Bookkeeping

Contra Account Definition, Types, and Example

The credit balance in this account is amortized or allocated to Interest Income or Interest Revenue over the life of a note receivable. A contra equity account is an account that is used to offset another equity account on the balance sheet. Contra equity accounts are typically used for a company to buy back its stock or shares.

In other words, accumulated depreciation will be $10,000 each year until the car depreciates to $0 twenty years later. The auditors aim to keep the balances at their adequate levels, but the controller might want to keep them as low as possible to reduce expenses and maximize profit levels. extension of time to file your tax return When researching companies, the financial statement is a great place to start. Contra accounts are confusing at first, but, with a little study, understanding them becomes second nature. Let’s go over how they work and what the main types are, and then finish with an example.

  • The level designs themselves are drastically different from the arcade version too.
  • 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).
  • This content was originally created by member WallStreetOasis.com and has evolved with the help of our mentors.
  • The most common contra account is the accumulated depreciation account, which offsets the fixed asset account.
  • And all such contra entries are denoted by writing the letter ‘C’ in the L.F.

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They are called “contra” asset accounts because these accounts are contrary to normal accounts. Including contra revenue accounts is important in the income statement because it shows the original amount of sales the firm has made, along with any factor that has reduced that amount. Contra liability accounts are special accounts in the liabilities section of the balance sheet. They aim to reduce the balance of some related liability accounts. This would let users of the financial statements calculate the book value of the liability. Note that in accounting, the term “book value” is also used interchangeably with net value.

Hence, the company will have gross revenue or net sales equal to $9,900. To oppose the revenue made by a company, contra revenue accounts must have a debit balance. Whenever the balance of a contra asset account increases (credit to the contra asset account), the increased amount is written off as an expense and is reported in the company’s income statement. Sometimes, both accounts can be written in a single line if they don’t represent a large portion of the assets. In case the contra asset account is not listed in the balance sheet, it must be listed in the footnotes of the financial statement for the users to be informed.

The definition can be expanded to include contra accounts in general. Contra accounts act like regular accounts on the balance sheet but have a unique purpose. Hence, the term valuation account represents all types of balance sheet accounts related to their corresponding balance sheet accounts. This helps the firms to evaluate the book value of their assets and liabilities. If you’re valuing a low-growth company based on its equipment assets, you want to use the net value to be conservative.

These balances cannot offset asset accounts that do not relate to them. A contra-asset account is an account that opposes the balances of other asset accounts. As mentioned, a company will usually have debit balances in its asset accounts.

It is an account receivable (a debt owed to the creditor) but with a credit balance (an amount owed to the debtor greater than what is owed to the creditor). The creditor therefore owes the debtor money, the opposite of the normal debtor-creditor relationship. In footnote 3, the company reports, “Net property and equipment includes accumulated depreciation and amortization of $25.3 billion as of August 1, 2021 and $24.1 billion as of January 31, 2021.” During bull markets, cyclical sectors such as technology and financials perform well and get more expensive in terms of price, while contra market sectors such as consumer staples and utilities underperform.

  • These accounts can significantly reduce balances on the balance sheet.
  • It’s highly likely that your books will benefit from this process in terms of clarity, transparency, and the amount of time it takes to do accounting.
  • That is done by crediting accounts receivable by $100 and debiting the contra revenue account sales returns and allowances for $100.
  • Whereas assets normally have positive debit balances, contra assets, though still reported along with other assets, have an opposite type of natural balance.
  • This type of accounts involves the products or goods of a company that is now unusable or obsolete.
  • Therefore, the asset’s net value (or the book value) will be $70,000.

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Contra Asset Accounting & Examples

A customer returned $100 worth of items, claiming them to be defective. A contra asset account is an account in the balance sheet that offsets the balance of a regular asset account. Contra liabilities are common in companies that sell bonds to raise capital. To drum up interest in the bond, the company will sell it at a discount. For example, a bond with a principal amount of $1,000 may be sold for only $950.

The balance sheet will show a gross fixed assets value, a contra account value for accumulated depreciation, and a net value. All three values can be useful for investors depending on what they’re looking for. Normal asset accounts have a debit balance, while contra asset accounts are in a credit balance. Therefore, a contra asset can be regarded as a negative asset account.

Contra Liability Account

The company estimates that it will not be able to collect 1,000 from its customers. The allowance for doubtful accounts is a contra asset account that is used to offset Accounts Receivable on the balance sheet. The natural balance of a contra asset account, in this case, is exactly the opposite of the balance of the related account.

Example of a Contra Account

Obsolete inventory accounts are very important in dealing with this, especially when many smaller businesses struggle with obsolete assets regularly. Therefore, it reduces the value of shareholders’ equity by the amount paid for those repurchased stocks. Note that the contra liability account has a positive balance (a debit balance), and the liability account normally has a credit balance. Hence, the book value of the liability will be the credit balance of the liability account minus the debit balance of its contra liability counterpart. Both the asset and the corresponding contra asset accounts must be stated clearly in the balance sheet.

Even small businesses benefit immensely from contra asset accounts. Companies are recommended to use contra asset accounts for their fixed assets. It’s highly likely that your books will benefit from this process in terms of clarity, transparency, and the amount of time it takes to do accounting. Obsolete inventory or obsolete inventory reserves is another popular type of contra asset accounts.

Another contra asset account is Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. This account appears next to the current asset Accounts Receivable. The account Allowance for Doubtful Account is credited when the account Bad Debts Expense is debited under the allowance method. The use of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts allows us to see in Accounts Receivable the total amount that the company has a right to collect from its credit customers.

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