• Bad debt refers to loans or outstanding debt balances that are no longer considered recoverable and must be written off.

  • Having bad debts is part of the cost of doing business with clients as there is always some risk of default associated with making a loan.
  • To comply with the matching principle, the bad debt expense 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.
  • Bad debts can be written off on both corporate and individual tax returns.