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How do you record purchase discount journal entries?

Author

Sophia Koch

Updated on January 02, 2026

Your early payment discount journal entry would be a debit to purchases of $2,940 and a credit to accounts payable for $2,940. If you pay the invoice according to terms, you would then debit accounts payable for $2,940 and credit cash for the same amount.

What is the entry for purchase discount?

[If the company fails to pay the invoice within the discount period, the payment will be a debit of $27,720 to Accounts Payable, a debit of $280 to Purchase Discounts, a credit to Cash for $28,000. Purchase Discounts Lost is an income statement account.]

Where do I record purchase discount?

The purchases discounts normal balance is a credit, a reduction in costs for the business. The discount is recorded in a contra expense account which is offset against the appropriate purchases or expense account in the income statement.

What type of account is a purchase discount?

contra‐expense account
Companies that take advantage of sales discounts usually record them in an account named purchases discounts, which is another contra‐expense account that is subtracted from purchases on the income statement.

Is purchase a debit or credit?

Purchases are an expense which would go on the debit side of the trial balance. ‘Purchases returns’ will reduce the expense so go on the credit side.

How do you record a discount?

Reporting the Discount Report the amount of total sales discounts for an accounting period on a line called “Less: Sales Discounts” below your sales revenue line on your income statement. For example, if your small business had $200 in discounts during the period, report “Less: Sales discounts $200.”

How do I record an early payment discount?

To write the terms of your early payment discount, you will write the percentage discount the customer will receive, followed by the number of days they must pay by to receive this discount. Then, you must write the normal due date.

Is sales discount an asset or liability?

Sales discounts (along with sales returns and allowances) are deducted from gross sales to arrive at the company’s net sales. Hence, the general ledger account Sales Discounts is a contra revenue account. Sales discounts are not reported as an expense.

What is the treatment of discount on purchase?

Crediting discount received has the effect of reducing gross purchases by the amount of cash discount received. Consequently, payables are debited to reduce their balance to the amount that is expected to be paid to them, i.e. net of cash discount.

How do you record discounts in accounting?

Report the amount of total sales discounts for an accounting period on a line called “Less: Sales Discounts” below your sales revenue line on your income statement. For example, if your small business had $200 in discounts during the period, report “Less: Sales discounts $200.”

Is purchase discount an asset?

When the seller allows a discount, this is recorded as a reduction of revenues, and is typically a debit to a contra revenue account. When the buyer receives a discount, this is recorded as a reduction in the expense (or asset) associated with the purchase, or in a separate account that tracks discounts.

Purchase is debited to account for the increase in expense. Cash is credited to account for the decrease in cash of the entity.

Is sales discount a debit or credit?

If a customer takes advantage of these terms and pays less than the full amount of an invoice, the seller records the discount as a debit to the sales discounts account and a credit to the accounts receivable account.

How does a company make a purchase discount journal entry?

Under perpetual inventory system, the company can make the purchase discount journal entry by debiting accounts payable and crediting cash account and inventory account. In this journal entry, there is no purchase discount account like in the periodic inventory system.

Do you need to journal entry for sale?

In this case, if the customer takes the discount by making early payment on the credit purchase, the company needs to account for the sale discount with a proper journal entry.

Is there a purchase discount account in accountinguide?

In this journal entry, there is no purchase discount account like in the periodic inventory system. Likewise, the company simply reduces the cost of inventory in the amount of discount received by crediting the inventory account.

What happens to purchase discounts at the end of the period?

In this journal entry, the purchase discounts is a temporary account which will be cleared to zero at the end of the period. Its normal balance is on the credit side and will be offset with the purchases account when the company calculates cost of goods sold during the accounting period.