Contra Account Definition + Journal Entry Examples

Double Entry Bookkeeping is here to provide you with free online information to help you learn and understand bookkeeping and introductory accounting. GAAP, the allowance for doubtful accounts represents management’s estimate of the percentage of “uncollectible” accounts receivable (i.e. the credit purchases from customers that are not expected to be paid). Advisory services provided by Carbon Collective Investment LLC (“Carbon Collective”), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Taking the example of CCC again, the company has $50,000 in accounts receivable at year-end of December 31. CCC estimates that 5% of accounts receivable will most likely be unrecoverable.

Definition of Contra Asset Account

For example, when the credit amount in allowance for doubtful accounts increases, it is also recorded in the bad debt expense as a debit increase. Contra assets are accounts in the general ledger—where you enter your transactions—that carry a balance used to offset the account with which it is paired. Instead of debiting the asset account directly, the contra asset account balance will be credited (reduced) separately.

Types of Contra Assets

In an accounting system, ledger accounts are designed to contain only similar transactions and/or balances. A separate account is needed whenever the nature of transactions changes. It is because clubbing together dissimilar transactions impedes any analysis. For example, we need separate accounts to hold the actual cost of property, plant and equipment (PPE) and related accumulated depreciation. If we record depreciation expense in the cost accounts directly, we will lose key information about the original cost of the assets and accumulated depreciation. To avoid this loss of important data, we record actual cost and depreciation in separate ledger accounts.

Popular Types of Contra Accounts

• A contra account is a general ledger account with a balance that is opposite of the normal balance for that account classification.
• Utilizing contra accounts in financial accounting has several significant advantages that enhance financial transparency and enable more effective financial management.
• Contra asset accounts can be used in a variety of areas, but there are three contra asset examples that you should pay close attention to.
• They provide a more nuanced picture of a company’s finances, allowing stakeholders to make informed decisions based on realistic, transparent financial information.
• The account offsets the balance in the respective asset account that it is paired with on the balance sheet.

The balance sheet would show the piece of equipment at its historical cost, then subtract the accumulated depreciation to reflect the accurate value of the asset. Contra liability, equity, and revenue accounts have natural debit balances. These three types of contra accounts http://viperson.ru/wind.php?id=365426 are used to reduce liabilities, equity, and revenue which all have natural credit balances. Therefore, for these three, the debit balance actually represents a negative amount. A debit will be made to the bad debt expense for $4,000 to balance the journal entry.

Contra Account Example: Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Similarly, accrued liabilities reduce the total amount of current liabilities. Overall, contra accounts are offsetting balances that are the opposite of specific accounts. There are several examples of contra accounts, including accumulated depreciation, accumulated depletion, accumulated amortization, allowance for receivables, etc. These are all examples of contra-asset accounts, which are the prevalent type of contra accounts. These less-frequent contra accounts come into play when you need to account for changes in the outstanding liabilities for your business. For example, when your company borrows money, you would identify that debt in a Notes Payable account.

What Are the Different Types of Contra Accounts?

• The key example of a contra equity account is Treasury stock, which represents the amount paid to buyback stock.
• This account helps companies present a more accurate accounts receivable balance on the financial statements.
• Accountants use contra accounts rather than reduce the value of the original account directly to keep financial accounting records clean.
• We will define what contra accounts are, the types of contra accounts and provide examples to illustrate.
• In other words, contra revenue is a deduction from gross revenue, which results in net revenue.
• Last, for contra revenue accounts there are sales discounts, sales allowances, or sales returns.

There is almost always a story behind data; a clarification or historical insight that changes the meaning behind raw figures. In a report, layering on that additional context can be easy, but in a general ledger, you have few options for https://sparrowhawkind.com/singapore-financial-system-newest-information-headlines.html conveying nuance and subtlety. Namely, within a ledger, each account is intended to contain transactions and balances of a similar type only. But sometimes, dissimilar transactions are important to consider together within a ledger.

Contra Equity Account

For example, an accounts receivable’s contra account is a contra asset account. This type of account can also be called the bad debt reserve or allowance for doubtful accounts. For the purpose of presentation on primary financial statements, we are often concerned only with the net figure of two similar classes/balances which we determine by subtracting one account from the another. For example, it is not very useful to show the PPE cost account and the related accumulated https://prosmi.ru/catalog/1879 depreciation account separately on the balance sheet. We are better off subtracting the accumulated depreciation account (the contra account) from PPE cost account (the parent account) to arrive at the net balance of the PPE. For instance, if a company has a plant asset such as Equipment with a debit balance of $92,000 and the account Accumulated Depreciation has a credit balance of $50,000, the carrying amount (or book value) of the equipment is $42,000.