Learn About Contra Asset Account

If two amounts are recorded on the same side of the accounting equation, the equation will no longer be in balance. Discount on Notes Payable is a contra account to Notes Payable on the balance sheet. Describe what accounts are considered liability and asset accounts. Debit depreciation expense for $16,875 and credit accumulated depreciation-equipment for $16,875. Debit accumulated depreciation -equipment for $16,875 and credit depreciation expense for $16,875.

As mentioned above, these accounts also pair with a paired account and reduce its carrying balance. Instead, the existence of contra asset accounts for companies will differ based on a company’s requirements. However, there are some prevalent contra asset accounts that may exist for all companies. 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.

Examples of contra asset account in the following topics:

Whenever the balance of a CA account increases , the increased amount is written off as an expense and is reported in the company’s income statement. Note that the asset account balance represents the purchase price of the asset in question, also known as its historical cost. The adjusted trial balance lists the account balances segregated by assets and liabilities. The accounts on the left side of the accounting equation are reported on the left side of the balance sheet.

Note that accountants use contra accounts rather than reduce the value of the original account directly to keep financial accounting records clean. A contra asset account is an asset account in which the natural balance of the account will either be a zero or a credit balance. The account offsets the balance in the real estate bookkeeping respective asset account that it is paired with on the balance sheet. From the bank’s point of view, when a debit card is used to pay a merchant, the payment causes a decrease in the amount of money the bank owes to the cardholder. From the bank’s point of view, your debit card account is the bank’s liability.

What Is a Contra Account & Why Is It Important?

Asset accounts are debit balances on the trial balance and the balance sheet. These items decrease the asset balance on a corresponding account. For example, accumulated amortization is a contra asset account that reduces the balance for intangible assets. Contra asset accounts are the most common type of contra account. A regular asset account typically carries a debit balance, so a contra asset account carries a credit balance. Two common contra asset accounts include allowance for doubtful accounts and accumulated depreciation.

The credit balance in this account is amortized or allocated to Interest Income or Interest Revenue over the life of a note receivable. However, that $1.4 billion is used to reduce the balance of gross accounts receivable. Therefore, contra accounts, though they represent a positive amount, are used to net reduce a gross amount. For this reason, contra accounts are primarily seen as having negative balances because they are used to reduce the balance of another account.

Is a Contra Balances Negative or Positive?

They can indicate how certain assets or liabilities are performing throughout the years. Contra accounts do that by preserving the purchase and acquisition costs of their corresponding accounts and disclosing any deduction in their balances. Sometimes, it is important to keep the original balance of the accounts and create the contra accounts to be able to calculate the net value of the account. Whenever the balance of an account needs to be reduced in a company’s ledger, it is not always applicable to credit the account if it is an asset or debit the account if it is a liability. A contra account is an account whose balance is the opposite of a corresponding account.

Although the accounts receivable is not due in September, the company still has to report credit losses of $4,000 as bad debts expense in its income statement for the month. If accounts receivable is $40,000 and allowance for doubtful accounts is $4,000, the net book value reported on the balance sheet will be $36,000. A contra account is a negative account that is netted from the balance of another account on the balance sheet. Similarly, its underlying balances also appear on the credit side of the trial balance. However, a contra equity account is a debit balance that reduces the balances reported on equity accounts.

Accounting for Your Software Costs

Contra equity reduces the total number of outstanding shares on the balance sheet. The key example of a contra equity account is Treasury stock, which represents the amount paid to buyback stock. Allowance for doubtful accounts is a contra https://www.thenina.com/retail-accounting-as-a-way-to-enhance-inventory-management/ asset account used to create an allowance for customers who are not expected to pay the money owed for purchased goods or services. The allowance for doubtful accounts appears on the balance sheet and reduces the amount of receivables.

• You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy.
• This amount is shown as a provision or reserve for doubtful debts.
• In essence, contra asset accounts have a negative balance while other asset accounts have a positive balance.
• The debit balance of the asset account and the credit balance of the contra asset account determine the net value of the asset.
• Along with The Balance, her writing has appeared in Thrillist, Insidehook and Vinepair.
• If a company uses the contra account Accumulated Amortization, this account will typically be shown on the balance sheet.

Because contra means “against,” one could quickly conclude that a contra asset account is going to be an account that goes against the regular asset account on the Balance Sheet. Quite frankly, the actual definition is not far from this estimate. In a sense, a contra asset account is a negative asset account that detracts from all of the other assets included in the balance sheet. More specifically, record the contra asset as a credit that is supposed to balance out a correlating plant asset. The situations that contra asset accounts appear are the ones dealing with Depreciation, which will be explored below. Allowance for doubtful accounts is netted from the accounts receivable balance.

Taxes Payable vs. Payroll Taxes

Therefore, contra equity accounts have a debit balance to offset their corresponding equity balances. However, some asset accounts need a negative counterpart to reduce the balance of that account. The debit balance of the asset account and the credit balance of the contra asset account determine the net value of the asset. The same is true for other asset accounts like accounts receivable. Accounts receivable is rarely reported on the balance sheet at its net amount.