What is the difference between accrued revenue and unearned revenue?
William Taylor
Published May 06, 2026
Unearned Revenue is not shown in the Income Statement until the goods or services have been delivered against that sale, whereas Accrued Revenue is shown as Income, regardless of the cash collection process.
What is the difference between accrued income and accrued revenue?
Accrued income applies to businesses that receive interest income from investments while Accrued revenue applies to businesses that perform services or work on projects with multiple billable components but they do not send out an invoice until the service contract or project is finished.What is an example of an accrued revenue?
A company can accrue interest revenue every month even if it only bills for loan payments on an annual or semiannual basis. For example, say Company A receives a $1,200 interest payment every year from Company B. Even though Company A only receives one payment per year, it can book accrued revenue every month.What is meant by accrued revenue?
What Is Accrued Revenue? Accrued revenue is revenue that has been earned by providing a good or service, but for which no cash has been received. Accrued revenues are recorded as receivables on the balance sheet to reflect the amount of money that customers owe the business for the goods or services they purchased.Is unearned revenue an accrual account?
Unearned revenue explainedAlso referred to as “advance payments” or “deferred revenue,” unearned revenue is mainly used in accrual accounting. Due to the advanced nature of the payment, the seller has a liability until the good or service has been delivered.