Legal Definitions - unaccrued

The term unaccrued describes something that has not yet accumulated, matured, or become legally due and payable. It refers to an obligation, a right, or a financial amount that exists in potential or is in the process of being earned, but has not yet reached the point where it must be paid or can be claimed.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Employee Wages: Imagine an employee who works from Monday to Friday, with payday scheduled for the following Friday. On Wednesday of the work week, the wages earned for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are considered unaccrued.

  Explanation: While the employee has performed the work and is earning the wages, the company's legal obligation to pay those specific wages has not yet fully matured. The wages are being accumulated, but they are not yet legally "due" until the designated payday.

• Loan Interest: Consider a homeowner with a mortgage. Interest on the loan accumulates daily, but the payment is due monthly, for example, on the first day of each month. On the 15th of any given month, the interest that has accumulated since the 1st of that month is unaccrued.

  Explanation: The interest is continuously building up, but the borrower is not legally obligated to pay that specific amount until the next scheduled payment due date. Until that date, it represents an amount that has not yet become a payable debt.

• Utility Bills: A household uses electricity throughout a billing cycle, which might run from the 1st to the 30th of the month, with the bill typically issued and due a few weeks later. On the 10th of the month, the cost of the electricity consumed from the 1st to the 10th is unaccrued.

  Explanation: The service has been used, and the cost is being incurred, but the utility company cannot legally demand payment for that specific amount until the billing cycle closes, the bill is generated, and the payment due date arrives. Until then, it's an expense that has not yet become legally due.