Prepaid Expenses-Accounting

What are prepaid expenses?

Prepaid expenses are future expenses that have been paid in advance. You can think of prepaid expenses as costs that have been paid but have not yet been used up or have not yet expired. The amount of prepaid expenses that have not yet expired are reported on a company’s balance sheet as an asset. As the amount expires, the asset is reduced and an expense is recorded for the amount of the reduction. Hence, the balance sheet reports the unexpired costs and the income statement reports the expired costs. The amount reported on the income statement should be the amount that pertains to the time interval shown in the statement’s heading.

A common prepaid expense is the six-month premium for insurance on a company’s vehicles. Since the insurance company requires payment in advance, the amount paid is often recorded in the current asset account Prepaid Insurance. If the company issues monthly financial statements, its income statement will report Insurance Expense that is one-sixth of the amount paid. The balance in the account Prepaid Insurance will be reduced by the amount that was debited to Insurance Expense.

 

When do you adjust the amount of prepaid expenses?

The balance in the current asset account Prepaid Expenses should be adjusted prior to issuing a company’s financial statements. If the company issues financial statements for each calendar month, you will need to adjust the balance in Prepaid Expenses as of the end of each month. If your company issues only quarterly financial statements, you will need to adjust the balance at the end of each quarter.
The goal is to have the balance in Prepaid Expenses be equal to the amount of the unexpired costs as of the end of the accounting period (which is also the date appearing in the heading of the balance sheet).
Usually the adjusting entry for prepaid expenses will be a credit to Prepaid Expenses and a debit to the appropriate expense account(s). For instance, if Prepaid Expenses involve the prepayment of insurance premiums the adjusting entry will include a debit to Insurance Expenses.

What are the two methods for recording prepaid expenses?

The two methods for recording prepaid expenses have to do with the general ledger account that is initially debited at the time of the cash payment. The two methods or approaches are:
1. debit an asset account (such as Prepaid Insurance) which is the balance sheet method, or
2. debit an expense account (such as Insurance Expense) which is the income statement method.
The use of either method will almost always require an adjusting entry prior to issuing the company’s financial statements. However, the amount, the account that will be debited, and the account that will be credited in the adjusting entry will depend on the method used.
In short, either the balance sheet method or the income statement method for recording prepaid expenses may be used as long as the asset account balance is equal to the unexpired or unused cost as of the balance sheet date.

How should the cost of a yearly subscription for a newspaper be recorded?

In theory, the payment in advance for a one-year subscription should initially be recorded as a debit to Prepaid Expenses and a credit to Cash. During the subscription period, you would debit Subscription Expense and would credit Prepaid Expenses.
For example, if the annual subscription cost is $240 and it is paid in advance, you would initially debit Prepaid Expenses for $240 and credit Cash for $240. If your company issues monthly financial statements, then each month during the subscription period you would debit Subscription Expense for $20 and credit Prepaid Expenses for $20. This results in 1) the matching of $20 to expense on each of the monthly income statements, and 2) the balance sheet reporting the amount that is prepaid or not yet expired.
At a large company, the annual cost of $240 will usually be an immaterial amount. The materiality concept will allow you to violate the matching principle, and to avoid the monthly adjusting entry, by simply debiting Subscription Expense for the entire $240 at the beginning of the one-year subscription period.