Net Credit Sales

Publication Date :

26 Oct, 2019

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Table Of Contents

What are Net Credit Sales?

Net Credit Sales refers to the revenue generated by a company when it sells its goods or services to its customers on credit, less all the sales returns and sales allowances.

What is Net Credit Sales?

Net Credit Sales Formula

Net Credit Sales = Sales on Credit - Sales Returns - Sales Allowances

Sales Returns - It refers to the credit that gets issued to a customer due to any problem which is usually caused by shipment or service provided to that particular customer.
Sales Allowances - It generally refers to the reduction in price that gets charged to a customer, which is usually due to a problem with the sale transaction which does not involve the goods or the service being delivered.

Example

John and co happened to sell goods worth $50000, of which they collected cash worth $25000. They also accepted a sales return from a customer who received faulty goods worth $2000 and granted another customer a sales allowance of $500. Calculate the total net credit sales for John and Co.

=25000-2000-500
= 22500

Hence if one were to consider the sales allowance and the sales returns, the final net credit sales would finally stand at $22500.

Advantages

Provides Break-up: Net credit sales would tend to provide a perfect picture through a break-up of values between sales returns and also sales allowances, thereby helping the firm to understand the true picture of the amount that can be realized during any particular period
Monitor Receivables: By keeping a watch on the total net credit sales of any company, it helps the management closely monitor the total receivables it expects to receive. An increase in the same would stand to create liquidity problems for the company and thus help the management to be cautious in this regard
Preservation of Ratios: By helping a company understand the total receivables it has in hand after considering any addition of net credit sales, it helps the company gauge the liquidity ratios that it currently has, which are usually cash and quick ratios. If it happens to find out that the ratios are depleting, it stands as a red signal for the company. Hence it facilitates the maintenance of ratios as desired by the company, and any deviation or discrepancy will help the management take corrective action in this regard.
Facilitates the Creation of Ledger: A company can tend to create a receivable account in every customer's name and thereby track the associated amount with each customer it is linked to. This action facilitates necessary segregation through the creation of ledger books, thus prompting the company to take the required collective action against the required customer from whom the amount stands as overdue.
Goes into Ratio Analysis: It forms an essential part of having to calculate ratios such as receivables turnover ratios, as the net credit sales, which is the credit sales after deducting the sales returns from customers, goes on to be the numerator which is then divided by the receivables to arrive at the receivables turnover ratio.

Disadvantages

Given below are some of the disadvantages-

Delay in Collection: There may be times when certain addition of additional debt through net credit sales may create collection problems for a firm. The debtors may not give the necessary amount in time, thereby affecting the liquidity of a company, and this is certainly not a good sign for the company.
Additional Expenses: The amount being forfeited due to sales returns given for a default in service terms or a faulty product tends to be unnecessary expenses for the firm, and the same could have been possibly avoided if there were necessary scrutiny and due diligence in place.
Creation of Bad Debts: As indicated earlier, if the receivables are not collected in time, it may lead to the creation of certain bad debts, which may be an additional burden and expense for the company. There may be a requirement for certain provisions that have to be set up to tackle the issues that cause liquidity concerns for the management.

Conclusion

Net credit sales, the total of credit sales that is arrived at after considering the impact and deducting sales returns and sales allowances, form an important part of ratio analysis as it becomes a part of the numerator facilitating the calculation of receivables turnover ratio. Moreover, it helps the management to gauge and measure the total receivables it is owed and thereby keep a check on the same so that there is no pressure of additional liquidity crunch created owing to such measures.

However, if the net credit sales are unchecked, they may accumulate into a phenomenal amount of receivables. It may then become a significant burden to the company as it may create bad debt problems. Certain provisions may be required for such bad debts, which are unnecessary expenses for the company. The debtors may not pay on time, and this may go on to have a huge toll on the company.

It may no doubt facilitate break-up and provide a greater understanding of information by providing ratio analysis and serving as a pre-check to help the management plan out its working capital management. Hence it becomes imperative and necessary for the company to have an excellent method of checks and balances in place so that the attention towards managing liquidity by having a good look at receivables does not go unattended.