Accrued Interest In Accounting

In accounting, accrued Interest is the interest on the loan that has been incurred but not yet paid from the borrower’s point of view . It is accounted in the books as account payables if the company owes to the bond investors or creditors but is still unpaid.

However, for the lenders, this amount will be referred to as accrued interest revenue earned during the reporting period but not yet received. In this case, it is an income. It may be a loan from a bank or interest related to bonds. It is regarded as a current asset for the lender and current liability for the borrower.

Accrued interest meaning in accounting is an amount that has been accrued but not yet paid over a period due to debt undertaken or given. The interest is accrued from the last payment date till the date of preparation of the accounts if it is not paid and the due date is on a later date.

Such an amount is recorded as interest receivables or payables as the case may be. i.e., if the company has taken a loan, it will record interest payable, and if given a loan say, to another business, it will record an interest receivable.

Similarly , if the interest for fixed-income investments like bonds is not received, from the investor’s point of view, it is accrued interest receivable which has a separate accrued interest revenue journal entry. In the company’s books, it is accrued interest payable which again has a different entry.

Company records as a part of the accrual principle of accounting. As per the accrual principle of accounting, expenses are to be considered when they are incurred and not when they are actually paid. Hence, the interest which is to be paid on a future date but is accumulated till now is recorded as an expense and a liability by the Company. Due to this accrual basis followed in the accounting process, the company’s financial condition is displayed more transparently. They are current assets or liabilities as the case may be.

While accounting for accrued into two sets of accounts is adjusted - the interest expenses account on the profit and loss statement and the accounts payable on the balance sheet.

In case of accrued interest meaning in accounting the interest expense on profit and loss statement is increased by the amount of the interest that is yet to paid by the Company. It is because of the accrual principle of accounting, and the Company has to record any interest accrued but yet to pay.

source: Colgate SEC Filings

The accounts payable on the liabilities side of the balance sheet is added with interest payable as it the expense which is yet to be paid by the Company. The above examples show the accrued interest in accounting equation in the financial statements.

source: Bloom Energy SEC filings

The above entered will be done by the borrower on its profit and loss statement and the balance sheet. The lender will report the interest as revenue on its PnL statement and a current asset as accounts receivables on the balance sheet.

Let us consider an example of accrued interest in a bond to understand this concept:

A bond investor holds a bond of a Company XYZ Inc., which is worth $ 100 and pays coupons semi-annually at an interest rate of 12%. The last coupon was made 2 months back, and he wants to sell the bond to the new investor.

The new investor will pay him $ 100, and the last two months accrued interest expense is calculated as per below.

= 12%/12 * 2 * 100 = $ 2

Thus, the new investor will pay = 100 + 2 = $ 102 for the bond.

Thus, the above example gives us a better idea about the accrued interest in accounting equation.

Let us check how to record accrued interest journal entry.

Thus, in short, the journal entry to be recorded is as follows:

In the lender’s books:

In the lender's books it is in the form of accrued interest revenue journal entry and it as follows:

Accrued Interest Receivable A/c Debit

To Interest Account.

In the borrower’s books:

Interest Account Debit

To Accrued Interest Payable

Thus the above details tell us how to record accrued interest journal entry.

This has been a guide to what is Accrued Interest in Accounting. We explain it with example, journal entry, and how to record it. You may also have a look at these articles below to learn more about Accounting basics –

• Examples of Accrued Revenue
• Calculate Interest Expense
• Accrued Income Meaning
• What is Accrued Revenue?