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AngeliqueVal
Level 1

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

I just sold a vehicle that was bought in 2016 (full cost of vehicle deducted via section 179).  There is a loan for the car.  Not sure how to enter the journal entries.

Cash received = $14700

Loan Payable Liability = $4894.63

Fixed asset (vehicle) = $15,172.00

Thank you for your help.

 

Solved
Best answer March 29, 2019

Best Answers
Anonymous
Not applicable

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

It's nice to see you here, @AngeliqueVal,

 

Thanks for joining our forum. I can share some insights on how to record the sale of your vehicle and the loan liability.

 

When you sell a company owned vehicle, this decreases your Fixed Assets. Let me show you how to enter a journal entry for the sale:

  1. Go to the Company menu.
  2. Click on Make General Journal Entries.
  3. In the Account column, add the Bank Account you want to record the sale.
  4. Add the amount ($14,700.00) in the Debit column.
  5. On the second line, add the Depreciation Expense, then enter the difference between the actual FA amount minus the selling price of the vehicle in the Amount column. (Example: $472.00)
  6. On the third line, enter the Fixed Asset (vehicle), then add the amount of $15172.00 on the Credit column. Please see illustration below:

 

 

Once you recorded the sale, you can later write a check for the remaining loan payable balance of $4894.63.

 

Here's a great article you can check to know more about the process: Recording and depreciating assets.

 

Please update me on how it goes or if you meant a different thing. I'll be on a standby for your response. Wishing you a great and productive weekend!

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19 Comments 19
Anonymous
Not applicable

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

It's nice to see you here, @AngeliqueVal,

 

Thanks for joining our forum. I can share some insights on how to record the sale of your vehicle and the loan liability.

 

When you sell a company owned vehicle, this decreases your Fixed Assets. Let me show you how to enter a journal entry for the sale:

  1. Go to the Company menu.
  2. Click on Make General Journal Entries.
  3. In the Account column, add the Bank Account you want to record the sale.
  4. Add the amount ($14,700.00) in the Debit column.
  5. On the second line, add the Depreciation Expense, then enter the difference between the actual FA amount minus the selling price of the vehicle in the Amount column. (Example: $472.00)
  6. On the third line, enter the Fixed Asset (vehicle), then add the amount of $15172.00 on the Credit column. Please see illustration below:

 

 

Once you recorded the sale, you can later write a check for the remaining loan payable balance of $4894.63.

 

Here's a great article you can check to know more about the process: Recording and depreciating assets.

 

Please update me on how it goes or if you meant a different thing. I'll be on a standby for your response. Wishing you a great and productive weekend!

AngeliqueVal
Level 1

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Thank you for the response.  It seems to have worked.  As for the payoff of the loan, I picked write a check and used the loan liability account as the offset.  That seems to have worked as well.  However, there was a $7 difference between what is in QB and the payoff, so there is still a balance sitting in the long term liability for that vehicle.

Mark_R
QuickBooks Team

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Hello there, @AngeliqueVal.

 

Allow me to step in and provide some information about the $7 difference between QB and the payoff.

 

That should not have a difference after following the steps provided by my colleague above. To fix this, you'll need to check if this Loan is an underpayment. Once verified, you can modify the created check and enter the correct amount of the loan.

 

You can also double check the created Journal Entry if there are incorrect entries you've entered. Once checked, you'll need to edit the Journal Entry to record the transaction correctly.

 

That's it! Let me know if you have any other questions about QuickBooks Desktop. I'll be always around to help.

vanidosa27
Level 2

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

What if I never recorded an asset and only a note payable for the vehicle loan? 

We received a check for $988.43 for the sale of the van and the amount of the loan was $12473.71...

vanidosa27
Level 2

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

What if I never recorded an asset and only a note payable for the vehicle loan? 

We received a check for $988.43 for the sale of the van and the amount of the loan was $12473.71...

Charies_M
Moderator

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Thanks for sharing additional details of your concern, vanidosa27.

 

May I know how did you track your loan vehicle? In QuickBooks Desktop, there is a process of tracking loans and you can follow the steps below.

 

The First step is to set up a liability account. Here's how:

  1. From the Lists menu, click Chart of Accounts.
  2. In the Chart of Accounts, right-click anywhere and select New.
  3. In the Add New Account screen, click the Other Account Types radio button and from the drop-down and choose either: Other Current Liability or Long Term Liability.
  4. Click Continue.
  5. Enter a name and number for the account.
  6. Click Save & Close.

Then, set up the vendor from the Vendor Center. Once done, you can record the loan amount. 

 

For the complete steps on how to track loans in QuickbBooks Desktop, check out this article (proceed to Step 2): Manually track loans.

 

Get back to me if you have follow-up questions, and I'll work to get those answered for you. I'll be keeping an eye out for your reply.

vanidosa27
Level 2

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

I do have the loan set up as a long term liability. My question was how to remove it from the system. We sold the vehicle and received $988 (check). So the JE is Debit cash $988, Debit the LT liability for $12,500. But what is the credit? 

Thank you for all your help and Merry Christmas!!!

IamjuViel
QuickBooks Team

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Greetings, @vanidosa27.

