Sales discounts will entice customers to pay ahead of time their credit purchases which in turn will improve the collection of a company’s accounts receivable. Sales discounts will allow companies to receive more money earlier at the expense of revenue which will be recognized in the future as time goes on. Expenses, on the other hand, also have a natural debit balance; as explained before this is not in any way the reason for sales discount being recorded as a debit. Sales discount is debited as a contra revenue account and not as an expense. The customer received a 2 percent discount on the $100 for paying early, and as such will pay $98 instead of $100 (i.e $2 discount is subtracted from $100). In order to record this transaction, Company ABC’s Cash account would be debited by the amount of $98 cash received from the customer and the Sales discount account would be debited by the amount of $2 discount.

• In this instance the accounts receivable is cleared by the receipt of cash and no sales discount is recorded.
• It effectively costs the business 46.72% to offer sales discounts to the customer.
• Isabella’s Educational Supply issues a $5,000 invoice to a customer and offers a 2% discount if the customer is able to pay the invoice amount within 10 days.
• This is most common when the sales discount amount is so small that separate presentation does not yield any material additional information for readers.
• Sales Discounts are a useful tool for companies to encourage customers to settle their credit purchases now rather than later.
• Chartered accountant Michael Brown is the founder and CEO of Double Entry Bookkeeping.

The total account receivable of $25,000 is discharged from the account receivable balance during the time the customer makes payment. Trade discount refers to the reduction in the price of a commodity or service sold to wholesalers at the time of bulk purchases. “Sales Discount” is a contra-revenue account; presented as a deduction from “Sales” in the income statement to come up with the “Net Sales”. Sales discounts are not technically expenses because they actually reduce the price of a product. Credit Cash in Bank if a sales return or allowance involves a refund of a buyer’s payment. The net Revenue balance on an income statement is calculated as gross Revenue minus all contra-revenue items like Sales Returns, Allowances and Discounts.

Sales Allowances contra revenue account records the value of reductions in selling price granted to buyers who agreed to accept a defective product instead of returning it to the seller. A contra revenue account is a revenue account that is expected to have a debit balance (instead of the usual credit balance). In other words, its expected balance is contrary to—or opposite of—the usual credit balance in a revenue account.

Accounting for Sales Discount: Overview, Example, & Journal Entries

The business receives cash of 1,950 and records a sales discount of 50 to clear the customers accounts receivable account of 2,000. A sales discount is a reduction taken by a customer from the invoiced price of goods or services, in exchange for early payment to the seller. The seller usually states the standard terms under which a sales discount may be taken in the header bar of its invoices. When a company offers sales discounts, it is essentially offering the customer a cash incentive to pay for their purchase earlier than when the account would normally be due. Sales returns and allowances is a deduction from sales that shows the sale price of goods returned by customers, as well as discounts taken by them to retain defective goods.

Let’s look at what is considered an expense in accounting in order to answer this. The opposite of the revenue contra accounts Sales Discounts, Returns and Allowances are expense contra accounts Purchase Discounts, Returns and Allowances. A discount received is the reverse situation, where the buyer of goods or services is granted a discount by the seller. The examples just noted for a discount allowed also apply to a discount received.

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Assuming the credit terms are 2/10, n/30 and Music World pays the invoice within ten days, the payment equals $882, an amount calculated by subtracting $18 (2% of $900) from the outstanding balance. To record this payment from Music World, Music Suppliers, Inc., makes a compound journal entry that increases (debits) cash for $882, increases (debits) sales discounts for $18, and decreases (credits) accounts receivable for $900. Sales Discounts is a contra revenue account that records the value of price reductions granted to buyers in order to incentivize early payments. Examples include Net D cash discounts like 2/30 Net 60, where a full invoice payment is due in 60 days but a buyer will receive a 2% discount in case of an early settlement within 30 days.

The seller usually states the standard condition (terms of sales discount) at which the discount may be taken by the customer in the header bar of the invoices issued. A contra sales revenue account–such as Sales Allowances, Returns and Discounts-has a debit balance because it is contrary to the credit balance of a regular Sales Revenue account. A discount allowed is when the seller of goods or services grants a payment discount to a buyer. It may also apply to discounted purchases of specific goods that the seller is trying to eliminate from stock, perhaps to make way for new models.

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When this amount is large in proportion to total sales, it indicates that a business is having trouble shipping high-quality goods to its customers. The terms 2/10, n/30 mean the customer may take a two percent discount on the outstanding balance (original invoice amount less any returns and allowances) if payment occurs within ten days of the invoice date. If the customer chooses not to take the discount, the outstanding balance is due within thirty days. An abbreviation that sometimes appears in the credit terms section of an invoice is EOM, which stands for end of month. The terms n/15 EOM indicate that the outstanding balance is due fifteen days after the end of the month in which the invoice is dated. The sales discount will be shown in the company’s profit and loss statement for an accounting period below as the gross revenue of the company.

Examples of sales discount as a contra revenue account and not an expense

The sooner a company receives cash after providing a good or service, the better off it is financially. This is because the initial accounting journal entry at the time of sale was a debit to Accounts Receivable asset account and credit to a Sales Revenue account. The downside of offering a discount is that the business now has an extra cost. If we use the example above, the cost to the business of receiving 1, days earlier than expected was the sales discount of 50. When recording sales, trade discount is always deducted directly from the list price.

Sales discounts together with other contra revenue accounts like sales returns and sales allowances are deducted from a company’s gross sales in order to arrive at the company’s net sales. When the seller allows a discount, this is recorded as a reduction of revenues, and is typically a debit to a contra revenue account. For example, the seller allows a $50 discount from the billed price of $1,000 in services that it has provided to a customer.

Accounting for the Discount Allowed and Discount Received

Suppose the XYZ company recorded only one invoice in their accounting period. Sales discounts allow companies to receive more money earlier at the expense of revenue which will be recognized in the future as time goes on. Isabella’s Educational Supply issues a $5,000 invoice to a customer and offers a 2% discount if the customer is able to pay the invoice amount within 10 days. The customer pays on the 5th day from the invoice date entitling him to the given discount of 2%. An expense is an operational cost that a business incurs in order to generate revenue.

For example, terms of “1/10, n/30” indicates that the buyer can deduct 1% of the amount owed if the customer pays the amount owed within 10 days. As a contra revenue account, sales discount will have a debit balance and is subtracted from sales (along with sales returns and allowances) to arrive at net sales. When a sales discount is offered to few customers, or if few customers take the discount, then the amount of the discount actually taken is likely to be immaterial. In this case, the seller can simply record the sales discounts as they occur, with a credit to the accounts receivable account for the amount of the discount taken and a debit to the sales discount account. The sales discount account is a contra revenue account, which means that it reduces total revenues. If Music World returns merchandise worth $100 after receiving a $1,000 order, they still owe Music Suppliers, Inc., $900.

How to Account for Sales Discounts

Sales discounts are also known as cash discounts and early payment discounts. By doing so, you can immediately reduce sales by the amount of estimated discounts taken, thereby complying with the matching principle. This entry will recognize the sale amount $25k as well as recognizing the account receivable amount $25K in the income statement. The recognition of the sales is at gross before cash discount since the customer does not make the payment yet. However, these cash reductions offered to customers have an effect on a company’s financial statements so they must be recorded as a reduction in revenue under the line item called accounts receivable.