This guide shows you how to automate your accrued and deferred revenue journals in ScaleXP by choosing a journal start date, verifying recognized revenue from that date, setting your journal preferences, creating accrued revenue where needed, configuring and posting your first deferred revenue journal, and making a one-time opening balance sheet adjustment, so every month-end posting to Xero or QuickBooks is clean and audit-ready.

This guide assumes revenue recognition is already configured. If not, start with How to configure and validate revenue recognition in ScaleXP. For an overview of the whole process, see Getting started with revenue recognition: How to automate revenue recognition and related journals in ScaleXP.

Note for consolidated companies: revenue recognition journals must be posted at the subsidiary level, in line with the accounting connection.

Part 1 — Prepare your data

1. Decide your journal start date

1. Pick the month from which ScaleXP will start posting automated journals.
2. Choose a date after any financial close that can no longer be reopened — usually your last year-end, though it can sit earlier or later depending on your circumstances.
3. Choose a date you can easily document as a starting point, so any audit conversation about the changeover is straightforward.
4. You will enter this month as the Journal Start Date in Part 2.

2. Verify recognized revenue from the start date

Automated journals depend on ScaleXP holding every invoice with revenue that touches months on or after your start date.

1. Confirm your ScaleXP invoice import date is early enough to include every invoice with revenue recognized on or after the journal start date, and that revenue from those invoices is spreading correctly.
2. Add anything missing. It is sometimes simpler to upload missing invoices manually than to change the import window — see How to add a manual invoice to adjust ScaleXP revenue recognition to match your accounting system, or email support@scalexp.com for help.
3. Walk through the Revenue Recognition report from your start date forward and confirm the spread looks right for every material customer. Use the checklist in Part 2 of How to configure and validate revenue recognition in ScaleXP.

Part 2 — Set your revenue journal preferences

1. Open the revenue journal settings

1. Go to the Journals top tab. This opens the Month-End Check List.
2. Under Deferred Revenue, click the open icon next to Journal: Deferred Revenue. (You can also open Journal: Accrued Revenue — the settings are shared.)

3. On the journal page, click the three dots at the top right and select Revenue Journal Settings.

2. Set default accrued and deferred revenue accounts

1. Under Balance Sheet Account Settings, select the balance sheet account you use for deferred revenue (deferred income).
2. Select the balance sheet account you use for accrued revenue (accrued income).
3. If you use more than one deferred revenue balance sheet account, click Map Accounts to map each one to its revenue accounts — see Part 3, section 2 below.

3. Include tracking codes or classes, if needed

1. Under Tracking Codes, select the Xero tracking categories or QuickBooks classes to include on journal lines if you want segmentation to carry through to your ledger.
2. If the field is locked, contact support@scalexp.com to change it.

4. Set the journal calculation method and start date

1. Under Journal Calculation, check that the method is set to IFRS / GAAP (backdated revenue pulled forward) so back-dated invoices do not affect closed months. If the setting is locked and you want to change it, contact support@scalexp.com.
2. Under Journal Start Date, select the month you chose in Part 1.
3. Click Save.

Part 3 — Create your journals

1. Create accrued revenue, if required

If you have services delivered but not yet invoiced at month-end, set up accrued revenue so income lands in the right month and reverses cleanly when the invoice goes out.

1. Follow How to automate accrued revenue journal posting, to add and release accrued income.

2. Map your deferred revenue accounts

Skip this section if you use a single deferred revenue account.

1. On the Deferred Revenue Journal page, click the three dots at the top right and select Mapping (or click Map Accounts in the settings).
2. In Deferred Revenue Setup, add a row for each account used on your invoices. Under Account on invoice, select the account the invoice line is coded to; under Account in journal, select the account the journal should post the other side to — a deferred revenue liability maps to its revenue account, and a revenue account maps to its deferred revenue liability.
3. Click Save.

3. Filter your deferred revenue accounts

1. On the Deferred Revenue Journal page, open the Included Data dropdown.
2. Select only the accounts you want included in the deferred revenue journal. However you code your invoices, include both the revenue accounts and the balance sheet accounts (deferred revenue or income in advance) — not just revenue.
3. Click Apply, then Save filters so the selection is kept for future months.

4. Review and post your first deferred revenue journal

1. Set Months to display to a range that includes your first journal month.
2. Review the system checks panel at the top of the page and resolve anything flagged as needing attention — for example, invoices coded to accounts outside your filters, late adjustments to closed months, or posted journals that no longer match source data.
3. In The journal to post, review the suggested debit and credit for each account. Click an account to see the customers behind it.
4. Click Post journal for the month. See How to review and post the deferred revenue journal to Xero or QuickBooks for the full posting flow.
5. Use Show / hide sections to view the Comprehensive journal (everything posted plus the draft) and Journals already posted.
6. Once the journal is posted and you have synced with ScaleXP, reconcile it to your accounts by selecting the deferred revenue or revenue account row on the Reports tab to see every transaction behind the balance. See How to see transaction detail behind account balances.

To understand how the suggested figure is built, see How the ScaleXP deferred revenue journal calculates the suggested posting amount. To validate the journal against source data, download the invoice line detail behind it: How to download invoice line level detail behind the deferred revenue journal.

Part 4 — Align your opening balance sheet

1. Make a one-time opening balance sheet adjustment

If you have a long history of deferring a high volume of invoices, your starting deferred revenue balance is unlikely to match ScaleXP's calculated position exactly. Small differences in included revenue, or in how revenue is allocated across days and months, accumulate over time.

1. Post a one-time adjusting entry to bring your opening balance sheet into line with ScaleXP. From that point on, every automated journal is clean and audit-friendly, backed by the line-level downloads from Part 3.
2. See How to adjust the starting balance sheet for deferred revenue for the mechanics.

Related articles

• Getting started with revenue recognition: How to automate revenue recognition and related journals in ScaleXP
• How to configure and validate revenue recognition in ScaleXP
• How to review and post the deferred revenue journal to Xero or QuickBooks
• How to automate accrued revenue journal posting, to add and release accrued income
• How to adjust the starting balance sheet for deferred revenue
• How to download invoice line level detail behind the deferred revenue journal
• How to automate expense recognition journals in ScaleXP
• How to see transaction detail behind account balances