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Rewrite some of it, simplify language, remember we are talking about bad debt expense, we need a better image and delete the one in this article. In the end cover a new heading “provision for bad debts”.
A question often asked is, “is bad debt an asset or liability?”
Bad Debts
In layman’s language, Bad Debt is an expense incurred by a business that the debtor does not repay in due course of time for reasons such as fraud, insolvency of the debtor, etc. We can also refer to them as Uncollectible Accounts Expenses and Irrecoverable Debts.
Meaning of Liability
Liabilities refer to the financial obligations of a business. In simple words, it is a sum of money owed by a debtor to a creditor under an agreement and is repayable on a specified period. For example, Bank Loans, Accounts Payable, Bank Overdrafts, etc.
Are Bad Debts an Expense or a Liability?
Bad Debts are an expense to the business and not a liability as the amount that was expected to be received from the debtor is irrecoverable and has a negative effect on the books of accounts by way of reduction from the accounts receivable.
It is recorded on the asset side of the balance sheet. However, it is entered in the balance sheet as a contra asset account, i.e. as a reduction from the accounts receivable. It is also recorded under operating expenses in the Income Statement as well as in the profit and loss a/c on the debit side.
Therefore, we can easily conclude now that bad debts are an expense and not a liability.
This concept is further explained with an example stated below.
Example
XYZ Ltd sells machinery to ABC Ltd. for 10,000 at 60 days credit. However, ABC Ltd is declared bankrupt and therefore can no longer pay the specified amount. This amount of 10,000 is an expense for XYZ Ltd and leads to a fall in the accounts receivables. Hence, it is not a liability for the company but an expense.
Bad Debts Shown in the Income Statement
(Extract of the Income statement)
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