When an invoice covers multiple months – like a quarterly elevator maintenance contract, an annual insurance premium, or a multi-month service agreement – you need to spread the expense across the correct accounting periods. In Inn-Flow, this is handled using a Prepaid chart of account and a Repeating Journal Entry to allocate the expense over time.
This ensures your Operating Statement reflects the correct expense amount each month rather than hitting a single period with the full cost.
Step 1: Enter the Invoice to a Prepaid Account
Go to the Invoice Inbox and enter the invoice as you normally would – vendor, invoice number, date, and amount.
For the Chart of Account, select Prepaid Other (or a similar COA that starts with the word "Prepaid"). This parks the full amount on the balance sheet rather than expensing it immediately.
Save and process the invoice through your normal approval and payment workflow.
Step 2: Create a Repeating Journal Entry
Next, set up a Repeating Journal Entry to move a portion of the prepaid amount into the correct expense account each month.
Navigate to Journal Entry from the main menu.
Click Add Journal Entry in the top right.
Select the same Vendor the invoice was paid to.
Toggle the Repeating option to On in the top right corner.
Set the Start Date to the first month of the allocation period (e.g., 10/1/2022) and the End Date to the last month (e.g., 12/1/2022).
For the Debit line, select the expense Chart of Account that should appear on your Operating Statement (e.g., Elevator Maintenance).
For the Credit line, select the same Prepaid COA you used in Step 1.
Enter the monthly allocation amount. Divide the total invoice by the number of months (e.g., $2,400 / 3 months = $800/month).
Click Save. Inn-Flow will automatically post the journal entry on the start date of each month in the range.
Example
You receive a $2,400 invoice for quarterly elevator service covering October through December 2022. Enter the invoice coded to Prepaid Other for the full $2,400. Then create a Repeating Journal Entry that debits Elevator Maintenance and credits Prepaid Other for $800 each month, starting 10/1/2022 and ending 12/1/2022. Your Operating Statement will show $800 in Elevator Maintenance expense for each of the three months.
How It Appears in Reports
Balance Sheet: The Prepaid Other balance decreases by $800 each month as the journal entries post.
Operating Statement: The expense account (e.g., Elevator Maintenance) shows $800 each month instead of a single $2,400 hit.
Journal Entry List: The repeating entries appear as individual journal entries, each dated to the first of the respective month.
IF PRO TIP: Always verify the math before saving. If the invoice total doesn't divide evenly, put the remainder in the first or last month's entry rather than rounding each month differently.