How to Design a Write-Off Form For Accounting

Every business must occasionally write off expenses due to loss, theft, non-payment or damage.

Write-offs are a simple fact of corporate life. Every business must occasionally write off expenses due to loss, theft, non-payment or damage. Businesses may also write off charitable donations. Tracking write-offs is an important part of ensuring clean accounting and effective operations. Many functional areas within an organization may need to report or approve write-offs. Creating a standardized form with clear instructions is a smart way to ensure that write-off information is compiled completely and correctly.

Instructions

1. Create a header. Title your document "Write-Off Form" in large print. Add your company name.

2. Create an area for basic information. Include fields for the name, title and department of the individual reporting the write-off. Provide fields for the date of the loss and the date of the report. Add fields for a project name and number and a client name and number.

3. Create a section for write-off types. You may leave this area blank or you may provide a list of common write-off reasons (with associated accounting codes, if you use them). If you provide a list, provide an easy way for the user to identify the reasons, such as a check box by each line item.

4. Provide a comments section. This allows users to provide details about the write-off situation, such as what exactly is being written off and why. Users should also give details such as the name of the charity in the case of a donation or a police report number in case of theft.

5. Provide a reimbursements section. Use a simple Yes/No option to indicate whether the cost of the write-off may be reimbursable by an outside entity. Provide a field for the user to write in this entity or provide a list of common entities (such as suppliers, insurers, etc.) and a field in which to enter the total reimbursement amount.

6. Provide a cost field. Ask users to express the actual hard cost as a dollar figure. Indicate that items should be valued at wholesale replacement cost.

7. Create an approval section. Provide fields for the name, title and date of the person approving the write-off as well as a signature line.

8. Provide reporting instructions. This may be as simple as saying: "Return this form to the accounting department."

9. Establish version control. In the footer, insert a fixed date/time field. If you post your documents to an internal server, ensure that users have access only to the most recent version.

References

• B to B Credit Solutions: Write-Off Form
• Evergreen: Bad Debt Write Off Procedure
• Credit Management Association: Bad Debt/Write-Off Form