Understanding Deferred Revenue vs Accrued Expense

Accrual accounting records revenues and expenses as they are incurred regardless of when cash is exchanged. If the revenue or expense is not incurred in the period when cash/payment is exchanged, it is booked as deferred revenue or deferred charges. The accrual method is required for businesses with average annual gross receipts for the 3 preceding tax years of $25 million or more. A deferred charge is the equivalent of a long-term prepaid expense, which is an expenditure paid for an underlying asset that will be consumed in future periods, usually a few months.

Likewise, the bond cost issue should be recorded as an asset of $350,000 in year 1 and be recognized as an expense in year 2. For example, insurance payments are a deferred expense because the buyer pays the insurance in advance before consuming the coverage. Technically, businesses initially record deferred expenses as assets before they become expenses over time.

The same company is issuing $20,000,000 of bonds payable that mature in 30 years by deferring a payment of $350,000 in accounting and legal fees. In fact, the company records a bond issue cost of $11,666 for the next 30 years, thereby receiving the benefits of the deferred expense as an asset and recognizing it as an expense at a later accounting period. Recording deferred charges ensure that a company’s accounting practices are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) by matching revenues with expenses each month. A company may capitalize the underwriting fees on a corporate bond issue as a deferred charge, subsequently amortizing the fees over the life of the bond issue. Both prepaid expenses and deferred expenses are important aspects of the accounting process for a business. As such, understanding the difference between the two terms is necessary to report and account for costs in the most accurate way.

The amount that has not been expensed as of the balance sheet date will be reported as a current asset. Common deferred expenses may include startup costs, the purchase of a new plant or facility, relocation costs, and advertising expenses. Let’s assume that a large corporation spends $500,000 in accounting, legal, and other fees in order to issue $40,000,000 of bonds payable. Instead of charging the $500,000 to expense in the year that the fees are paid, the corporation will defer the $500,000 to the contra liability account Bond Issue Costs. Then over the bonds’ life of 25 years, the $500,000 will be amortized (systematically moved) to expense at the rate of $20,000 per year ($500,000 divided by 25 years).

What Does Deferred Expense Mean?

In fact, the company prepays in June $7,000 for the coverage it will consume over the next six months until December when the next payment is due. As a company realizes its costs, they then transfer them from assets on the balance sheet to expenses on the income statement, decreasing the bottom line (or net income). The advantage here is that expenses are recognized, and net income is decreased, in the time period in which the benefit was realized instead of whenever they happened to be paid. Examples of unearned revenue are rent payments made in advance, prepayment for newspaper subscriptions, annual prepayment for the use of software, and prepaid insurance. A cost that has been recorded in the accounting records and reported on the balance sheet as an asset until matched with revenues on the income statement in a later accounting period.

As each month passes, the prepaid expense account for rent on the balance sheet is decreased by the monthly rent amount, and the rent expense account on the income statement is increased until the total $30,000 is depleted. For example, you may have to include the cost of interest in the cost of a constructed asset, such as a building, and then charge the cost of the building to expense over the useful life of the entire asset in the form of depreciation. Under the revenue recognition principles of accrual accounting, revenue can only be recorded as earned in a period when all goods and services have been performed or delivered. Technically, when recording a deferral, the prepayment is accompanied by a related recognized expense in the following accounting period, whereas the same amount is deducted from the prepayment. In the case above, the company should record the deferred expense of $14,000 as an asset in year 1 and recognize it as an expense in year 2.

Terms Similar to Deferred Expense

To accomplish this, the deferred expense is reported on the balance sheet as an asset or a contra liability until it is moved from the balance sheet to the income statement as an expense. Many purchases a company makes in advance will be categorized under the label of prepaid expense. These prepaid expenses are those a business uses or depletes within a year of purchase, such as insurance, rent, or taxes. Until the benefit of the purchase is realized, prepaid expenses are listed on the balance sheet as a current asset. It appears that most accountants refer to the deferrals that will become expenses within one year of the balance sheet as prepaid expenses.

