Accrue

Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary

Definition: Accrue


Accrue

Quick Summary of Accrue


make provision for (a charge) at the end of a financial period for work that has been done but not yet invoiced.




What is the dictionary definition of Accrue?

Dictionary Definition


  1. growing or adding to, such as interest on a debt or investment which continues to accumulate.
  2. the coming into being of the right to bring a lawsuit. For example, the right to sue on a contract only accrues when the contract is breached (not on mere suspicion that it might be breached) or when the other party repudiates the contract (anticipatory breach).

Full Definition of Accrue


To increase; to augment; to come to by way of increase; to be added as an increase, profit, or damage. Acquired; falling due; made or executed; matured; occurred; received; vested; was created; was incurred.

To attach itself to, as a subordinate or accessory claim or demand arises out of, and is joined to, its principal.

The term is also used of independent or original demands, meaning to arise, to happen, to come into force or existence; to vest, as in the phrase, “The right of action did not accrue within six years.” To become a present right or demand; to come to pass.

Interest on money that a depositor has in a bank savings account accrues, so that after a certain time the amount will be increased by the amount of interest it has earned.

A cause of action, the facts that give a person a right to judicial relief, usually accrues on the date that the injury to the plaintiff is sustained. When the injury is not readily discoverable, the cause of action accrues when the plaintiff in fact discovers the injury. This occurs frequently in cases of fraud or malpractice. A woman, for example, has an appendectomy. Three years after the surgery, she still experiences dull pain on her right side. She is examined by another physician who discovers a piece of surgical sponge near the area of the operation. Although the injury had occurred at the time of surgery three years earlier, in this case, the cause of action for medical malpractice accrues on the date that the sponge is discovered by the second doctor. This distinction is important for purposes of the running of the statute of limitations, the time set by law within which a lawsuit must be commenced after a cause of action accrues. In cases involving injuries that cannot be readily discovered, it would be unfair to bar a plaintiff from bringing a lawsuit because he or she does not start the suit within the required time from the date of injury.


Cite Term


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Page URL
https://payrollheaven.com/define/accrue/
Modern Language Association (MLA):
Accrue. PayrollHeaven.com. Payroll & Accounting Heaven Ltd.
May 22, 2024 https://payrollheaven.com/define/accrue/.
Chicago Manual of Style (CMS):
Accrue. PayrollHeaven.com. Payroll & Accounting Heaven Ltd.
https://payrollheaven.com/define/accrue/ (accessed: May 22, 2024).
American Psychological Association (APA):
Accrue. PayrollHeaven.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024
, from PayrollHeaven.com website: https://payrollheaven.com/define/accrue/

Definition Sources


Definitions for Accrue are sourced/syndicated and enhanced from:

  • A Dictionary of Economics (Oxford Quick Reference)
  • Oxford Dictionary Of Accounting
  • Oxford Dictionary Of Business & Management

This glossary post was last updated: 8th October, 2021 | 0 Views.