This guide walks you through the full setup process for Accruals so you can start managing schedules, posting journal entries automatically, and keeping your books audit-ready.
Understanding the Accruals feature
The Accruals feature in Double is exclusively available in the Scale plan, offering advanced capabilities for managing financial schedules.
This section provides an overview of its benefits and why choosing the right plan empowers effective reconciliation workflows.
Upgrade your client to Scale
Accruals is an advanced feature designed for clients on the Scale plan. It is not available for Core plan users, providing enhanced functionality to manage schedules effectively. If a client is currently on the Core plan, upgrading to the Scale plan unlocks accrual management.
Go to your Practice Settings ➡️ All client settings ➡️ Client plan
The close page: Accessing the Accruals tab
You can access Accruals in two ways:
Via the Accruals tab
Via the Close tab > Accruals task section
Once the feature is enabled, a new Accruals task will appear in your Close. From here, you can add new tasks and connect source accounts like Prepaid Expenses or Fixed Assets.
Video overview
Setting up accounts
When connecting an account:
For Fixed Assets, select preset accounts for depreciation expense and accumulated depreciation.
For Prepaids, presets aren’t required, so click Save to create the account.
Adding transactions
Each source account lists all unaccrued transactions for the current period. To begin:
Click Add to Accruals.
In the modal, enter:
Recognition start date
Duration (e.g., 12 months)
Method (currently fixed to straight-line during beta)
Expense account for posting journal entries
Double automatically generates a monthly amortization schedule that adjusts dynamically if you change the duration.
Posting to QuickBooks Online
When you’re ready, click Post.
The accrual’s status will change from Draft to Posted.
A notification confirms successful posting to QuickBooks Online.
The New column decreases, and the Schedule column increases accordingly.
You can review journal entries directly in Double or click into QuickBooks for full details.
Uploading a CSV schedule
See How to import an Accrual schedule for more detail.
Video overview
The Accruals tab: Reviewing reports
Navigate to the Accruals tab on the top left-hand side of the close page. By default, the page opens to Fixed Assets, but you can filter by asset type or source account.
Key Metrics
At the top of the page, you’ll find three key values:
QuickBooks – The balance in QuickBooks.
Schedule – The value according to your Double schedule.
Difference – The variance between the two.
These figures update automatically based on your selected date range.
Detailed displays
Each accrual displays:
Recognition start date
Duration
Starting balance
Monthly recognition amounts
Total accumulated and ending balance
You can also expand details by clicking a vendor name, which opens a full transaction schedule.
Managing Accruals
Use the Actions menu to delete an accrual—just ensure the QuickBooks box is unlocked. Deleting an accrual will also remove all related journal entries from both Double and QuickBooks, so proceed with caution.
Review & Reconcile
At the bottom of the page, totals show:
Starting balance
Additions
Monthly depreciation
Ending balance
QuickBooks balance
Difference
This helps identify discrepancies and confirm your schedules are accurate.
Video overview
Accruals best practices
1) If you have a spreadsheet, upload it first
If you already track your accruals in a spreadsheet, we recommend importing it before you begin adding new accounts or transactions.
Go to Client > Accruals > Batch Import
Download the CSV template from Accruals.
Fill in all required columns (see CSV Column Definitions for guidance).
Upload your file.
Review any errors in the CSV upload.
If the source account is not found in Double, follow the Add Source Account flow
At the end of the import as a final check please review:
Beginning balance should equal the balance of your schedule at the start of the current month.
Ending balance should equal the balance of your schedule at the end of the current month.
Upload your CSV and Double will post the JEs for you.
2) Position the Accruals task in your close
The Accruals task should appear in your close checklist, where your team will work on it each month. However, this may not be the case initially. To fix this:
In your Practice Settings > Section Manager, drag the Accruals task to the correct position in your workflow.
3) Add all accounts to the Accruals task
Double needs to know which accounts to include in the Accruals workflow.
From the Accruals task settings, add all relevant Source Accounts (e.g., Fixed Assets, Prepaid Expenses, Payroll).
These accounts must match your general ledger (e.g., QBO account names).
💡 Note: This may already have been completed during the CSV import process.
For details on How to Import an Accrual Schedule via CSV, see: Importing Accrual Schedules via CSV.
Account Reconciliations
Once you've set up the accruals task, your account reconciliation task should automatically tie into your accrual schedule.
On the Close tab you'll see an Accrual section of the account reconciliation task.👇
4) Begin accruing transactions in your close
Once your accounts are set up, you can start creating schedules directly in from your close.
Open the Accruals task in the close page.
Add new accruals from transactions pulled directly from your general ledger.