Journal Entry Standards
The house standard behind the entries — accrual types, documentation requirements, and the review workflow.
★ 25,690 on GitHub0 downloads on LenderSkills
Install it in one line — paste a single command into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and it writes the skill into your project.
Free, and about thirty seconds: a work email and a six-digit code.
Downloading shares your name, firm, role, and email with Anthropic. That introduction is what keeps every skill here free.
What this skill does
The reference behind the entries: standard accrual types and how each one is booked, what support a reviewer expects, and the errors that get caught in review. Use it to set a house standard, not to draft one entry.
What it does
- Lays out the standard accrual types and the entry each one takes
- Sets the supporting-documentation standard for each entry type
- Describes review and approval workflows and who signs off on what
- Lists the common errors to check an entry against before posting
When to use it
- You are writing or tightening your own JE policy
- A reviewer needs a consistent standard to check entries against
- You are training someone new on month-end entries
- An auditor has asked what your documentation standard is
What to have ready
- Your current JE policy or close procedures, if you have them
- The entry types your books actually use
- Your approval thresholds and who reviews at each level
How to use it
- Download it with the button above. You'll sign in with a work email — that's how the creator knows who is using their skill.
- Copy the install prompt from the "Run it in Claude" box, and paste it into Claude along with the file. Claude installs the skill, fills in your firm's details where the file has
[BRACKETED]placeholders, and runs a quick test with you. - Then just ask in plain English. Claude picks the skill up on its own when a request matches it. Anything it still needs, it asks you for — it won't invent a number.
"Use the Journal Entry Standards skill to write a JE documentation policy for our accounting team."
What you get back
A written standard for journal entry preparation — entry types, required support, approval workflow, and a pre-posting error checklist you can hand to a team.
Good to know
- Output quality tracks input quality. A missing figure is flagged as missing — it is never estimated to fill a gap.
- Every draft is a starting point for your own review, not a finished decision.
- Runs anywhere Claude does: the Claude app, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code.
- Part of the Anthropic Finance plugin. Built for corporate accounting, and it applies directly to a lending shop's own books and to fund-level accounting.
Source & credit
Imported from Anthropic's open-source knowledge-work-plugins library (Apache-2.0). Author: Anthropic — https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins. The author's content is unmodified apart from a legal disclaimer appended at the end of the package. Full credit to the author. Anthropic did not submit this listing and does not endorse it — the original is free at the link above.
Legal disclaimer
This skill drafts; it does not decide. Its output is not legal, tax, accounting, appraisal, or investment advice, and using it creates no attorney-client, fiduciary, or advisory relationship. Nothing it produces is a commitment to lend or an offer to sell a security. Verify every number, date, citation, and conclusion against the source documents, and have a qualified professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction review the work before you rely on it or send it to a borrower, investor, counterparty, or regulator. Laws, rates, and market data change. The final work product is yours.
Inside this skill
The actual file you get. Members can read it in full before saving it.
name: journal-entry-prep description: Prepare journal entries with proper debits, credits, and supporting documentation for month-end close. Use when booking accruals, prepaid amortization, fixed asset depreciation, payroll entries, revenue recognition, or any manual journal entry. user-invocable: false
Journal Entry Preparation
Important: This skill assists with journal entry workflows but does not provide financial advice. All entries should be reviewed by qualified financial professionals before posting.
Best practices, standard entry types, documentation requirements, and review workflows for journal entry preparation.
Standard Accrual Types and Their Entries
Accounts Payable Accruals
Accrue for goods or services received but not yet invoiced at period end.
Typical entry:
- Debit: Expense account (or capitalize if asset-qualifying)
- Credit: Accrued liabilities
Sources for calculation:
- Open purchase orders with confirmed receipts
- Contracts with services rendered but unbilled
- Recurring vendor arrangements (utilities, subscriptions, professional services)
- Employee expense reports submitted but not yet processed
Key considerations:
- Reverse in the following period (auto-reversal recommended)
- Use consistent estimation methodology period over period
- Document basis for estimates (PO amount, contract terms, historical run-rate)
- Track actual vs accrual to refine future estimates
Fixed Asset Depreciation
Book periodic depreciation expense for tangible and intangible assets.
Typical entry:
- Debit: Depreciation/amortization expense (by department or cost center)
- Credit: Accumulated depreciation/amortization
Depreciation methods:
- Straight-line: (Cost - Salvage) / Useful life — most common for financial reporting
Reading the full skill counts as a download. The contributor receives your name, company, and email.
Ratings & reviews
No written reviews yet. If you run this on a live file, say how it went. The next lender reading this page is deciding whether to trust it.
Examination record
Run it in Claude
- Copy the install command above
- Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- It writes the skill in, fills in your firm’s details, and test-runs it with you
Prefer the file? The prompt above is for a package you already downloaded.
Details
More from Anthropic
Imported from their public repository with attribution. Their other skills, and where to find the original, are on their contributor page.