Where the hours came from, where they went

The liability report says 21,880 hours. This page says why: 20,090 to open the quarter, 4,210 accrued, 2,370 taken, 50 adjusted away. Accrual outran usage by 1,840 hours, and that drift, not the balance, is the number that predicts December.

RuleRoll every balance forward like a bank account: opening plus accrued, minus taken, minus adjustments, equals closing. To the hour, by department, every period.

Neverreport a closing balance without its movement. A number that cannot show where it came from cannot defend where it is.

A balance that can show where it came from. Accrual outran usage by 1,840 hours, and that drift is the story.

◆ The quarter, rolled forward1 March to 31 May, in hours.

Department	Opening	Accrued	Taken	Adjustments	Closing
Sales	8,120	1,720	880	20	8,940
Technology Delivery	6,660	1,340	800	20	7,180
Support	5,310	1,150	690	10	5,760
All departments	20,090	4,210	2,370	50	21,880

Every row closes to the hour, and the closing column is exactly the 21,880 hours the liability report prices at 1,122,510.00. The adjustments column is small and named: exit payouts and corrections, not a plug. Sample values are illustrative, never client data.

◆ Why the movement is the reportthe closing number answers nothing alone.

Accrual outran usage by 1,840 hours this quarter: the workforce is banking time faster than it takes it. That single fact, invisible in any point-in-time balance, is next quarter’s liability growth, December’s expiry cliff, and the case for nudging vacations before the fourth quarter, all in one row of arithmetic.

◆ The owned answerthe roll-forward as a query over the event fact.

Accruals, usage, and adjustments are all rows in the absence event fact; the roll-forward is one grouped query with the opening balance carried from the prior period’s close. If the query’s closing disagrees with the daily balance fact, that difference is a defect, found the day it appears.

The event fact and the daily balance fact it reconciles against are drawn, with their grain and keys, on the absence star. The roll-forward is a grouped read of that model; the model page is the reference.

Use case

Problem

Balances are quoted as of today with no movement behind them, so liability growth surprises finance and nobody can say whether accrual is outrunning usage.

What we build

A roll-forward over the absence event fact: opening, accrued, taken, adjustments, closing, by department, reconciled to the daily balance fact every period.

What you get

A time-off balance sheet: every closing number defended by its movement, accrual-versus-usage drift visible quarterly, and the liability trend explained before the auditor asks.

Can your balance number show where it came from?

We build the roll-forward that closes to the hour every period.

Talk to us

Terms on this page

roll-forward: Opening plus movement equals closing; the balance-sheet discipline.
accrued: Hours granted by plan rules in the period.
taken: Hours used against approved absences.
adjustment: Named corrections and exit payouts; never a plug.
opening balance: The prior period’s closing, carried not recomputed.
drift: Accrual outrunning usage; the liability growth signal.