Question

Prepare entries to record allowance for doubtful accounts. The ledger of Macarty Company at the end of the current year shows Accounts Receivable $78,000, Credit Sales $810,000, and Sales Returns and Allowances $40,000. Instructions If Macarty uses the direct write-off method to account for uncollectible accounts, journalize the adjusting entry at December 31, assuming Macarty determines that Matisse's $900 balance is uncollectible. If Allowance for Doubtful Accounts has a credit balance of $1,100 in the trial balance, journalize the adjusting entry at December 31, assuming bad debts are expected to be 10% of accounts receivable. If Allowance for Doubtful Accounts has a debit balance of $500 in the trial balance, journalize the adjusting entry at December 31, assuming bad debts are expected to be 8% of accounts receivable.

Answer 1

Answer:

• If Macarty uses the direct write-off method to account for uncollectible accounts, journalize the adjusting entry at December 31, assuming Macarty determines that Matisse's $900 balance is uncollectible.  

Bad debt expense       $ 900  

Accounts Receivable $ 900  

• If Allowance for Doubtful Accounts has a credit balance of $1,100 in the trial balance,  journalize the adjusting entry at December 31, assuming bad debts are expected to be 10% of accounts receivable.    

Bad debt expense                                      $ 6.700  

Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts $ 6.700  

• If Allowance for Doubtful Accounts has a debit balance of $500 in the trial balance, journalize the adjusting entry at December 31, assuming bad debts are expected to be 8% of accounts receivable.  

Bad debt expense                                 $ 6.740  

Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts $ 6.740

Explanation:

Accounts Uncollectible are those credit that the company give and there are not chances of been collected.

When the customers buy products on credits but then the company can't collect the debt, then it's necessary  to write off the unpaid bill as uncollectible .

One way it's to write-off directly the bad debts at the moment decided that the credit are uncollectible, the total amount  it's reported as bad debt expenses which affect negativly the income statement and the accounts receivable are reduce in the same amount, less assets.

The other way it's to determine a percentage of total amount of accounts receivables as uncollectible, exist many ways to analize the accounts receivable and figure the value of uncollectible.

When the company have the percentage of uncollectible accounts the journal entry required is Bad Expenses (debit) with Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts (credit)

At the moment of the write-off as the expenses were before recognized we only use the Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts (Debit) with Accounts Receivable (Credit), with this we are recognizing the uncollectible credit of the company.