What is a contra account?

Asked by: Pascale Leffler  |  Last update: February 9, 2022
Score: 4.8/5 (47 votes)

A contra account is an account used in a general ledger to reduce the value of a related account. ... Contra accounts are presented on the same financial statement as the associated account, typically appearing directly below it with a third line for the net amount.

What is an example of a contra equity account?

A contra equity account is a stockholders' equity account with a negative balance. ... Examples of contra equity accounts are: Treasury stock (reflects the amount paid by a business to buy back shares from investors) Owner's drawing account (shows the amount of funds paid out to an owner)

What is a contra expense account?

A contra expense is an account in the general ledger that is paired with and offsets a specific expense account. ... Contra expense accounts have a natural credit balance, as opposed to the natural debit balance of a typical expense account.

What is contra asset account used for?

A contra asset is a negative asset account that offsets the asset account with which it is paired. The purpose of a contra asset account is to store a reserve that reduces the balance in the paired account.

How does a contra account work?

A contra account is used in a general ledger to reduce the value of a related account when the two are netted together. A contra account's natural balance is the opposite of the associated account. If a debit is the natural balance recorded in the related account, the contra account records a credit.

Contra accounts explained

37 related questions found

Is a contra entry debit or credit?

A contra entry is recorded when the debit and credit affect the same parent account and resulting in a net zero effect to the account. These are transactions that are recorded between cash and bank accounts.

What is a contra account in Quickbooks?

A contra account is a general ledger account that offsets the balance of a corresponding account with which it's paired. If you debit the contra account, ensure that you offset the related account with a credit balance. In essence, contra accounts allow you to report your firm's gross and net amounts.

What are examples of contra revenue accounts?

The contra revenue accounts commonly used in small-business accounting include sales returns, sales allowance and sale discounts. A contra revenue account carries a debit balance and reduces the total amount of a company's revenue.

Can you have a contra expense account?

A contra expense account is a general ledger expense account that will intentionally have a credit balance (instead of the debit balance that is typical for an expense account). In other words, this account's credit balance is contrary to (or opposite of) the usual debit balance for an expense account.

Is petty cash a contra account?

The transfer of cash from one account to another is also considered as a contra entry. Contra Entries relate to the following account: Petty Cash. Cash on Hand.

Which of the following is contra account?

Which of the following is a contra account? Accumulated Depreciation is a contra asset account. It is located in the long-term asset section of the balance sheet under the heading of property, plant, and equipment.

What are contra accounts give five examples of accounts with their corresponding contra accounts?

Types of contra asset accounts
  • Accumulated depreciation.
  • Accumulated depletion.
  • Obsolete inventory reserves.
  • Allowance for doubtful accounts.
  • Trade accounts receivable.
  • Discount on notes receivable.

What is contra income?

Contra revenue is a deduction from the gross revenue reported by a business, which results in net revenue. ... Contains either an allowance for returned goods, or the actual amount of revenue deduction attributable to returned goods. Sales allowances.

What are contra CoGS?

In negotiation with vendors, Amazon Vendor Managers (VMs) measure contractual terms called “contra-CoGS.” These contra-CoGS are balanced against the Cost of Goods Sold and form the heart of Amazon's incredibly successful business model.

How do I record a contra entry in QuickBooks?

How to enter contra payments in QuickBooks Online
  1. For line 1, select Debtors (Accounts Receivable) in the Accounts column. ...
  2. For line 2, select Creditors (Accounts payable) in the Accounts column. ...
  3. To save the journal entry, click Save.
  4. Open the outstanding invoice and select Receive payment.

How do I pass a contra entry in QuickBooks?

In order to pass a contra entry click on “+” and under Other click on Transfer. Here you can select transfer from account and transfer to account, e.g. Cash to Bank or Bank to Cash or Bank to Bank etc. Enter the amount, Memo and check the date of the transaction and click on Save button.

How do I create a contra income account in QuickBooks?

How do I set up a contra income account in Quickbooks Desktop?
  1. Go to the Lists menu at the top.
  2. Select Item List.
  3. Click the Item drop-down at the bottom, then choose New.
  4. On the Type drop-down, select Discount.
  5. Enter the item details.
  6. Click OK.

How do you record bank transactions using Contra voucher?

Recording Contra Entry in Single Entry Mode
  1. Go to Gateway of Tally > Accounting Vouchers > Select F4: Contra.
  2. For example, to transfer funds from Cash Account to Bank Account: ...
  3. In the Bank Allocation screen, users can select the mode of transaction from the List of Transaction Type as shown:

Is cash paid into bank a contra entry?

Definition of Contra Entry

Contra entry refers to transactions involving cash and bank account. In other words, any entry which affects both cash and bank accounts is called a contra entry.

What is contra voucher example?

For example cash is moving from cashier to bank , That is cash account to bank account. ... Suppose when a business require to transfer money from one bank account to another bank account, In such case we use contra voucher. In the same way there may be more than one cash accounts, for example petty cash & main cash.

Are refunds a contra revenue account?

In accounting, refunds are handled through a contra-revenue account known as the sales returns and allowances account, reports Accounting Coach. When you issue a refund, you make a refund double entry, which means you must adjust two separate accounts in your records.

Is contra account a liability?

It is not classified as a liability since it does not represent a future obligation. Examples of contra liabilities include a discount on notes or bonds payable. Contra liabilities hold a debit balance.

Is bad debt expense a contra account?

Your allowance for bad debts is a contra-asset account, which means that it will appear on your balance sheet alongside all of your other asset accounts.

Is contra asset an asset?

Definition of Contra Asset Account

A contra asset account is an asset account where the account balance is a credit balance. It is described as "contra" because having a credit balance in an asset account is contrary to the normal or expected debit balance.

How do you record contra entry?

To record a contra entry, you must record a payment against the sales and purchase invoices. However, as no money is being exchanged for the contra entry, these transactions shouldn't appear on your current account.