Accounts Receivable Journal Entries

Michael Brown

13 years ago

The accounts receivable journal entries below act as a quick reference, and set out the most commonly encountered situations when dealing with the double entry posting of accounts receivable.

In each case the accounts receivable journal entries show the debit and credit account together with a brief narrative. For a fuller explanation of journal entries, view our examples section.

Typical Accounts Receivable Journal Entries

To record a sale to an account customer
Account	Debit	Credit
Accounts receivable	XXX
Revenue		XXX

To receive a cash payment from an account customer
Account	Debit	Credit
Cash	XXX
Accounts receivable		XXX

To receive a cash payment from an account customer taking cash discount
Account	Debit	Credit
Cash	XXX
Discount allowed	XXX
Accounts receivable		XXX

A credit note is issued to a customer
Account	Debit	Credit
Revenue	XXX
Accounts receivable		XXX

To write off an accounts receivable as a bad debt
Account	Debit	Credit
Bad debt expense	XXX
Accounts receivable		XXX

To set up an allowance for doubtful debts
Account	Debit	Credit
Bad debt expense	XXX
Allowance for doubtful debts		XXX

To use the allowance for doubtful debts to write off an accounts receivable
Account	Debit	Credit
Allowance for doubtful debts	XXX
Accounts receivable		XXX

To record cash received after an accounts receivable has been written off
Account	Debit	Credit
Cash	XXX
Accounts receivable		XXX
Accounts receivable	XXX
Allowance for doubtful debts		XXX

Last modified November 13th, 2019 by Michael Brown

About the Author

Chartered accountant Michael Brown is the founder and CEO of Double Entry Bookkeeping. He has worked as an accountant and consultant for more than 25 years in all types of industries. He has been the CFO or controller of both small and medium sized companies and has run small businesses of his own. He has been a manager and an auditor with Deloitte, a big 4 accountancy firm, and holds a BSc from Loughborough University.