Definition

定义

Bad debt is an expense that a business incurs once the repayment of credit previously extended to a customer is estimated to be uncollectible. Bad debt is a contingency that must be accounted for by all businesses who extend credit to customers, as there is always a risk that payment will not be received.

坏账是指企业因客户的贷款无法偿还产生的一项费用。坏账是所有向客户提供信贷的企业都必须考虑的意外情况，因为总是存在无法收到付款的风险。

 

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

要点

·Bad debt expense is an unfortunate cost of doing business with customers on credit, as there is always a default risk inherent to extending credit.

坏账费用是与信用客户进行业务往来的损失成本，因提供信用始终存在固有的违约风险。

·To comply with the matching principle, bad debt expense must be estimated using the allowance method in the same period in which the sale occurs.

为了遵守匹配原则，坏账费用必须在销售发生的同一时期使用备抵法进行估计。

·There are two main ways to estimate an allowance for bad debts: the percentage sales method and the accounts receivable aging method.

估计坏帐准备金的主要方法有两种：销售百分比法和应收账款账龄法。

·Bad debts can be written-off on both business and individual tax returns.

坏账可以在企业和个人纳税申报单上冲销。

 

Understanding Bad Debt

理解

There are two methods available to recognize bad debt expense. Using the direct write-off method, accounts are written off as they are directly identified as being uncollectible. This method is used in the United States for income tax purposes. However, while the direct write-off method records the precise figure for accounts that have been determined to be uncollectible, it fails to adhere to the matching principle used in accrual accounting and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

坏账费用的确认方法有两种。直接核销方法，指直接确认为无法收回的款项予以核销。在美国，此方法用于所得税目的。尽管直接核销法记录了已确定无法收回的帐目，但其没有遵循权责发生制会计中使用的匹配原则和公认会计原则（GAAP）。

 

The matching principle requires that expenses be matched to related revenues in the same accounting period in which the revenue transaction occurs. Therefore, in accordance with GAAP, bad debt expense must be estimated using the allowance method in the same period in which the credit sale occurs and appears on the income statement under the sales and general administrative expense section. Because no significant period of time has passed since the sale, a company does not know which exact accounts will be paid and which will default. So, an amount is established based on an anticipated and estimated figure. Companies often use their historical experience to estimate the percentage of sales they expect to become bad debt.

匹配原则要求将费用与收入交易发生的同一会计期间的相关收入进行配比。因此，根据公认会计原则，坏账费用必须在赊销发生的同一时期使用备抵法进行估算，并出现在损益表的销售和一般管理费用部分。鉴于自出售以来间隔时间不长，公司不知道哪些确切的帐户会被支付，哪些会违约。因此，根据预期和估计的数字确定金额，公司经常使用其历史经验来估计将变成坏账的销售百分比。

 

Recording Bad Debts

记录坏账

When recording estimated bad debts, a debit entry is made to bad debt expense and an offsetting credit entry is made to a contra asset account, commonly referred to as the allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance for doubtful accounts nets against the total accounts receivable presented on the balance sheet to reflect only the amount estimated to be collectible. This allowance accumulates across accounting periods and may be adjusted based on the balance in the account.

在记录估计的坏账时，将对坏账费用进行借项录入，对冲资产账户（通常称为坏账备抵）进行抵销贷方录入。坏账备抵金与资产负债表上的应收账款总额相抵，以仅反映估计可收回的金额。该备抵金在各个会计期间内累积，并可根据帐户中的余额进行调整。

 

Methods of Estimating Bad Debt

估计坏帐的方法

Two primary methods exist for estimating the dollar amount of accounts receivables not expected to be collected. Bad debt expense can be estimated using statistical modeling such as default probability to determine a company's expected losses to delinquent and bad debt. The statistical calculations utilize historical data from the business as well as from the industry as a whole. The specific percentage will typically increase as the age of the receivable increases, to reflect increasing default risk and decreasing collectibility. Alternatively, a bad debt expense can be estimated by taking a percentage of net sales, based on the company’s historical experience with bad debt. Companies regularly make changes to the allowance for doubtful accounts, so that they correspond with the current statistical modeling allowances.

