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Trade receivables or accounts receivables are prevalent balance sheet items for most companies. These include any amounts owed from customers. Usually, trade receivables refer to money due from customers for goods and services delivered or used. These accounts are prevalent for companies that provide credit sales facilities. In some cases, companies may also report other receivables on their balance sheet.
What are Other Receivables?
There is no specific definition of other receivables. However, they include any amounts owed from parties that do not meet the requirements to be classified as accounts receivable. Other receivables include money owed from non-trade activities. Usually, these include small amounts that companies cannot disclose as separate items. Therefore, they appear as “Trade and other receivables” in the balance sheet.
Other receivables have similar features as trade receivables. These amounts appear under current assets in the balance sheet. Similarly, they represent money owed to a company by third parties. These parties may be internal or external to the underlying company. Usually, other receivables include uncommon or insignificant receivable amounts. Hence, disclosing them as a separate heading is not appropriate.
However, companies may disclose other receivables as a separate heading on the balance sheet. Usually, the amounts in other receivables are insignificant. However, if they become material, companies can disclose them separately. On top of that, companies can also report different items from other receivables under a specific heading. It may occur if that amount is significant or regulations require separate disclosure.
What is the formula for Other Receivables?
The other receivables formula differs from one company to another. Based on the items classified under it, the components may vary. As mentioned above, it includes small amounts aggregated into a single heading. Therefore, the typical formula for other receivables may look as follows.
Other receivables = Advance supplies + Advance weekly wages + Interest receivable + Income tax receivable + Insurance claims receivable + Petty expense receivables
The above other receivables formula helps companies understand the items to include under the heading. However, it is unnecessary to include all under the other receivables heading. If any of those constitute a large sum of receivables, companies may choose to disclose them separately. For stakeholders, the other receivables formula may differ as below.
Other receivables = Total receivables – Trade receivables
The above formula for other receivables helps stakeholders remove trade receivables from the total amount. This formula only applies if companies report other receivables as a part of the “Trade and other receivables” heading.
Example
A company, Blue Co., has the following amounts owed to it by third parties.
| Advance supplies | $1,000 |
| Advance weekly wages | $2,500 |
| Interest receivable | $1,500 |
| Petty expense receivables | $3,000 |
Blue Co.’s trade receivables are $530,000. However, the company cannot classify the above amounts as trade receivables as they don’t meet the criteria. Therefore, Blue Co. puts them under other receivables. The company can calculate the amount using the following formula.
Other receivables = Advance supplies + Advance weekly wages + Interest receivable + Petty expense receivables
Other receivables = $1,000 + $2,500 + $1,500 + $3,000
Other receivables = $8,000
Overall, Blue Co. will report $538,000 in trade and other receivables on its balance sheet.
Conclusion
Other receivables refer to money owed from third parties to a company. Usually, companies record and report trade receivables. These amounts come from selling goods and services to customers on credit. However, other receivables do not meet the classification criteria under that heading. Usually, these amounts are petty and do not require separate disclosure.
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