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contra asset account definition

By recording reductions in a separate account, companies can get better insights into their actual accounts. The most prominent of these include allowing companies to present a more accurate picture of their assets. For example, after six years, the asset’s book value on the balance sheet will be $40,000. However, it will also have a negative accumulated depreciation of $60,000, offsetting that cost.

Contra Revenue Account

contra asset account definition

This general structure can be applied across all contra types, so if the parent account has a credit, the contra account will have a debit. Similarly, if the parent account lists entries as debits, http://dance-fm.ru/forum/12-sankt-peterburg/147-25-08-11-dubstep-vozduh-reso-uk-vozdukh.html the contra account will appear as a credit. Consider a business that offers an early payment discount to its customers, cutting their invoiced total by 3% if they pay within 1 week of invoicing.

What is a Contra Asset Account? Definition, Types, Example, and More

If the bond is sold at a discount, the company will record the cash received from the bond sale as «cash», and will offset the discount in the contra liability account. The revenue contra accounts Sales Returns, Discounts and Allowances are subtracted from the main Sales Revenue account to present the net balance on a company’s income statement. Far less common is the obsolete inventory reserve, which reduces https://libinfo.org/soft/index.php?cat=Utilities the overall inventory value on the balance sheet. This contra account holds a reserve, similar to the allowance for doubtful accounts. For each debit against the inventory account, there will be a corresponding credit against the obsolete inventory contra account. The allowance for doubtful accounts is a contra asset because it reduces the value of the accounts receivable (AR) account on the general ledger.

Taking a closer look at contra asset accounts

contra asset account definition

In this scenario, a write-down is recorded to the reserve for obsolete inventory. The Notes Receivable account documents the total value of any promissory notes held by the company. Typically, these notes reflect purchases made on credit by your customers. To obtain a cash payout before the note reaches maturity, you can sell these notes to a bank or other financial institution for some price below the note’s face value. A contra account is an asset account that is kept at either a negative or zero balance and is used on a balance sheet to offset the positive balance of a paired asset. To put it another way, a contra account is an account listed within a general ledger with the purpose of capturing the reduced value of a paired or related account when the two are added together.

Examples of Contra Accounts

Fortunately, the seat vendor offered an early payment discount of 5%, meaning that when Show-Fleur paid off its full credit note within the first 30 days, it recouped $30 thousand in savings. Wanting to spruce up its aging inventory, Show-Fleur purchased new, climate controlled-seats for its fleet, delivering increased comfort for passengers and a cleaner, more modern look for vehicle http://www.coders-library.ru/search-word-RSS.html interiors. The initial cost of this upgrade was $8 thousand per limo or $600,000 in total. A business called Show-Fleur offers private driving tours of local botanical gardens — all from the comfort of high-end limousines. For its day-to-day operations, the business maintains a fleet of 75 identical 2016 Ford Explorer limousines, each initially retailing at $150 thousand.

contra asset account definition

Often when a company extends goods on credit, management expects some of those customers not to pay and so anticipates writing off bad debt. Sometimes, the current value of a note receivable will fall compared to its face value. This process will give rise to a contra asset account which is the discount on notes receivables. Regardless of that, allowance for receivables accounts will exist for all companies that have account receivable balances. This account helps companies present a more accurate accounts receivable balance on the financial statements. Similarly, allowance for receivables will pair with accounts receivable balances.

Do Contra Accounts Have Debit or Credit Balances?

In the realm of accounting, various techniques are used to ensure financial statements provide an accurate and comprehensive view of a company’s financial health. One such method is the use of contra accounts, a type of account that directly correlates and offsets a related account. In finance, a contra liability account is one that is debited for the explicit purpose of offsetting a credit to another liability account. In other words, the contra liability account is used to adjust the book value of an asset or liability. A second example of a contra asset account is Accumulated Depreciation. 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.

The allowance method of accounting allows a company to estimate what amount is reasonable to book into the contra account. The percentage of sales method assumes that the company cannot collect payment for a fixed percentage of goods or services that it has sold. When considering all of the money currently owed to your business that’s recorded in your Accounts Receivable (A/R) line item as an existing asset, there’s a good chance that not all of those customers are going to pay you back in full. To compensate for those potential deadbeat customers, you can use a Bad Debts account to serve as a contra for your A/R. Now, if that sounded like a lot of mumbo-jumbo jargon to you, don’t worry.

The list of asset accounts on your general ledger and balance sheet conveys the combined, potential value of all of the tangible and intangible items that your organization possesses. But in the real world, converting all of that potential into hard cash is highly unlikely, if not impossible. Instead, you need to record this value gap, and a contra asset account serves that purpose. A contra revenue represents any deductions or offsets that need to be removed from gross revenue to provide a clearer understanding of actual income  —  such as in the example just provided. These accounts will typically help track sales discounts, product returns, and allowances (e.g., a price reduction for a good with minor defects). Treasury stock represents shares of a company’s own stock that it has repurchased from shareholders but not retired.

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