Accounts Receivable - Special Uses

Special Uses

Companies can use their accounts receivable as collateral when obtaining a loan (asset-based lending). They may also sell them through factoring or on an exchange. Pools or portfolios of accounts receivable can be sold in capital markets through securitization.

For tax reporting purposes, a general provision for bad debts is not an allowable deduction from profit - a business can only get relief for specific debtors that have gone bad. However, for financial reporting purposes, companies may choose to have a general provision against bad debts consistent with their past experience of customer payments, in order to avoid over-stating debtors in the balance sheet.