估计未收回的应收账款的美元金额的方法主要有两种。可以使用统计模型（例如，违约概率来确定公司因拖欠和坏帐而造成的预期损失）来估计坏帐费用。统计计算利用来自企业以及整个行业的历史数据。特定百分比通常会随着应收账龄的增加而增加，以反映违约风险的增加和可收回性的降低。另外，可以根据公司过去的坏账经验，通过占净销售额的百分比来估算坏账费用。公司会定期更改呆账准备金，使其与当前的统计模型准备金相对应。

 

Accounts Receivable Aging Method

应收账款账龄法

The aging method groups all outstanding accounts receivable by age and specific percentages are applied to each group. The aggregate of all groups' results is the estimated uncollectible amount.

账龄法将所有未清应收账款按账龄进行分组，并将特定百分比应用于每个组。所有组的结果总计是估计的无法收集的金额。

 

For example, a company has $70,000 of accounts receivable less than 30 days outstanding and $30,000 of accounts receivable more than 30 days outstanding. Based on previous experience, 1% of accounts receivable less than 30 days old will not be collectible and 4% of accounts receivable at least 30 days old will be uncollectible.

例如，一家公司有70,000美元的应收帐款余额少于30天，而30,000美元的应收帐款余额超过30天。根据以前的经验，应收账款中少于30天的应收账款中有1％将无法收回，而至少30天的应收账款中有4％将无法收回。

 

Therefore, the company will report an allowance and bad debt expense of $1,900 (($70,000 * 1%) + ($30,000 * 4%)). If the next accounting period results in an estimated allowance of $2,500 based on outstanding accounts receivable, only $600 ($2,500 - $1,900) will be the bad debt expense in the second period.

因此，该公司报告的备抵和坏账费用为$ 1,900（（$ 70,000 * 1％）+（$ 30,000 * 4％））。如果下一个会计期间基于未清应收帐款得出的估计备抵为$ 2,500，则第二期的呆账费用将只有$ 600（$ 2,500-$ 1,900）。

 

Percentage of Sales Method

销售比例

The sales method applies a flat percentage to the total dollar amount of sales for the period. For example, based on previous experience, a company may expect that 3% of net sales are not collectible. If the total net sales for the period is $100,000, the company establishes an allowance for doubtful accounts for $3,000 while simultaneously reporting $3,000 in bad debt expense. If the following accounting period results in net sales of $80,000, an additional $2,400 is reported in the allowance for doubtful accounts, and $2,400 is recorded in the second period in bad debt expense. The aggregate balance in the allowance for doubtful accounts after these two periods is $5,400.

销售方法将固定百分比应用于该期间的总销售金额。例如，根据以往的经验，公司可能期望无法收取净销售额的3％。如果该期间的净销售总额为100,000美元，则该公司将3,000美元的呆账准备金计入呆账，同时报告3,000美元的坏账费用。如果下一个会计期间的净销售额为80,000美元，则在呆帐准备金中另外报告2,400美元，在第二个期间将2,400美元记入坏账费用。在这两个期间之后，呆账准备金的总余额为5,400美元。

 

Special Considerations

注意事项

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows businesses to write-off bad debt on Form 1040, Schedule C if they have previously been reported as income. Bad debt may include loans to clients and suppliers, credit sales to customers, and business-loan guarantees. However, deductible bad debt does not typically include unpaid rents, salaries, or fees.

国税局（IRS）允许企业在先前已将其报告为收入的情况下，在1040表格C表中注销坏账。坏账可能包括对客户和供应商的贷款，对客户的信贷销售以及商业贷款担保。但是，可抵扣坏账通常不包括未付的租金，薪水或费用。

 

For example, a food distributor that delivers a shipment of food to a restaurant on credit in December will record the sale as income on its tax return for that year. But if the restaurant goes out of business in January and does not pay the invoice, the food distributor can write off the unpaid bill as a bad debt on its tax return in the following year.

例如，一家食品分销商在12月以信贷方式将食品运送到一家餐馆，则该销售将在该年的纳税申报中记录为收入。但是，如果餐厅在1月停业并且不支付发票，则食品分销商可以在下一年将未付帐单记为其纳税申报单上的坏账。

 

Individuals are also able to deduct a bad debt from their taxable income if they have previously included the amount in their income or loaned out cash and can prove that they intended to make a loan at the time of the transaction and not a gift. The IRS classifies non-business bad debt as short-term capital losses.

如果个人先前已将其金额计入收入或借出现金，并且能够证明他们打算在交易时提供贷款而不是赠与，则他们也可以从应税收入中扣除坏账。国税局（IRS）将非企业坏账分类为短期资本损失。

 

英文来源：https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/baddebt.asp