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Bad debt in accounting is considered an expense. There are two methods to account for bad debt: Direct write off method (Non-GAAP): a receivable that is not considered collectible is charged directly to the income statement. [5] Allowance method (GAAP): an estimate is made at the end of each fiscal year of the amount of bad debt.
The purpose of making such a declaration is to help support a tax deduction for bad debts under Section 166 of the Internal Revenue Code. In that respect it is a form of write-off. Bad debts and even fraud are simply part of the cost of doing business. The charge-off, though, does not free the debtor of having to pay the debt.
A third classification of adjusting entry occurs where the exact amount of an expense cannot easily be determined. The depreciation of fixed assets, for example, is an expense which has to be estimated. The entry for bad debt expense can also be classified as an estimate.
Factoring is a financial transaction and a type of debtor finance in which a business sells its accounts receivable (i.e., invoices) to a third party (called a factor) at a discount. [1] [2] [3] A business will sometimes factor its receivable assets to meet its present and immediate cash needs.
Corporations will often wait until a bad year to employ this 'big bath' technique to 'clean up' the balance sheet. Although the process is discouraged by auditors, it is still used. In recent times, General Motors and other US corporations have taken huge write downs on balance sheet assets resulting in massive losses. The same result can be ...
There are also long-term business loans, which may offer 10 to 20 years to repay the debt. Online lenders tend to be more willing to work with business owners with less-than-ideal credit.
The distinction is that while a write-off is generally completely removed from the balance sheet, a write-down leaves the asset with a lower value. [4] As an example, one of the consequences of the 2007 subprime crisis for financial institutions was a revaluation under mark-to-market rules: "Washington Mutual will write down by $150 million the ...
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