Each month, the company recognizes a portion of the prepaid rent as an expense on the financial statements. Also, each month, another entry is made to move cash from the deferred charge on the balance sheet to the rental expense on the income statement. Under the expense recognition principles of accrual accounting, expenses are recorded in the period in which they were incurred and not paid. If a company incurs an expense in one sganda expense selling general and administrative period but will not pay the expense until the following period, the expense is recorded as a liability on the company’s balance sheet in the form of an accrued expense. When the expense is paid, it reduces the accrued expense account on the balance sheet and also reduces the cash account on the balance sheet by the same amount. The expense is already reflected in the income statement in the period in which it was incurred.

1. A company may capitalize the underwriting fees on a corporate bond issue as a deferred charge, subsequently amortizing the fees over the life of the bond issue.
2. In May, ABC has now consumed the prepaid asset, so it credits the prepaid rent asset account and debits the rent expense account.
3. If a company incurs an expense in one period but will not pay the expense until the following period, the expense is recorded as a liability on the company’s balance sheet in the form of an accrued expense.
4. Also, each month, another entry is made to move cash from the deferred charge on the balance sheet to the rental expense on the income statement.
5. In fact, the company records a bond issue cost of $11,666 for the next 30 years, thereby receiving the benefits of the deferred expense as an asset and recognizing it as an expense at a later accounting period.

As an example of a deferred expense, ABC International pays $10,000 in April for its May rent. In May, ABC has now consumed the prepaid asset, so it credits the prepaid rent asset account and debits the rent expense account. For example, if a company pays its landlord $30,000 in December for rent from January through June, the business is able to include the total amount paid in its current assets in December.

A deferred expense is initially recorded as an asset, so that it appears on the balance sheet (usually as a current asset, since it will probably be consumed within one year). In the case of a prepayment, a company’s goods or services will be delivered or performed in a future period. The prepayment is recognized as a liability on the balance sheet in the form of deferred revenue. When the good or service is delivered or performed, the deferred revenue becomes earned revenue and moves from the balance sheet to the income statement. This advanced payment is recorded as a deferred charge on the balance sheet and is considered to be an asset until fully expensed.

As is the case with deferred charges, deferred revenue ensures that revenues for the month are matched with the expenses incurred for that month. Companies that use accrual accountingare handling certain transactions, such as interest costs or depreciation of a fixed asset or costs related to long-term debt, as deferred expenses. Deferred expenses are https://www.quick-bookkeeping.net/unadjusted-trial-balance-example-purpose/ also known as prepaid expenses because the buyer is paying for goods and services in advance, before using them. When a business pays out cash for a payment in which consumption does not immediately take place or is not planned within the next 12 months, a deferred expense account is created to be held as a noncurrent asset on the balance sheet.

What is a Deferred Expense?

Deferred expense and prepaid expense both refer to a payment that was made, but due to the matching principle, the amount will not become an expense until one or more future accounting periods. Most of these payments will be recorded as assets until the appropriate future period or periods. A deferred expense is a cost that has already been incurred, but which has not yet been consumed. The cost is recorded as an asset until such time as the underlying goods or services are consumed; at that point, the cost is charged to expense.

Before a balance sheet is prepared, the accountant must review the deferrals/prepaids and move the appropriate amounts to expense. Deferred revenue is most common among companies selling subscription-based products or services that require prepayments. For example, a software company signs a customer to a three-year service contract for $48,000 per year, and the customer pays the company $48,000 upfront on January 1st for the maintenance service for the entire year. For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has worked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online. My Accounting Course  is a world-class educational resource developed by experts to simplify accounting, finance, & investment analysis topics, so students and professionals can learn and propel their careers. Shaun Conrad is a Certified Public Accountant and CPA exam expert with a passion for teaching.