Why is prepaid a liability?
Isabella Turner
Updated on January 03, 2026
Prepaid revenue might feel like an asset, but to accountants, it’s a liability. You report the $10,000 in Unearned Revenue in the liability section of the balance sheet, as well as in Cash on the asset side.
What are prepaid expenses in balance sheet?
Prepaid expenses are future expenses that are paid in advance. On the balance sheet, prepaid expenses are first recorded as an asset. After the benefits of the assets are realized over time, the amount is then recorded as an expense.
How are prepaid expenses recorded?
A prepaid expense is when a company makes a payment for goods or services that have not been used or received yet. This type of expense is typically recorded as an asset on a company’s balance sheet that is expensed over a period of time on the business’s income statement.
What type of account is accrued liabilities?
Accrued liabilities, also referred to as accrued expenses, are expenses that businesses have incurred, but haven’t yet been billed for. These expenses are listed on the balance sheet as a current liability, until they’re reversed and eliminated from the balance sheet entirely.
What is the journal entry for expenses?
Expenses and Losses are Usually Debited Expenses normally have debit balances that are increased with a debit entry. Since expenses are usually increasing, think “debit” when expenses are incurred. (We credit expenses only to reduce them, adjust them, or to close the expense accounts.)
Is an expense a liability or asset?
In double-entry bookkeeping, expenses are recorded as a debit to an expense account (an income statement account) and a credit to either an asset account or a liability account, which are balance sheet accounts. An expense decreases assets or increases liabilities.
Do expenses fall under liabilities?
Expenses are what your company pays on a monthly basis to fund operations. Liabilities, on the other hand, are the obligations and debts owed to other parties. In a way, expenses are a subset of your liabilities but are used differently to track the financial health of your business.
What is the journal entry for accrued liabilities?
The journal entry is typically a credit to accrued liabilities and a debit to the corresponding expense account. Once the payment is made, accrued liabilities are debited, and cash is credited. At such a point, the accrued liability account will be completely removed from the books.
How do you record accrued liability?
Accounting for accrued liabilities requires a debit to an expense account and a credit to the accrued liability account, which is then reversed upon payment with a credit to the cash or expense account and a debit to the accrued liability account. Examples of accrued liabilities can include payroll and payroll taxes.