Before selecting a puzzle below,
you might want to read the following summary...

Accounts Receivable and Bad Debts Expense

Accounts receivable is a current asset that reports the amount a company's customers owe the company for goods or services provided on credit. Under accrual accounting, a company credits a revenue account and debits Accounts Receivable when billing customers. When an account receivable is collected, the accountant debits Cash and credits Accounts Receivable.

A company that extends credit to a customer faces the risk of not collecting the account receivable. If a loss does occur from extending credit, it is reported as an operating expense, such as bad debts expense.

There are two ways of reporting losses from credit sales. One is the direct write-off method. Under this approach, the company does not anticipate any loss. The asset Accounts Receivable is reported at its full amount and no expense is reported until it is known with certainty that a customer will not pay the amount owed. This method is not encouraged by accountants, because it may be overstating assets and net income.

The preferred way to report losses from credit sales is to anticipate that some receivables will not be collected. This approach is the allowance method. It gets it name because of the contra account to Accounts Receivable entitled Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. The credit balance in the allowance account works to value the accounts receivable at their approximate net realizable amount. Under the allowance method, the bad debts expense and the credit to the allowance account is reported closer to the time of the sale—thus providing a better matching with revenues. Under the allowance method the accounts receivable are reported at a more realistic and conservative amount.

To assist in the managing of accounts receivables, an aging of the accounts receivable is prepared. An aging sorts the customers' balances by how long the customers have owed the open invoice amounts.

Sales on credit involve credit terms such as "net 10 days" or "net 30 days" or "2/10, net 30" and others. Net 30 days means there is no discount allowed from the amount on the sales invoice. If the credit term is "2/10, net 30" the customer can remit 2% less than the invoice amount if the customer pays within 10 days. Otherwise the full amount is due in 30 days.

Click "Open" to start a puzzle.	Interactive	Printable
Accounts Receivable and Bad Debts Expense #1	Open	Print

Sample Accounts Receivable and Bad Debts Expense Questions

1) A company might borrow money by using its accounts receivable as ______________ for the loan.

2) To remind customers of the amount it owes, a company will mail ______________ to these customers. This document will show the open or unpaid invoices.

3) When goods are shipped FOB _____________ point, the sale and accounts receivable will occur at the seller's dock.

4) "2/10, net 30" is an example of credit __________.

5) Under the allowance method, the write-off of a bad account will involve two current ________ accounts.

6) Usually the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts will have a __________ balance.

7) The aging of accounts receivable is associated with the percentage of _____________ method for determining the amount of Bad Debts Expense.

8) The calculation of the accounts receivable turnover ratio is net credit sales divided by the ___________ balances of accounts receivable.

9) A company that is in the business of purchasing accounts receivable.

10) The allowance account to accounts receivable is a ________-asset account.

Download and Print all of our Accounting Materials

The most unique and effective way to learn accounting – over 1,300 testimonials.