allocation as exact rational pence, rounds only the draft journal to the nearest penny with half-penny ties up, and never posts the proposal automatically.

Daily allocation counts calendar days including leap days. Monthly allocation accepts only whole calendar-month boundaries. A known incurred amount is used without inventing service dates. Every result states its ledger starting point and statement effect.

Exceptions and branches

• The calculator does not determine VAT treatment or Corporation Tax deductibility.
• Leases, inventory, employee benefits, taxation, grants, finance, foreign currency, impairment, and opening balances need separate treatment.
• The result never posts a journal, changes reconciled facts, or completes statutory accounts.

Assumptions

• Service periods use an inclusive start and exclusive end.
• The selected allocation basis reflects the supplied consumption pattern.

Related concepts

• Accrual basis

• Prepayments

• Accrued expenses

• Profit and Loss reports

Linked from

• Accrual basis

• Prepayments

• Accrued expenses

Sources

• The Small Companies and Groups (Accounts and Directors' Report) Regulations 2008 — Schedule 1, Part 2, paragraph 14. Primary authority.

• FRS 102 (September 2024 edition) — Paragraphs 2.33 to 2.64, especially paragraph 2.48. Accounting standard. Link-and-cite; publisher-hosted.

• FRS 105 (September 2024 edition) — Paragraphs 2.9 to 2.34, especially paragraph 2.24. Accounting standard. Link-and-cite; publisher-hosted.

How sources are ranked

Knowledge version: sterling-knowledge@2026-09-11.7. Last checked 11 September 2026.