Bad Debts / Irrecoverable Debts
An entity may not be able to recover its balances outstanding in respect of certain receivables. In accountancy we refer to such receivables as Irrecoverable Debts or Bad Debts. Bad debts could arise for a number of reasons such as customer going bankrupt, trade dispute or fraud.
Every time an entity realizes that it unlikely to recover its debt from a receivable, it must 'write off' the bad debt from its books. This ensures that the entity's assets (i.e. receivables) are not stated above the amount it can reasonably expect to recover which is in line with the concept of prudence.
Accounting entry required to write off a bad debt is as follows:
Debit Bad Debt Expense
Credit Receivable
The credit entry reduces the receivable balance to nil as no amount is expected to be recovered from the receivable. The debit entry has the effect of cancelling the impact on profit of the sales that were previously recognized in the income statement.