For the past 52 years, Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has worked as an accounting supervisor, manager, consultant, university instructor, and innovator in teaching accounting online. He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com.
Author:
Harold Averkamp, CPA, MBA
A cash advance to an employee is usually a temporary loan by a company to an employee. In other words, the company is the lender and the employee is the borrower.
The cash advance needs to be reported as a reduction in the company’s Cash account and an increase in an asset account such as Advance to Employees or Other Receivables: Advances. (If the amount is expected to be repaid within one year, this account will be reported as a current asset.)
If the cash advance is repaid through payroll withholdings, the routine payroll entry will record the amount withheld as a credit to Advance to Employees. This in turn results in a smaller amount being credited to Net Payroll Payable.
Let’s assume that a valuable employee’s car requires an emergency repair of $800. The employee is unable to pay for the repair and has no other means for getting to work. The company agrees to lend the employee $800 and to withhold $100 per week from the employee’s weekly payroll checks until the $800 is repaid.
The company will debit the current asset Advance to Employees for $800 and will credit Cash for $800. The weekly payroll processing will result in a credit of $100 to Advance to Employees (thereby reducing by $100 the amount credited to Net Payroll Payable).
