ADJUSTING ENTRIES IN ACCOUNTING
Adjusting entries are journal entries made at the end of the accounting period to allocate revenue and expenses to the period in which they actually are applicable. Adjusting entries are required because normal journal entries are based on actual transactions, and the date on which these transactions occur may not be the date required to fulfill the matching principle of accrual accounting.
Adjusting entries are accounting journal entries that convert a company's accounting records to the accrual basis of accounting. An adjusting journal entry is typically made just prior to issuing a company's financial statements.
To demonstrate the need for an accounting adjusting entry let's assume that a company borrowed money from its bank on December 1, 2010 and that the company's accounting period ends on December 31. The bank loan specifies that the first interest payment on the loan will be due on March 1, 2011. This means that the company's accounting records as of December 31 do not contain any payment to the bank for the interest the company incurred from December 1 through December 31. (Of course the loan is costing the company interest expense every day, but the actual payment for the interest will not occur until March 1.) For the company's December income statement to accurately report the company's profitability, it must include all of the company's December expenses—not just the expenses that were paid. Similarly, for the company's balance sheet on December 31 to be accurate, it must report a liability for the interest owed as of the balance sheet date. An adjusting entry is needed so that December's interest expense is included on December's income statement and the interest due as of December 31 is included on the December 31 balance sheet. The adjusting entry will debit Interest Expense and credit Interest Payable for the amount of interest from December 1 to December 31.
Another situation requiring an adjusting journal entry arises when an amount has already been recorded in the company's accounting records, but the amount is for more than the current accounting period. To illustrate let's assume that on December 1, 2010 the company paid its insurance agent $2,400 for insurance protection during the period of December 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011. The $2,400 transaction was recorded in the accounting records on December 1, but the amount represents six months of coverage and expense. By December 31, one month of the insurance coverage and cost have been used up or expired. Hence the income statement for December should report just one month of insurance cost of $400 ($2,400 divided by 6 months) in the account Insurance Expense. The balance sheet dated December 31 should report the cost of five months of the insurance coverage that has not yet been used up. (The cost not used up is referred to as the asset Prepaid Insurance. The cost that is used up is referred to as the expired cost Insurance Expense.) This means that the balance sheet dated December 31 should report five months of insurance cost or $2,000 ($400 per month times 5 months) in the asset account Prepaid Insurance. Since it is unlikely that the $2,400 transaction on December 1 was recorded this way, an adjusting entry will be needed at December 31, 2010 to get the income statement and balance sheet to report this accurately.
The two examples of adjusting entries have focused on expenses, but adjusting entries also involve revenues. This will be discussed later when we prepare adjusting journal entries.
For now we want to highlight some important points.
There are two scenarios where adjusting journal entries are needed before the financial statements are issued:
Adjusting entries assure that both the balance sheet and the income statement are up-to-date on the accrual basis of accounting. A reasonable way to begin the process is by reviewing the amount or balance shown in each of the balance sheet accounts. We will use the following preliminary balance sheet, which reports the account balances prior to any adjusting entries:
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Let's begin with the asset accounts:
The Cash account has a preliminary balance of $1,800—the amount in the general ledger. Before issuing the balance sheet, one must ask, "Is $1,800 the true amount of cash? Does it agree to the amount computed on the bank reconciliation?" The accountant found that $1,800 was indeed the true balance. (If the preliminary balance in Cash does not agree to the bank reconciliation, entries are usually needed. For example, if the bank statement included a service charge and a check printing charge—and they were not yet entered into the company's accounting records—those amounts must be entered into the Cash account. See the major topic Bank Reconciliation for a thorough discussion and illustration of the likely journal entries.)
To determine if the balance in this account is accurate the accountant might review the detailed listing of customers who have not paid their invoices for goods or services. (This is often referred to as the amount of open or unpaid sales invoices and is often found in the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger.) When those open invoices are sorted according to the date of the sale, the company can tell how old the receivables are. Such a report is referred to as an aging of accounts receivable. Let's assume the review indicates that the preliminary balance in Accounts Receivable of $4,600 is accurate as far as the amounts that have been billed and not yet paid.
However, under the accrual basis of accounting, the balance sheet must report all the amounts the company has an absolute right to receive—not just the amounts that have been billed on a sales invoice. Similarly, the income statement should report all revenues that have been earned—not just the revenues that have been billed. After further review, it is learned that $3,000 of work has been performed (and therefore has been earned) as of December 31 but won't be billed until January 10. Because this $3,000 was earned in December, it must be entered and reported on the financial statements for December. An adjusting entry dated December 31 is prepared in order to get this information onto the December financial statements.
To assist you in understanding adjusting journal entries, double entry, and debits and credits, each example of an adjusting entry will be illustrated with a T-account.
Here is the process we will follow:
- Draw two T-accounts. (Every journal entry involves at least two accounts. One account to be debited and one account to be credited.)
- Indicate the account titles on each of the T-accounts. (Remember that almost always one of the accounts is a balance sheet account and one will be an income statement account. In a smaller font size we will indicate the type of account next to the account title and we will also indicate some tips about debits and credits within the T-accounts.)
- Enter the preliminary balance in each of the T-accounts.
- Determine what the ending balance ought to be for the balance sheet account.
- Make an adjustment so that the ending amount in the balance sheet account is correct.
- Enter the same adjustment amount into the related income statement account.
- Write the adjusting journal entry.
Let's follow that process here:
Debit
Increases an asset |
Credit
Decreases an asset | |||||
Preliminary Balance
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4,600
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ADJUSTING ENTRY
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3,000
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Correct Balance
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7,600
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Debit
Decreases Revenues |
Credit
Increases Revenues | |||||
60,234
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Preliminary Balance
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3,000
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ADJUSTING ENTRY
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63,234
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Correct Balance
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The adjusting entry for Accounts Receivable in general journal format is:
Date
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Account Name
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Debit
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Credit
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Dec. 31, 2010
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3,000
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3,000
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Notice that the ending balance in the asset Accounts Receivable is now $7,600—the correct amount that the company has a right to receive. The income statement account balance has been increased by the $3,000 adjustment amount, because this $3,000 was also earned in the accounting period but had not yet been entered into the Service Revenues account. The balance in Service Revenues will increase during the year as the account is credited whenever a sales invoice is prepared. The balance in Accounts Receivable also increases if the sale was on credit (as opposed to a cash sale). However, Accounts Receivable will decrease whenever a customer pays some of the amount owed to the company. Therefore the balance in Accounts Receivable might be approximately the amount of one month's sales, if the company allows customers to pay their invoices in 30 days.
At the end of the accounting year, the ending balances in the balance sheet accounts (assets and liabilities) will carry forward to the next accounting year. The ending balances in the income statement accounts (revenues and expenses) are closed after the year's financial statements are prepared and these accounts will start the next accounting period with zero balances.
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