accrual

American  

[uh-kroo-uhl] / əˈkru əl /

noun

1. the act or process of accruing.

2. something accrued; accretion.

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accrual British  

/ əˈkruːəl /

noun

1. the act of accruing

2. something that has accrued

3. accounting a charge incurred in one accounting period that has not been paid by the end of it

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Usage

What does accrual mean? Accrual is the process or result of gaining more of a particular thing. Accrual is the noun form of the verb accrue, which means to grow and accumulate naturally or to be added periodically. Accrual is especially used in the context of finance to refer to the growth of interest in an account. Example: A retirement fund allows for the accrual of money over the course of your career so that you can support yourself once you stop working.

Other Word Forms

• nonaccrual adjective

Etymology

Origin of accrual

First recorded in 1875–80; accrue + -al ²

Explanation

That nest egg in the bank that gets bigger each year with interest? That's an accrual — a sum of money, or benefit of some kind, that gets bigger over time. Strictly speaking, an accrual doesn't have to be financial. Most religions believe you can obtain a spiritual accrual by doing good deeds on earth, for example. The origin of the word, as well as other similar terms such as accrue (the act of obtaining an accrual) come from the Latin word accrescere — meaning "to become larger."

Example Sentences

Most private-sector employers cap vacation accrual between 40 and 400 hours and stop employees from earning additional time once they reach those limits.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026

Those are generally accrual accounting measures, which reflect the effects of actions that happened during the year, not actual cash payments.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026

The accrual ratio is sometimes called the Sloan ratio, after an accounting professor named Richard Sloan, whose research showed that companies with cleaner earnings generally produce superior stock returns.

From Barron's • Dec. 26, 2025

Programmable smart contracts also allow for continuous accrual of interest, automatic fee distribution, and even real-time auditability.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 15, 2025

But it would end up being one of many little things—a slow accrual, compounding steadily and imperceptibly toward critical mass.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer