By ALICIA TUOVILA

Reviewed by MARGARET JAMES

Fact checked by MICHAEL LOGAN

编写人：LICIA TUOVILA

审核人：MARGARET JAMES

事实核查人：MICHAEL LOGAN

What Is a Prepaid Expense?

什么是待摊费用？

A prepaid expense is an expense that has been paid for in advance but not yet incurred. In business, a prepaid expense is recorded as an asset on the balance sheet that results from a business making advance payments for goods or services to be received in the future.

待摊费用是指已经预先支付但尚未发生的费用。在公司资产负债表中，待摊费用记作资产，该等费用是公司针对未来收到的商品或服务提前支付的款项。

Prepaid expenses are initially recorded as assets, but their value is expensed over time onto the income statement. Unlike conventional expenses, the business will receive something of value from the prepaid expense over the course of several accounting periods.

待摊费用最初记作资产，但随着时间的推移，会进行费用化，记入当期损益表。与常规费用不同的是，公司将在未来多个会计期间基于待摊费用获益。

KEY TAKEAWAYS

关键要点

·In business accounting, a prepaid expense is any good or service that has been paid for but not yet incurred.

在企业会计中，待摊费用是指已经针对商品或服务支付但尚未发生的费用。

·Prepaid expenses are recorded on the balance sheet as an asset, most often as a current asset.

Over time, prepaid expenses are expensed onto the income statement.

待摊费用在资产负债表记作资产，通常为流动资产。随着时间的推移，待摊费用会进行费用化，记入当期损益表。

·GAAP stipulates that expenses should be recorded in the same period that the asset provides its benefit.

公认会计准则规定，费用应在资产带来收益的同一期间记录。

·Common prepaid expenses include insurance, leased office equipment, advertising, legal retainers, and estimated taxes.

常见的待摊费用包括保险、租赁办公设备、广告、律师聘用费和预估税款。

Understanding Prepaid Expenses

了解待摊费用

Companies make prepayments for goods or services such as leased office equipment or insurance coverage that provide continual benefits over time. Goods or services of this nature cannot be expensed immediately because the expense would not line up with the benefit incurred over time from using the asset.

公司针对租赁办公设备或保险等商品或服务提前支付款项，随着时间的推移，能够持续获得收益。由于所述费用无法与资产使用一段时间后发生的收益保持一致，这类商品或服务无法立即费用化。

Due to the nature of certain goods and services, prepaid expenses will always exist. For example, insurance is a prepaid expense because the purpose of purchasing insurance is to buy proactive protection in case something unfortunate happens in the future. Clearly, no insurance company would sell insurance that covers an unfortunate event after the fact, so insurance expenses must be prepaid by businesses.

由于某些商品和服务的性质，待摊费用会一直存在。以保险为例，购买保险就是对未来发生的不幸事件的积极保障，因此，保险是待摊费用。显然，保险公司不会在发生不幸事件后出售相关保险，那么，保险费用必须由企业提前支付。

Recording Prepaid Expenses

记录待摊费用

According to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), expenses should be recorded in the same accounting period as the benefit generated from the related asset. For example, if a large copying machine is leased by a company for a period of 12 months, the company benefits from its use over the full-time period.

公认会计准则规定，费用应在相关资产带来收益的同一期间记录。比如，一家公司租用一台大型复印机，租赁期限为12个月，在整个期间内，公司会从复印机使用中受益。

Recording an advanced payment made for the lease as an expense in the first month would not adequately match expenses with revenues generated from its use. Therefore, it should be recorded as a prepaid expense and allocated to expenses over the full 12 months.

如果第一个月将预付租金记为费用，则相关费用无法与使用复印机产生的收入充分匹配。因此，预付租金应记为待摊费用，在12个月的期限内分摊为费用。

Journal entries that recognize expenses related to previously recorded prepaid expenses are called adjusting entries. They do not record new business transactions but simply adjust previously recorded transactions. Adjusting entries for prepaid expenses is necessary to ensure that expenses are recognized in the period in which they are incurred.

确认与先前记录的预付费用有关的费用的会计分录，称为调整分录。这类分录不会记录新的商业交易，只是对先前记录的交易进行调整。就待摊费用而言，调整分录是有必要的，可以确保费用在发生时确认当期费用。

Example of a Prepaid Expense

待摊费用示例

For example, assume ABC Company purchases insurance for the upcoming 12-month period. It pays $120,000 upfront for the insurance policy. ABC Company will initially book the full $120,000 as a debit to prepaid insurance, an asset on the balance sheet, and a credit to cash.

假设ABC公司购买的保险期限为12个月，预付了120,000美元，最开始记账时，公司会将120,000美元借记“预付保险费”（在资产负债表作为资产），贷记“现金”。

Each month, an adjusting entry will be made to expense $10,000 (1/12 of the prepaid amount) to the income statement through a credit to prepaid insurance and a debit to insurance expense. In the 12th month, the final $10,000 will be fully expensed and the prepaid account will be zero.

每个月会作调整分录，贷记“预付保险费”，借记“保险费用”，将10,000美元（预付金的1/12）进行费用化，记入当期损益表。第十二个月，10,000美元将完全费用化，预付账款为零。

Is Prepaid Expense a Current Asset?

待摊费用是否属于流动资产？

Yes, prepaid expense is recorded as a current asset. Current assets are assets that a company plans to use or sell within a year; they are short-term assets. Most often, this is where the prepaid expense line item is recorded. If any prepaid expense will not be used within a year, then it must be recorded as a long-term asset.

属于。待摊费用记为流动资产。流动资产是指该公司计划在一年内使用或出售的资产，属于短期资产。如果任何待摊费用未在一年内使用，则待摊费用必须记为长期资产。

What Is the Difference Between Prepayment and Prepaid Expense?

预付账款与待摊费用之间有哪些差异？

Prepayments and prepaid expenses are different from one another. A prepayment means that you are just paying your bill earlier. For example, if you have a debt obligation, such as a loan, and you owe $1,000 next month but decide to pay that amount this month, that is a prepayment. A prepaid expense on the other hand is any good or service that you've paid for but have not used yet.

预付账款与待摊费用不同。预付账款是指提前支付账单费用。比如，需要承担贷款等债务，下个月欠付1,000美元，但是决定这个月偿还，1,000美元就是预付账款。待摊费用是指已经针对商品或服务支付但尚未发生的费用。

What Are Examples of Prepaid Expenses?

待摊费用示例有哪些？

Common examples of prepaid expenses include leases, rent, legal retainers, advertising costs, estimated taxes, insurance, salaries, and leased office equipment.

常见的待摊费用包括租赁费、租金、律师聘用费、广告费、预估税款、保险、员工工资和租赁办公设备。

The Bottom Line

结论

Prepaid expense is an accounting line item on a company's balance sheet that refers to goods and services that have been paid for but not yet incurred. Recording prepaid expenses must be done correctly according to accounting standards. They are first recorded as an asset and then over time expensed onto the income statement.

待摊费用是公司资产负债表的一个会计科目，是指已经针对商品或服务支付但尚未发生的费用。待摊费用必须按照会计准则准确记录，最初记为资产，随着时间的推移，进行费用化，记入当期损益表。