Once the company has identified accounts that are likely to be uncollectible, it needs to estimate the amount of uncollectible accounts. Accounting for uncollectible accounts involves estimating the amount of uncollectible accounts and creating an allowance for doubtful accounts. Suppose a company generated $1 million of credit sales in Year 1 but projects that 5% of those sales are very likely to be uncollectible based on historical experience.

The bad debt expense required is recorded with the following aging of accounts receivable method journal entry. The second method of estimating the allowance for doubtful accounts is the aging method. All outstanding accounts receivable are grouped by age, and specific percentages are applied to each group. The amount credited to the bad debt expense account is the estimated amount of uncollectible accounts for the period.

• On the income statement, Bad Debt Expense would still be 1%of total net sales, or  $5,000.
• For the taxpayer, this means that if a company sells an item on
  credit in October 2018 and determines that it is uncollectible in
  June 2019, it must show the effects of the bad debt when it files
  its 2019 tax return.
• Using this allowance method, the estimated balance required for the allowance for doubtful accounts at the end of the accounting period is 7,100.
• When assessing accounts receivable, there may come a time when it becomes clear that one or more accounts are simply not going to be paid.
• The amount of bad debt is then subtracted from accounts receivable and added to bad debt expense or uncollectible accounts expense.

Let’s say Barry and Sons Boot Makers sold $5 million worth of boots to many customers. Barry and Sons Boot Makers would record revenues of $5 million and accounts receivable of $5 million. Ideally, you’d want 100% of your invoices paid, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way. Assuming some of your customer credit balances will go unpaid, how do you determine what is a reasonable allowance for doubtful accounts?

Cash Flow Statement

In accordance with the matching principle of accounting, this ensures that expenses related to the sale are recorded in the same accounting period as the revenue is earned. The allowance for doubtful accounts also helps companies more accurately estimate the actual value of their account receivables. Under the direct write-off method, bad debt expense serves as a direct loss from uncollectibles, which ultimately goes against revenues, lowering your net income.

The following table
reflects how the relationship would be reflected in the current
(short-term) section of the company’s Balance Sheet. Next, we’ll look at a more sophisticated way to calculate the net realizable value of accounts receivable and the allowance for doubtful accounts, but first check your understanding of the percentage of receivables method. Let’s consider a situation where BWW had a $20,000 debit balance from the previous period.

• The allowance
  methodestimates bad debt during a period, based on
  certain computational approaches.
• The specific identity and the actual amount of these bad accounts will probably not be known for several months.
• Allowance for uncollectible accounts is a contra asset account on the balance sheet representing accounts receivable the company does not expect to collect.
• Let’s say that on April 8, it was determined that Customer Robert Craft’s account was uncollectible in the amount of $5,000.
• If actual experience differs, then management adjusts its estimation methodology to bring the reserve more into alignment with actual results.

The bad debt expense is entered as a debit to increase the expense, whereas the allowance for doubtful accounts is a credit to increase the contra-asset balance. You may notice that all three methods use the same accounts for
the adjusting entry; only the method changes the financial outcome. Also note that it is a requirement that the estimation method be
disclosed in the notes of financial statements so stakeholders can
make informed decisions.

Risk Classification Method

Based on this calculation the allowance method estimates that, of the credit sales of 65,000, an amount of 1,625 will become uncollectible at some point in the future. Using the allowance method, complying with the matching principle, invoicing best practices the amount is recorded in the current accounting period with the following percentage of credit sales method journal. Estimating uncollectible accounts Accountants use two basic methods to estimate uncollectible accounts for a period.

Allowance for doubtful accounts benchmarks

In addition, this accounting process prevents the large swings in operating results when uncollectible accounts are written off directly as bad debt expenses. Carefully consider that the allowance methods all result in the recording of estimated bad debts expense during the same time periods as the related credit sales. The allowance for doubtful accounts is a general ledger account that is used to estimate the amount of accounts receivable that will not be collected. A company uses this account to record how many accounts receivable it thinks will be lost.

Why Do Accountants Use Allowance for Doubtful Accounts?

In conclusion, accounting for uncollectible accounts involves estimating the amount of uncollectible accounts and creating an allowance for doubtful accounts. If the estimate of uncollectible accounts was too high, the company can reverse some of the allowance. It is important to note that writing off an uncollectible account does not affect the bad debt expense account. By making this journal entry, companies can ensure that the allowance for doubtful accounts is properly recorded and maintained.

Upgrading to a paid membership gives you access to our extensive collection of plug-and-play Templates designed to power your performance—as well as CFI’s full course catalog and accredited Certification Programs. Chartered accountant Michael Brown is the founder and CEO of Double Entry Bookkeeping. He has worked as an accountant and consultant for more than 25 years and has built financial models for all types of industries. He has been the CFO or controller of both small and medium sized companies and has run small businesses of his own. He has been a manager and an auditor with Deloitte, a big 4 accountancy firm, and holds a degree from Loughborough University.

An aging of accounts receivable stratifies receivables according to how long they have been outstanding. These percentages vary by company, but the older the account, the more likely it is to represent a bad account. Bad Debt Expense increases (debit), and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts increases (credit) for $22,911.50 ($458,230 × 5%).

In the preceding illustration, the $25,500 was simply given as part of the fact situation. If Ito Company’s management knew which accounts were likely to not be collectible, they would have avoided selling to those customers in the first place. The bad debt expense is then the difference between the calculated allowance for doubtful accounts at the end of the account period and the current allowance for doubtful accounts before adjustment. The allowance method is a technique for estimating and recording of uncollectible amounts when a customer fails to pay, and is the preferred alternative to the direct write-off method. You record the allowance for doubtful accounts by debiting the Bad Debt Expense account and crediting the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts account.

The matching principle states that revenue and expenses must be recorded in the same period in which they occur. Therefore, the allowance is created mainly so the expense can be recorded in the same period revenue is earned. Management may disclose its method of estimating the allowance for doubtful accounts in its notes to the financial statements. A Pareto analysis is a risk measurement approach that states that a majority of activity is often concentrated among a small amount of accounts.

The net effect of this transaction is to reduce the accounts receivable balance and the allowance for doubtful accounts by the same amount. Once the amount of uncollectible accounts has been estimated, the company needs to create an allowance for doubtful accounts. The balance in the account Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is ignored at the time of the weekly entries. However, at some later date, the stability in the allowance account have to be reviewed and perhaps further adjusted, so that the stability sheet will report the right internet realizable value. If the seller is a new company, it might calculate its bad money owed expense through the use of an business average until it develops its own expertise rate. The two methods used in estimating bad debt expense are 1) Percentage of sales and 2) Percentage of receivables.