Journal Entry For Accounts Payable: A Full Simple Guide

Introduction

We are sure you have heard of Accounts Payable (AP) before. Simply put, Accounts Payable is what we use to describe when a business purchases something on credit and owes the supplier money. This short-term debt is crucial for managing cash flow and plays a vital role in a company’s financial health.

In this post, we’ll be going beyond the basics and explore how these transactions are recorded in accounting using journal entries.

Double-Entry System (Debit & Credit)

Accounting uses a double-entry system, meaning every transaction affects both sides of the scale equally. This maintains balance and ensures all financial activities are recorded accurately.

In the context of accounts payable, when you purchase something on credit:

1. You debit an asset account (like office supplies or a vehicle) because you’re acquiring something of value.
2. You credit the accounts payable account (supplier account) because you now owe money (a liability) to the supplier.

This keeps the accounting scale in balance, showing both the new asset and the new liability created by the credit purchase.

Recording Accounts Payable Entries

let’s not waste any time and jump directly into the recording procedure for the Accounts Payable journal entry, as mentioned in the introduction accounts payable occur when we purchase something on credit.

Let’s take an example:

E1: Imagine company X purchased a car as an asset for $10,000 on credit from company Y.

In this situation we are now in the area of accounts payable where now company x owe company y a $10,000 so we start recording the journal entry as follow:

1- We debit the asset account or expense account (Vehicles asset account in our example)
Note: Debiting Vehicles increases the asset account since the company now owns the car.

2- We credit the supplier account (Company Y in our example)
Note: Crediting Company Y reflects the new liability owed to the supplier.

The Journal Entries for Accounts Payable

Now we have credit balance for Company Y and when Its time for the payment the following journal entry occur:

This way Company Y now has a 0 balance and we can reconcile it and what remains from both journal entries is:

Read More: Understanding the “Accounts Payable Turnover Ratio” in Accounting

Another Example.

E2: Imagine company X purchased maintenance items for $3,500 on credit from company Y.

Now we have credit balance for Company Y and when Its time for the payment the following journal entry occur:

This way Company Y now has a 0 balance and we can reconcile it and what remains from both journal entries is:

Benefits of Accurate AP Entries

Financial Reporting: Ensures accurate portrayal of a company’s financial health for stakeholders.
Cash Flow Management: Helps track upcoming obligations and plan for payments effectively.
Vendor Relationships: Improves vendor trust and potentially leads to better payment terms.

Conclusion

In summary, this post explored Accounts Payable (AP) and how it’s recorded in accounting using journal entries. We demonstrated the process with a clear example and explained the importance of accurate AP recording for financial reporting, cash flow management, and maintaining good relationships with vendors.