write off a debt

Meaning

This expression means to officially accept that an unpaid amount of money will never be recovered and to record it as a loss in accounting. It is commonly used by banks, businesses, and accounting departments when a customer or client goes bankrupt or defaults. The tone is neutral and professional.

Examples

• After months of trying to contact the client, the accounting department decided to write off the debt.

  After months of trying to contact the client, the accounting department decided to write off the debt.

• The bank had to write off millions of dollars in bad loans last quarter.

  The bank had to write off millions of dollars in bad loans last quarter.

• It is sometimes cheaper to write off a small debt than to pay for legal action to recover it.

  It is sometimes cheaper to write off a small debt than to pay for legal action to recover it.

• We cannot just write off this outstanding balance without a proper audit.

  We cannot just write off this outstanding balance without a proper audit.

• If they declare bankruptcy, we'll have no choice but to write off their remaining debt.

  If they declare bankruptcy, we'll have no choice but to write off their remaining debt.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The bank deleted the debt of the client.

  ✓ The bank wrote off the client's debt.

  While 'delete' makes sense literally, 'write off' is the standard financial term for canceling unrecoverable debt.

• ✗ We decided to write out the bad debt.

  ✓ We decided to write off the bad debt.

  The phrasal verb 'write out' means to write something in full detail. The correct phrasal verb for canceling debt in accounting is 'write off'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Since the customer went bankrupt, we had to ___ their outstanding invoice.

  💡 Phrasal verb meaning to cancel an unrecoverable debt.

  Show answer

  write off

• It's policy to ___ a debt only after all collection attempts have failed.

  💡 Cancel the debt in the accounting books.

  Show answer

  write off