A company uses the aging of accounts receivable method to estimate its bad debts expense. On December 31 of the current year an aging analysis of accounts receivable revealed the following:

Accounts Estimated

Receivable Account Age Uncollectible

$220,000 Not due yet.. 1%

70,000 1-30 days overdue.. 2%

45,000 31-60 days overdue. 8%

25,000 61-90 days overdue. 20%

8,000 Over 90 days... 50%

Required:

a. Calculate the amount of the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts that should be reported on the current year-end balance sheet. In other words your estimate.

b. Calculate the amount of the Bad Debts Expense that should be reported on the current years income statement, assuming that the balance of the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts on January 1 of the current year was $24,000 and that accounts receivable written off during the current year totaled $15,000