Accruals success kit

Accruals are estimates for unbilled work that can be collected from vendors to anticipate fees and expenses for the reporting period. Please review this page to learn more about how to set up and start collecting and reporting on accruals. 

Key considerations before accruals setup:

1. Would you like the vendors to provide accruals estimates separately for each matter? If not, they will be asked for a lump accrual sum.

• Pros: More detailed accrual reporting
• Cons: Vendors may be doing work for matters not yet in Unity
• Recommendation: By Matter

2. When a Vendor is submitting their Accruals, would you like to include a “previous month” bucket as part of the period? 

• Pros: Ability to collect prior accruals
• Cons: This total amount cannot be moved into existing matters. The lump sum for the previous month will remain outside of the existing period in an “other” bucket.
• Recommendation: Do not include previous months 

3. When submitting accruals, would you like your Vendors to include accrual totals for forward months? If so, how many forward months? 

• Pros: Good option if you process accruals on a quarterly basis.
• Cons: Estimates will be less accurate when you accrue months in advance.
• Recommendation: Do not allow forward months unless this was requested by your Finance or AP teams.

4. Would you like any budgets associated with a Vendor to be shown in the accruals screen when a vendor submit accruals?

• Pros: Increased visibility of approved budgets
• Cons: May encourage vendors to hut budget when otherwise not necessary
• Recommendation: Do not show associated budgets

5. Would you like to include an “Other” option on your accrual forms?

• Pros: Allows vendors to submit amounts for not yet available matters
• Cons: This total amount cannot be moved into existing matters. The lump sum for the “Other” will remain outside of the existing period.
• Recommendation: Do not allow ‘Other’ accrual submissions.

6. Would your team like the ability to manually trigger the Accrual notification emails? 

• Pros: Can request accruals outside of the normal schedule 
• Cons: None
• Recommendation: Allow manual accrual requests.

Accrual reports

Accruals (single period)

Showcases metrics and detailed information about accruals for single (current) period requests and submissions from vendors.

Accruals vs. actuals (single period)

Showcases metrics and detailed information about accruals for single (current) period submissions from vendors compared to actual spend.

Accruals (split period)

Showcases metrics and detailed information about accruals for split (prior and current) period requests and submissions from vendors.

Accruals vs. actuals (split period)

Showcases metrics and detailed information about accruals for split (prior and current) period submissions from vendors compared to actual spend.

Accruals FAQs

Are Submitted but unapproved invoices included in reporting?

Submitted but unapproved invoices are not included in reporting. 

We see accruals truly as unbilled estimates. Since the received invoices have been billed, we do not include them. If your accruals process includes received but not fully approved invoices, you will need to combine two reports together to get your totals. 

Can we only send a single request?

No, but if the vendor responds to the first request, we will not send out any further reminders. If they do not provide their estimates, we will send up to two reminders.

When does the accrual period end?

This is two parts. The first part is when the accruals form expires, which is controlled in the custom settings. This, however, can be extended out manually for a single vendor, or for all vendors. The period truly ends once the requests are sent out for the following period/month. 

What currency are accruals submitted in?

The vendor has the ability to select any currency when submitting, but the currency they choose is for all matters – they can not detail currency by matter. We recommend that vendors submit in the same currency as their invoices are submitted.