Loan received from bank journal entry

Overview

Sometimes, the company may receive a loan from a bank in order to operate or expand its business operation. Likewise, the company needs to properly make the journal entry for the loan received from the bank as the loan received from the bank will almost always comes with the interest payment obligation.

Hence, in addition to the principal payment obligation, the company needs to also recognize and record the interest incurred as a liability if the payment is not made at the time of closing the account.

Loan received from bank journal entry

Loan received journal entry

The company can make the journal entry for the loan received from the bank by debiting the cash account and crediting the loan payable account.

Account Debit Credit
Cash 000
Loan payable 000

In this journal entry, both total assets and total liabilities on the balance sheet increase in the same amount.

Accrued interest journal entry

At the period-end adjusting entry, the company needs to record the accrued interest on the loan received by debiting the interest expense account and crediting the interest payable account.

Account Debit Credit
Interest expense 000
Interest payable 000

This journal entry will increase both total expenses on the income statement and total liabilities on the balance sheet.

Interest payment on loan journal entry

When the company makes the interest payment for the loan, it can make the journal entry to eliminate interest payable it has recorded previously (if any) by debiting the interest payable account and crediting the cash account.

Account Debit Credit
Interest payable 000
Cash 000
If the payment of interest is at period-end adjusting entry, the company can simply debit the interest expense account and crediting the cash account directly. In other words, there won’t be any interest payable account in the journal entry at all.

Loan payment journal entry

When the company pays back the principal of the loan received from the bank, it can make the journal entry by debiting the loan payable account and crediting the cash account.

Account Debit Credit
Loan payable 000
Cash 000

Loan received from bank example

For example, on January 1, 2020, the company ABC receives a $50,000 loan from a bank with an interest of 8% per annum. The loan has the maturity of one year and the company requires to pay back both principal and interest at the end of the loan period which is on January 1, 2021. The company ABC closes its year-end account on December 31.

What is the journal entry for the loan received from the bank?

  • on January 1, 2020
  • on December 31, 2020
  • on January 1, 2021

Solution:

On January 1, 2020

The company ABC can make the journal entry for the $50,000 loan received from the bank on January 1, 2020, as below:

Account Debit Credit
Cash 50,000
Loan payable 50,000

In this journal entry, both total assets and total liabilities on the balance sheet of the company ABC will increase by $50,000.

On December 31, 2020

When the company ABC closes its account on December 31, 2020, it needs to record the accrued interest on loan received from the bank of $4,000 ($50,000 x 8%) and make the journal entry as below:

Account Debit Credit
Interest expense 4,000
Interest payable 4,000

If this journal entry is not made, total expenses on the income statement will be understated by $4,000 and at the same time, total liabilities on the balance sheet will also be understated by $4,000 for the financial statements of 2020.

This is due to the interest expense incurs through the passage of time. Hence by the end of 2020, the company ABC has already incurred interest expense on the loan received from the bank of $4,000.

On January 1, 2021

On January 1, 2021, as the company ABC pays back both the principal and interest on the loan received from the bank, it can make the journal entry as below:

Account Debit Credit
Loan payable 50,000
Interest payable 4,000
Cash 54,000