Question

Douglas International consistently estimated its bad debt expense at 2 percent of credit sales. In 2020, however, Douglas determines that it should revise downward the estimate of bad debts for the current year’s credit sales to 1.5 percent. Douglas uses the revised estimate of 1.5% and calculates bad debt expense of $420,000. How is the change in the estimated bad debt expense reported in Douglas’ 2020 financial statements?

Answer 1

Answer: $420,000 of expense in the income statement as an ordinary item. Douglas’ accounts for this change in estimate in the period of change by reporting the newly calculated amount of bad debt expense as an ordinary item of income. Changes in estimate are not considered an extraordinary item, an error correction, or a change in accounting principle.