Prepaid Advertising
Prepaid advertising is an account in which companies record payments for advertising services that have not yet been received. This occurs when a company pays upfront for an advertisement that will run over a future period.
In accounting, prepaid advertising is considered a current asset until the benefit of the advertisement is realized. Once the advertisement runs, the expense is then recorded in the advertising expense account on the income statement, and the prepaid advertising account is reduced accordingly.
The concept of prepaid advertising is part of accrual accounting, where expenses are recognized when they are incurred, not necessarily when they are paid, and revenues are recognized when they are earned, not necessarily when the cash is received.
The goal is to match expenses with the revenues they help to generate in the same accounting period. This matching principle helps give a more accurate picture of a company’s profitability and financial health.
Let’s say a company pays $12,000 in December for a year-long online advertising campaign that will run from January to December of the following year. In December, when the payment is made, the entire $12,000 would be recorded as a prepaid advertising asset. Then, each month of the next year, $1,000 ($12,000/12 months) would be moved from the prepaid advertising account to the advertising expense account, reflecting the portion of the advertisement that has been used up.
Example of Prepaid Advertising
Let’s look at a more detailed example of how prepaid advertising works:
Suppose TechCo, a technology company, decides to run a year-long advertising campaign on a popular tech blog, with the total cost of the campaign being $24,000. The tech blog requires payment upfront, so TechCo pays the entire amount on December 1, 2023, for the advertising campaign which is set to run from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.
Here’s how the accounting for this advertising payment would occur:
On December 1, 2023, when TechCo makes the payment, it records the following journal entry:
Debit: Prepaid Advertising $24,000
Credit: Cash $24,000
At this point, the $24,000 is recorded as a current asset on TechCo’s balance sheet in the Prepaid Advertising account, indicating that TechCo has paid for a service (advertising) that it hasn’t yet received.
Then, at the end of each month during 2024, TechCo will recognize $2,000 ($24,000/12 months) of the advertising expense, reducing the prepaid amount and moving it to the advertising expense account on the income statement. The corresponding journal entry would be:
Debit: Advertising Expense $2,000
Credit: Prepaid Advertising $2,000
By the end of December 2024, the entire $24,000 will have been recognized as an expense, and the Prepaid Advertising account balance will be $0.
This process helps to ensure that the advertising costs are matched with the revenue they help to generate, aligning with the accrual accounting principle and providing a more accurate picture of TechCo’s financial performance.
