Contra Accounts: Definition, Meaning, Examples, Types, Importance

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 https://bookkeeping-reviews.com/ price below the note’s face value. 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 conveying nuance and subtlety.

• This means that the $85,000 balance is overstated compared to its real value.
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• Furthermore, these accounts are also crucial in allowing companies to record the original values for the paired accounts.
• The purpose of a contra liability account is to reduce the total liability shown on the balance sheet by reflecting specific adjustments, allowances, or discounts related to the liability.

In this article, we’re going on a deep dive into what exactly a contra account is, how contra accounts work, why and how you would use contra accounts and more. Contra accounts provide more detail to accounting figures and improve transparency in financial reporting. A contra account is also known as a valuation allowance, because it adjusts the carrying value of the account with which it is paired. In terms of the journal entries, the debit balance in “Discount on Bonds Payable” is subtracted from the credit balance in the “Bonds Payable”. The first contra liability listed is an original issue discount (OID), a feature of debt financing wherein the issuance price is less than the redemption price. A contra account enables a company to report the original amount while also reporting the appropriate downward adjustment.

Example of a Contra Liability Account

Instead, an adjusting journal entry is done to record the estimated amount of bad debt. By keeping the original dollar amount intact in the original account and reducing the figure in a separate account, the financial information is more https://kelleysbookkeeping.com/ transparent for financial reporting purposes. For example, if a piece of heavy machinery is purchased for $10,000, that $10,000 figure is maintained on the general ledger even as the asset’s depreciation is recorded separately.

• At the end of year 20, the car and the accumulated depreciation accounts will be written off from the balance sheet, as the car will be a fully depreciated asset.
• The Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is used to track the estimated bad debts a company my incur without impacting the balance in its related account, Accounts Receivable.
• Contra accounts are an essential component of the accounting process, designed to reflect the true value of assets, liabilities, equity, or revenue of a business.
• Accumulated depreciation decreases the value of an asset, bringing it more in line with its market value.
• The first time a contra asset account is recorded in a journal entry, it is to be deducted from the expense.
• A contra asset account is not classified as an asset, since it does not represent long-term value, nor is it classified as a liability, since it does not represent a future obligation.

Contra revenue accounts reduce revenue accounts and have a debit balance. A contra account offsets the balance in another, related account with which it is paired. Contra accounts appear in the financial statements directly below their paired accounts. Sometimes the balances in the two accounts are merged for presentation purposes, so that only a net amount is presented. If the related account is an asset account, then a contra asset account is used to offset it with a credit balance. If the related account is a liability account, then a contra liability account is used to offset it with a debit balance.

The purpose of contra accounts

When netted together, the two accounts yield the carrying value of a bond. The allowance for doubtful accounts – often called a “bad debt reserve” – would be considered a contra asset since it causes the accounts receivable (A/R) balance to decline. A contra account is an entry on the general ledger with a balance contrary to the normal balance for that categorization (i.e. asset, liability, or equity).

Understanding Contra Liability Accounts

Still, the dollar amounts are separately broken out in the supplementary sections most of the time for greater transparency in financial reporting. A contra account is used to show the opposite effect or reduction of a related account. In other words, accumulated depreciation will be $10,000 each year until the car depreciates to $0 twenty years later.

Contra revenue account

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 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.

This would allow the company to track the amount of money that has been borrowed. The contra liability account would be used to offset the liability account on the balance sheet. Below is the asset account debit balance and accumulated depreciation account credit balance on the balance sheet. In this example, the contra liability https://quick-bookkeeping.net/ account (Discount on Bonds Payable) is used to provide a more accurate and detailed representation of the company’s liability position. By accounting for the discount on the bonds issued, Green Energy Corp. can track its actual liabilities more effectively and make more informed decisions about its financing strategies.

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Or, if the contra liability account balance is immaterial, the accounting staff could elect not to keep a balance in the account at all. When the amount is material, the line item is typically presented separately on the balance sheet, below the liability account with which it is paired. A contra account relates to a specific area in the balance sheet that includes a negative balance. Companies record the opposite entries for that area in the related contra account. Consequently, these accounts offset the balances related to the original account. Contra accounts link or connect to a paired account which they impact directly.