Bad Debt Expense
(redirected from Bad Debt Expenses)Bad Debt Expense
An item on a balance sheet indicating debt from a credit sale that the creditor is unable to collect. Debt becomes a bad debt expense when the creditor has made all reasonable efforts to collect the debt but has been unable to do so. Many companies set aside an allowance for bad debts to pay for bad debt expenses. While this helps, bad debt expenses still deprive a company of cash flow that is ultimately necessary to keep it in business.