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Introducing Automated Accruals: A Powerful New Feature for Accurately Reporting Costs

Spencer Campbell
May 8, 2023

At Glean.ai, we like to say we’re pioneering the “Intelligent” AP revolution.  AP Automation doesn’t just mean workflow to us.  It means insights.  It means smart automation.  At its core, Intelligent AP means leveraging all the rich data flowing through AP and accounting to automate more processes and enable better decision-making.  

So when we started Glean.ai, we decided to take a first principles approach to building the first Intelligent AP platform.  With all this rich data, what else beside AP automation should we enable?  

  • Spend forensics on every bill?  Yes!
  • One-click variance analysis to explain what changed between periods.  Yes!
  • New vendor approval workflows?  Yes!
  • Monthly budgets for vendor spend?  Yes!
  • Automated upcoming renewal alerts?  Yes!
  • Automated prepaid amortization scheduling?  Yes!
  • Automated accruals?  It took a few years, but now, Yes!

Why Accountants Hate Accruals

Ask any accountant, and they are likely to tell you that one of the most time-consuming parts of their close process is reconciling their accrued expenses.  This is challenging because there is no data, like an invoice or receipt, to substantiate the accrual.  They have to determine which costs have been incurred by their company that have not been invoiced yet, if invoices have been received for prior accruals, and if prior estimates of costs incurred were sufficient.  Many accounting teams also reverse accrual entries on the first of the next month as a convenient accounting hack, but this can also lead to future issues if invoices aren’t received in future months.

Suffice to say, managing accruals manually in spreadsheets and over email is very time-consuming, error-prone, and can lead to an inaccurate reporting of expenses.

Introducing Automated Accruals in Glean.ai

Automating accruals in Glean.ai is incredibly simple.  First, Glean alerts you to potential accruals based on historical billing patterns or budget expectations.  From there, you can easily confirm with vendor owners to see if services were performed and get their estimates for costs incurred.  

Then, with just one click, you can set the amount, expense account, record date, and reversal date for the accrual, and our software will automatically sync the entries to your GL.  This means that you don't have to worry about manually entering data into your GL or reconciling your books at the end of the month or quarter.  Our software takes care of it all for you.

In addition, our accrual tracking feature provides real-time reporting, so you can always see an up-to-date picture and reconcile all of your accrued expenses booked or reversed through Glean.ai.  

Welcome to the future of Intelligent AP!

At our company, we're always looking for ways to make accounting easier and more efficient. With our new accruals feature, we're making it easier than ever to track your expenses accurately and efficiently. Whether you're a small business owner or an accountant at a large corporation, our accrual tracking feature can help you to make better financial decisions and avoid surprises. 

See how Glean.ai makes financial health the easy option, and take a demo today!

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