Textbook Problem

Allowance for Bad Accounts Installment Jewelry Company has been in business for 5 years but has never had its financial statements audited. Engaged to audit them for 2019, you find that the company’s balance sheet carries no allowance for bad accounts. Bad accounts have been expensed as written-off and recoveries credited to income as collected. The company’s policy is to write off at December 31 of each year those accounts on which no collections have been received for three months. The installment contracts generally are for 2 years.

On your recommendation, the company agrees to revise its accounts for 2019 to give effect to bad account treatment on the allowance basis. The allowance is to be based on a percentage of credit sales that is derived from the experience of prior years. Statistics for the past 5 years are shown in the following table:

Required:

Prepare the adjusting journal entry or entries with appropriate explanations to set up the Allowance for Bad Accounts. (Support each item with organized computations; income tax implications should be ignored.)