Definition of "accrual" []

• The act or process of accumulating; an increase. (noun)
• Something that accumulates or increases. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "For a young participant, the cash balance accrual is ordinarily faster."
• "The decline versus the prior quarter was related to a lower bonus accrual, which is tied to company performance."
• "I'm sure cash-basis accounting has a place somewhere in the world, but the vast majority of businesses adhere to another convention called accrual-basis, which says that revenue is earned and expenses are generated at the moment of the transaction -- not when cash changes hands."