Receivables & The Allowance vs The Direct Write Off Methods
What you'll learn
- Accounts receivable and note receivable characteristics
- Accounts Receivable Cycle
- Accounts Receivable Subsidiary Ledger
- Accounts Receivable Valuation
- Allowance For Doubtful Accounts Method of Accounts Receivable
- Direct Write Off Method of Accounts Receivable
- How to Estimate Bad Debt Expense Under the Allowance Method
- Components of a Note Receivable
- How to Calculate Simple Interest
- How to Record A Note Receivable
Requirements
- We should have a basic understanding of financial accounting and debits and credits
Description
We will discuss receivables, focusing on accounts receivable and notes receivable, reviewing the accounts receivable cycle, the journal entries for recording accounts receivable, and related subsidiary ledgers.
We will discuss bad debt and valuing of accounts receivable using two methods, the allowance method and the direct write off method. The accounts receivable account represents money owed to the company but there will be times when the company cannot collect on the account receivables.
Under the direct write off method, we write off the accounts receivable as we determine they are not collectible. The direct write off method does not do a good job of representing the accounts receivable account's true value and does not do a good job of conforming to the matching principle, matching up expenses with the related revenue it was used to generate.
The allowance method does a better job of valuing accounts receivable and conforming to the matching principle and is the method preferred. The allowance method is more complex, however, and requires the use of estimates.
We will also discuss notes receivable, the journal entry for recording notes receivable, and for receiving payment on a note receivable. We will cover detailed methods for calculating simple interest.
In addition to instructional video, this course will include downloadable
• Downloadable PDF Files
• Excel Practice Files
• Multiple Choice Practice Questions
• Short Calculation Practice Questions
• Discussion Questions
The PDF files allow us to download reference information we can use offline and as a guide to help us work through the material.
Excel practice files will be preformatted so that we can focus on the adjusting process and learning some of the basics of Excel, like addition, subtraction, and cell relationships.
Multiple choice example question helps us improve our test-taking skills by reducing the information into the size and format of multiple choice questions and discussing how to approach these questions.
Short calculation questions help us reduce problems that have some calculation down to a short format that could be used in multiple choice questions.
Discussion Question will provide an opportunity to discuss these topics with the instructor and other students, a process many students find very helpful because it allows us to see the topic from different viewpoints.
Who will we be learning from?
You will be learning from somebody who has technical experience in accounting concepts and in accounting software like QuickBooks, as well as experience teaching and putting together curriculum.
You will be learning from somebody who is a:
• CPA – Certified Public Accountant
• CGMA – Chartered Global Management Accountant
• Master of Science in Taxation
• CPS – Certifies Post-Secondary Instructor
• Curriculum Development Export
As a practicing CPA the instructor has worked with many technical accounting issues and helped work through them and discuss them with clients of all levels.
As a CPS and professor, the instructor has taught many accounting classes and worked with many students in the fields of accounting, business, and business applications.
The instructor also has a lot of experience designing courses and learning how students learn best and how to help students achieve their objectives. Experience designing technical courses has also benefit in being able to design a course in a logical fashion and deal with problems related to technical topics and the use of software like QuickBooks Pro.
Content Includes:
- Account receivable and note receivable characteristics
- Accounts receivable cycle
- Accounts receivable subsidiary ledger
- Accounts receivable valuation
- Allowance for doubtful accounts method of accounts receivable
- Direct write off method of accounts receivable
- How to estimate bad debt expense under the allowance method
- Components of a note receivable
- How to calculate simple interest
- How to record a note receivable
Who this course is for:
- Accounting students
- Business owner
- Anyone who whats to learn accounting
Instructor
![Robert (Bob) Steele](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.4 Instructor Rating
- 30,497 Reviews
- 602,476 Students
- 127 Courses
Through working with students from many different schools, Mr. Steele has learned best practices for helping people understand accounting fast. Learning new skills and finding the best way to share knowledge with people who can benefit from it is a passion of his.
Mr. Steele has experience working as a practicing Certified Public Accountant (CPA), an accounting and business instructor, and curriculum developer. He has enjoyed putting together quality tools to improve learning and has been teaching, making instructional resources, and building curriculum since 2009. He has been a practicing CPA since 2005. Mr. Steele is a practicing CPA, has a Certified Post-Secondary Instructor (CPI) credential, a Master of Science in taxation from Golden Gate University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics with an emphasis in accounting from The University of California Santa Barbara, and a Global Management Accounting Designation (CGMA) from The American Institute of CPA (AICPA).
Mr. Steele has also authored five books that can be found on Amazon or in audiobook format on Audible. He has developed bestselling courses in accounting topics including financial accounting and QuickBooks accounting software.
In addition to working as an accountant, teaching, and developing courses Mr. Steele has helped create an accounting website at accountinginstruction, a YouTube channel called Accounting Instruction, Help, and How Too, and has developed supplemental resources including a Facebook Page, Twitter Page, and Podcasts that can be found on I-tunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud. Mr. Steele's teaching philosophy is to make content applicable, understandable, and accessible.
Adult learners are looking for application when they learn new skills. In other words, learners want to be able to apply skills in the real world to help their lives. Mr. Steele’s formal accounting education, practical work experience, and substantial teaching experience allow him to create a curriculum that combines traditional accounting education with practical knowledge and application. He accomplishes the goals of making accounting useful and applicable by combining theory with real-world software like Excel and QuickBooks.
Many courses teach QuickBooks data entry or Excel functions but are not providing the real value learners want. Real value is a result of learning technical skills like applications, in conjunction with specific goals, like accounting goals, including being able to interpret the performance of a business.
Mr. Steele makes knowledge understandable by breaking down complex concepts into smaller units with specific objectives and using step by step learning processes to understand each unit. Many accounting textbooks cram way too much information into a course, making it impossible to understand any unit fully. By breaking the content down into digestible chunks, we can move forward much faster.
Mr. Steele also makes use of color association in both presentations and Excel worksheets, a learning tool often overlooked in the accounting field, but one that can vastly improve the speed and comprehension of learning accounting concepts.
The material is also made understandable through the application of concepts learned. Courses will typically demonstrate the accounting concepts and then provide an Excel worksheet or practice problems to work through the concepts covered. The practice problems will be accompanied by an instructional video to work through the problem in step by step format. Excel worksheets will be preformatted, usually including an answer tab that shows the completed problem, and a practice tab where learners can complete the problem along with a step by step presentation video.
Mr. Steele makes learning accounting accessible by making use of technology and partnering with teaching platforms that have a vision of spreading knowledge like Udemy.