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About

In accrual accounting, expenses must be recognized in the period they are incurred, not when they are paid. Prepaid expenses-such as annual insurance premiums, software subscriptions, or rent-must be amortized over their useful life. Manual calculation in spreadsheets often leads to date-boundary errors, particularly when the service period does not align with the first day of the month.

This utility automates the straight-line amortization method (Cost ÷ Term). It handles the nuance of partial months by prorating the first and last periods based on the exact number of active days, ensuring the General Ledger (GL) balance reaches exactly zero at the end of the term.

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Formulas

The calculator uses the Straight-Line method with Day-Count Proration for the initial and final periods.

1. Daily Rate (Rday):

Total AmountTotal Days in Term

2. Monthly Expense (Em):

{
Rday × Days Active if partial monthStandard Monthly Rate if full month

Reference Data

Expense TypeTypical DurationGL Account (Debit)GL Account (Credit)
Business Insurance12 MonthsInsurance ExpensePrepaid Insurance
SaaS Subscriptions12 / 24 MonthsSoftware ExpensePrepaid Software
Office RentLease TermRent ExpensePrepaid Rent
Marketing RetainerContract TermMarketing ExpensePrepaid Expenses
Equipment Warranty36 / 60 MonthsWarranty ExpensePrepaid Warranty
Property Tax12 MonthsTax ExpensePrepaid Taxes
Consulting FeesProject TermProfessional FeesPrepaid Services
Trade Show BoothOne-timeEvents ExpensePrepaid Events

Frequently Asked Questions

If the start date is Jan 15th, the tool calculates expenses for Jan 15-31. It uses a daily rate (Total Cost / Total Days) multiplied by the active days in that specific month to ensure high precision.
Yes. The output is rendered as a standard HTML table. You can highlight the rows, copy, and paste directly into Excel or Google Sheets without losing column alignment.
This tool operates on calendar dates. Since prepaid amortization follows the service period of the vendor (e.g., Insurance policy dates), it is independent of your company's fiscal year end.
The calculation will not execute. Amortization requires a positive time vector. Validating input dates is the first step of the logic.