Where Is Bad Debt on a Financial Statement?
Under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, bad debt is a portion of a business's outstanding liabilities that have been written off as an expense and, thus, a loss to the business. Bad debt may appear on the financial systems under several similar names--"uncollectible" or "doubtful" accounts are two common terms--and may also appear on multiple places on the financial statements.
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Significance
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Bad debts occur when a company is unable to recover a debt it is owed. For a bad debt to be recorded, that debt owed the company must be recorded on the company's financial statements. Although, for most companies, bad debts are most commonly associated with accounts receivable from the sale of goods and services, they may relate to any debts owed a company, including loans and deposits. Bad debt is an estimate computed by the company's management.
Balance Sheet
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Bad debts are often first recorded on a company's balance sheet. When a company deems it is unlikely to collect upon a debt, it will establish an "allowance for doubtful accounts" that will be used to offset, or reduce, the amount of debt reported as an asset on the company's financial statements. An allowance for doubtful accounts is only used when the collectibility of the debt is in question. When the debt is clearly not collectible, the entire asset will be removed from the balance sheet.
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Income Statement
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Whenever a bad debt is recorded, it is also reported on the company's income statement, or statement of earnings, for the period in which it is recorded. The bad debt is an expense and reduces the amount of a company's net income or increases the amount of a company's net loss. Bad debt is typically included in the calculation of a company's ordinary income, although in very rare cases of significant one-time loss, it may be recorded as an "extraordinary item."
Earnings Management
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Because bad debt expense is typically an estimate, a company's management has the ability to manipulate the estimate to manage a company's earnings. Companies wishing to show steady, consistent earnings may be tempted to manipulate the amount of bad debt expense either up or down over consecutive periods to "smooth" the earnings and avoid significant earnings volatility from period to period. Auditors of financial statements will typically examine the bad debt estimations to insure this is not occurring.
Tax Treatment
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Since bad debt is both an estimate and a deductible amount for income tax purposes, there is additional incentive for management to overestimate the amount of bad debt for income tax reporting purposes. In the United States, it is typically more difficult to deduct debt for income tax purposes than it is for financial statement reporting purposes. The Internal Revenue Service has numerous requirements and tests to determine which bad debts may be deductible for income tax purposes.
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References
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