Enter the total sales for the accounting period and estimated % or bad debt into the calculator to determine the bad debt expense.

Bad Debt Expense Formula

The following formula is used to calculate a bad debt expense. 

BDE = S * BD
  • Where BDE is the bad debt expense ($)
  • S is the total sales for the accounting period ($)
  • BD is the percentage of total sales uncollectable (%) (bad debt)

To calculate a bad debt expense, multiply the total sales by the percentage of sales un-collectable.

Bad Debt Expense Definition

A bad debt expense is defined as the total percentage of debt or outstanding credit that is uncollectable.

Bad Debt Expense Example

How to calculate bad debt expense?

  1. First, determine the total credit sales.

    Calculate the total credit sales for the time period being analyzed. For this example we will say this is $1,000.00.

  2. Next, determine the total percentage of sales uncollectable.

    Calculate what percentage of sales is going to be uncollectable. For this example we will say this is 10%

  3. Finally calculate the bad debt expense.

    Using the formula above, we find the bad debt expense to be $1,000.00 * 10% = $100.00.

FAQ

What is bad debt expense?

A bad debt expense is a measure of the total amount of “bad debt” during an accounting period. Bad debt is all debt or outstanding credit sales that cannot be collected on during a given period.