• Bad debt costs are the adverse cost of doing business with clients on credit, as there is always a risk of non-repayment when providing credit.

  • The direct write-off method fixes the exact amount of bad accounts as they are specifically identified.
  • To comply with the matching principle, bad debt expenses must be valued using the allowance method in the same period as the sale occurs.
  • There are two main ways to calculate the allowance for bad debts: the interest-bearing sales method and the receivables maturity method.