difference between accrued receivables and accounts receivable

[straightmarble02]

I looked them up in a glossary page of my accounting book, but I don't yet distinguish between "accounts receivable" and "accrued receivables". Can anybody give an explanation to clarify the ambiguity so that I can better understand them?

Receivables: a company's claims to the future collection of cash, other assets, or services.
Accounts receivable: receivables resulting from the sale of goods or services on account.
Accrued receivables: the recognition of revenue earned before cash is received

 

[kirby]

Accounts receivable are typically recorded as the result of a sale of your product. At that point, you issue an invoice and DR Accounts Receivable and CR Sales Revenue. So there was a SALES TRANSACTION that generated the entry.
Accrued receivables are typically recorded as (like it says above) you recognize revenue earned before cash is received. SO - example: You make a loan to someone and the agreement is that they will pay you interest each quarter end. So at the end of the first month, you can record your right to receive one month's worth of interest. Your entry is DR Accrued Interest Receivable CR Interest Income and the entry is in the amount of one month's worth of income that you calculated based on the loan principal, loan interest rate and one month of having earned interest.