AccountingBLOCK

I am a little confused on bad debts expense and allowance for uncollectible accounts. According to my book I am suppose to estimate bad debts expense using the a/r method. I did which is 1646. for my journal entry i put debit to bad debt expense and credit to Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts. I believe thats correct (according to the book) BUT.. the next problem says "received notice that a customer from previous purchases has filed bankruptcy. The debt will not be paid" since i donut know which customer it is am i supposed to write it as debit allowance for Uncollectible Accounts 250 and Credit A/R? or do i write it as Debit to Uncollectible Accounts and Credit to cash? I am confused and my book doesn't clarify it.

Thanks

I don't like these kinds of questions but what can i say, accountants have no other choice but to deal with it

Here is the deal, your entry for recording the allowance for doubtfull accounts is correct.
When you find out that "John Doe" has declared bankruptcy and won't be paying, you do that in the sub ledger. This reduces your overall A/R balance and you should also remove his balance from the allowance for doubtful accounts. Your entries should look something like this:

Debit: Allowance for Doubtful accounts
Credit: Accounts Receivable

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Owner Zindah, Inc.
A.A Accounting
B.S Accounting

That entry is right...