Contra expense definition
/What is a Contra Expense?
A contra expense is an account in the general ledger that is paired with and offsets a specific expense account. The account is typically used when a company initially pays for an expense item, and is then reimbursed by a third party for some or all of this initial outlay. For example, a company pays for medical insurance on behalf of its employees, which it records in an employee benefits expense account. Then, when the employee-paid portion of the expense is paid to the company by employees, these reimbursements are recorded in a benefits contra expense account. The net effect of the two accounts is a reduced total benefits expense for the company.
Contra expense accounts have a natural credit balance, as opposed to the natural debit balance of a typical expense account. Therefore, a contra expense account that contains a debit balance must have a negative ending balance.
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When to Use a Contra Expense Account
Contra expense accounts are rarely used, because organizations find it to be easier to record third-party payments directly against an expense account. However, these accounts are still useful when dealing with large quantities of reimbursements, where it is cleaner and less confusing to store the information in a separate account. Thus, the use of a separate contra expense account makes it easier to monitor the flow of expenses and reimbursements.
Examining a trend line of the monthly additions to a contra expense account is a good way to determine whether any third party payments were not made to the company, or if two of these payments were incorrectly recorded within the same month. Thus, the account can be used for investigative purposes.
Presentation of Contra Expenses
Expense accounts and the contra expense accounts with which they are paired are typically combined in the income statement in a single line item, so that readers are not aware that a contra account even exists.