Is Interest Payable a Current Liability? Explanation, Example, and Entries

Higgins Woodwork Company borrowed $50,000 on January 4 to build a new industrial facility. In that case, it shows that a corporation is defaulting on its debt commitments, and this amount may be a critical aspect of financial statement analysis. The Note Payable account https://www.simple-accounting.org/ is then reduced to zero and paid out in cash. Over 1.8 million professionals use CFI to learn accounting, financial analysis, modeling and more. Start with a free account to explore 20+ always-free courses and hundreds of finance templates and cheat sheets.

Understanding the Balance Sheet: Interest Payable

  1. A current liability is a debt or obligation due within a company’s standard operating period, typically a year, although there are exceptions that are longer or shorter than a year.
  2. Taxes payable refers to a liability created when a company collects taxes on behalf of employees and customers or for tax obligations owed by the company, such as sales taxes or income taxes.
  3. It is used to help calculate how long the company can maintain operations before becoming insolvent.
  4. This interest expense is subtracted from the operating profit related to financing activities.

This account may be an open credit line between the supplier and the company. An open credit line is a borrowing agreement for an amount of money, supplies, or inventory. The option to borrow from the lender can be exercised at any time within the agreed time period. The balance sheet includes a detailed list of current liabilities. Accrued expenses, notes payable, accounts payable, accrued interest, and dividends payable are examples of current liabilities.

Proper Current Liabilities Reporting and Calculating Burn Rate

Current assets appear on a company’s balance sheet and include cash, cash equivalents, accounts receivable, stock inventory, marketable securities, prepaid liabilities, and other liquid assets. Before examining the journal entries, we need some key information. Because part of the service will be provided in 2019 and the rest in 2020, we need to be careful to keep the recognition of revenue in its proper period.

Current Liabilities: What They Are and How to Calculate Them

100,000 note payable is scheduled to be paid within the current period (typically within one year). 82,000 is considered a long-term liability and will be paid over its remaining life. An invoice from the supplier (such as the one shown in (Figure)) detailing the purchase, credit terms, invoice date, and shipping arrangements will suffice for this contractual relationship. Assume, for example, that for the current year $7,000 of interest will be accrued. In the current year the debtor will pay a total of $25,000—that is, $7,000 in interest and $18,000 for the current portion of the note payable.

Why is understanding what counts as current liabilities important for businesses?

The distinction between current and non-current liabilities is important for companies to understand. Current liabilities are those debts that must be paid within 12 months, while non-current liabilities are those that extend beyond 12 months. Examples of current liabilities include short-term debt, accounts payable, wages owed, and taxes owed.

415.17 monthly payment allocated to interest would be less each month. 3.09 in interest, with the remaining payment covering the last of the principle owed. Interest is an expense that you might pay for the use of someone else’s money. Let’s consider our previous example where Sierra Sports purchased $12,000 of soccer equipment in August. Sierra now sells the soccer equipment to a local soccer league for $18,000 cash on August 20.

Assume, for example, that for the currentyear $7,000 of interest will be accrued. In the current year thedebtor will pay a total of $25,000—that is, $7,000 in interest and$18,000 for the current portion of the note payable. Perhaps at this point a simple 990-finder example might help clarify thetreatment of unearned revenue. Assume that the previous landscapingcompany has a three-part plan to prepare lawns of new clients fornext year. The plan includes a treatment in November 2019, February2020, and April 2020.

Current liability accounts can vary by industry or according to various government regulations. A note payable is a debt to a lender withspecific repayment terms, which can include principal and interest.A note payable has written contractual terms that make it availableto sell to another party. The principal on a noterefers to the initial borrowed amount, not including interest. Inaddition to repayment of principal, interest may accrue.Interest is a monetary incentive to the lender,which justifies loan risk. For example, assume the owner of a clothing boutique purchaseshangers from a manufacturer on credit. The basics of shipping charges and creditterms were addressed in Merchandising Transactions if you would like to refreshyourself on the mechanics.

If the debt is due after one year, it is considered a non-current liability. It is important to note that interest payable is only one component of a company’s financial obligations, and companies should strive to pay all of their financial obligations in a timely manner. At the end of the period, the company will have to recognize interest payable in the balance sheet and interest expenses in the income statement. Accounts payable (A/P) refers to the amount that’s owed to suppliers and other vendors for services and products they’ve provided to your business. These businesses typically will issue an invoice to your company, which must then be paid within 30 to 60 days.

Taxes payable refers to a liability created when a company collects taxes on behalf of employees and customers or for tax obligations owed by the company, such as sales taxes or income taxes. For example, let’s say you take out a car loan in the amount of $10,000. The annual interest rate is 3%, and you are required to make scheduled payments each month in the amount of $400. You first need to determine the monthly interest rate by dividing 3% by twelve months (3%/12), which is 0.25%. The monthly interest rate of 0.25% is multiplied by the outstanding principal balance of $10,000 to get an interest expense of $25. The scheduled payment is $400; therefore, $25 is applied to interest, and the remaining $375 ($400 – $25) is applied to the outstanding principal balance.

If the maturity is over twelve months, it should be recorded in the non-current liabilities section. A current liability is money that a company owes and must pay within one year. Interest payable gives insight into what the business owes in the short term and affects cash flow. This kind of debt often comes from short-term loans to cover quick needs or unexpected costs.

This amount can be a crucial part of a financial statement analysis, if the amount of interest payable is greater than the normal amount – it indicates that a business is defaulting on its debt obligations. At the end of the accounting period, company requires to prepare a financial statement. All the revenue and expenses must be included in the income statement to reflect the actual performance of the company.

Under accrual accounting,a company does not record revenue as earned until it has provided aproduct or service, thus adhering to the revenue recognitionprinciple. Until the customer is provided an obligated product orservice, a liability exists, and the amount paid in advance isrecognized in the Unearned Revenue account. As soon as the companyprovides all, or a portion, of the product or service, the value isthen recognized as earned revenue.

Dividends are cash payments from companies to their shareholders as a reward for investing in their stock. The note payable is $56,349, which is equal to the present value of the $75,000 due on December 31, 2019. The present value can be calculated using MS Excel or a financial calculator. The issuance of the bond is recorded in the bonds payable account.

When Sierra paid the remaining balance on August 10, the company qualified for the discount. However, since Sierra only owed a remaining balance of $11,000 and not the original $12,000, the discount received was 2% of $11,000, or $220, as demonstrated in this journal entry. Since Sierra owed $11,000 and received a discount of $220, the supplier was paid $10,780. This second journal entry is the same as the one that would have recognized an original purchase of $11,000 that qualified for a discount.

The interest expense has been partially incurred but it does not reach the payment date, but the company needs to prepare the financial statement. Based on the accrued principle, the company needs to record an expense when they incur rather than paid. So part of the interest expense must be recorded on the income statement. Another side of the recording will impact the interest payable which is the company’s obligation toward the creditors.

The proper classification of liabilities as current assists decision-makers in determining the short-term and long-term cash needs of a company. High-liquidity assets are those that can be converted into cash in less than a year. Accounts receivable, inventory, marketable securities, prepayment of expenses, cash and cash equivalents are examples of current assets. The debts that a business has to pay off within a specific time frame, usually a year, are known as current liabilities.

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