 

You can include the Depreciation account on the record if the value of the sold vehicle was depreciated. However, if the remaining balance of the Long term Liability are still be payable, I'd suggest to check this with an accountant. So you'll be guided accurately in choosing the category type of account to use in recording your transactions.

 

Feel free to leave your comments below if you have other questions. I'm always here to help.

 

 

 

 

 

vanidosa27
Level 2

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Thank you for your comment. I never added the asset because it was a vehicle loan so I didn't feel we had an actual asset until the loan is paid off. So, nothing was depreciated. This is why I am confused as to what the crebit should be. 

MJoy_D
Moderator

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

It’s our pleasure to help, @vanidosa27

 

To stay on top of your account when tracking loans, you’ll have to set up a liability account, a vendor and record the loan amount. Then, when creating a journal entry, you’ll just have to debit the loan asset account and credit the liability account.

 

You can also consult an accountant to get advice on what account to use. 

 

See the following article for detailed guidance on how to manually track loans

 

I’m always here if you still need help with your account by leaving a comment below. Have a wonderful day! 

Bilal Memon
Level 1

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Hello

This Article helps me out to sold out vehicle.

just a little question on it

how to record loss or gain on sale of vehicle

can you please guide me with an entry

i.e cost of car is $26000

if i sell on $25000

and if i sell on $27000

 

sample entry please

Judy D1
Level 2

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

How do I record a fully owned company Vehicle Sold.

katherinejoyceO
QuickBooks Team

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Thanks for dropping by on this thread, @Judy D1, I've got you the steps to guide you in recording fully owned company vehicle sold in QuickBooks.

 

First off, let's create a Fixed Asset account for a vehicle. Here's how:

 

  1. Go to the List menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
  2. From the Account drop-down, select New
  3. Select an account type, then click Continue.
  4. Enter a name and description of the vehicle, then enter all other details of the newly purchased vehicle. 
  5. Click Save and Close.

 

Once done, enter the purchased vehicle information by creating a Journal Entry

 

For the proper posting of the transactions in the account, I'd recommend following the advice of your accountant. 

 

For future reference, read through this article to learn more about running reports in QuickBooks Online to view the different aspects of your business. 

 

Please let me know if you need anything else. I'd be glad to help.

Lisa Hansen
Level 1

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

I just switched to quickbooks online and took all of the depreciation in the first year for a vehicle.  Now selling it I don't see any depreciation listed in my quickbooks online accounts. Just wondering where I can find this to do the journal entry?

ShiellaGraceA
QuickBooks Team

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Thanks for joining us here today, @Lisa Hansen.

 

I'll share the steps on how to create a depreciation account. Let's go to your Chart of Accounts to see it.

 

  1. Go to Accounting. Then, select Chart of Accounts.
  2. Tap the New button.
  3. Under Account Type drop-down, look for Other Expense. Then, choose Depreciation as your Detail Type.
  4. Click Save and Close. See the image below.

 

 

 

 

After that, record the depreciation by creating a journal entry. Refer to this guide for details: Depreciate assets in QuickBooks Online.

 

If you need help with other banking and accounting tasks, click this link to go to our general banking topics with articles.

 

Don't hesitate to reach out to me again in this thread if you still have questions or concerns with accounts. I'll be around for you. Take care and have a good one.

Lisa Hansen
Level 1

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Depreciation was recorded in quickbooks desktop.. Now switching to online I don't see that depreciation was transferred over.  All the depreciation accounts are zero.  Is that correct?  Shouldn't those amounts have carried over to the online version?

KlentB
Moderator

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

Hi there, Lisa Hansen.

 

I can share some information about the migration process.

 

When you covert your company file from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, you may notice that some of your transactions and data are missing. This due to import limitations and feature differences between the two platforms.

 

In this case, you may need to manually enter your assets and their depreciation. Feel free to follow these steps in creating a journal entry to record the lost value:

 

  1. Click the + New button.
  2. Choose Journal entry.
  3. Set the correct journal date.
  4. On the first line, select the asset account you use to track the loan from the Account drop-down menu.
  5. Enter the depreciated amount in the Credits column.
  6. On the second line, select the depreciation account Account drop-down menu and then enter the same depreciated amount in the Debits column.
  7. Click Save or Save and close.

To learn more about this process, you can read this guide: Depreciate assets in QuickBooks Online.

 

Additionally, if you need some reference in dealing with your other tasks or answers to frequently asked questions, you can visit our Help Article page.

 

I'll be right here to keep helping if you have any other concerns. Just add the details below and I'll get back to you.

ML415
Level 1

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

You can record it after the fact if necessary. Financed purchases and leased vehicles still depreciate at the normal rate.

WhatDidiJustDo
Level 1

Journal Entries for Fixed Asset Sale(vehicle) with a loan liability

That logic makes sense in practicality, but in accounting there has to be an offset.  the asset value minus the loan balance is the amount of equity you have in the vehicle.  if you purchase a 20000 vehicle, your asset value is the 20000.  if the loan value after TT&L is 22343, you have 2343 negative equity.  as you pay the loan down, the asset value remains the same but the loan balance drops; resulting in positive equity.  If you're paying a loan on a non-asset vehicle; it's just hitting your expenses and affecting your P&L.  Your balance sheet wont be accurate if it's legitimately a company vehicle.  

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