Bonds that have higher coupon rates sell for more than their par value, making them premium bonds. Conversely, bonds with lower coupon rates often sell for less than par, making them discount bonds. Because the purchase price of bonds can vary so widely, the actual rate of interest paid each year also varies. For example, assume a 10-year $100,000 bond is issued with a 6% semi-annual coupon in a 10% market.

• If the straight-line method is used to amortize the $40,000 premium, you would divide the premium of $40,000 by the number of payments, in this case four, giving a $10,000 per year amortization of the premium.
• We can use the example of the Series 2022 Bonds we used for our effective interest rate calculations.
• Harold Averkamp (CPA, MBA) has worked as a university accounting instructor, accountant, and consultant for more than 25 years.
• While the Effective Interest Rate method provided in DebtBook is the “correct” approach per the standard, we know in practice many issuers utilize the “Straight-Line” method when calculating their premium/discount amortization.
• The premiums or discounts from bonds can be accounted for in two ways.
• It has to be done when bonds are issued at a premium above their face value.

Although both the par value and coupon rate are fixed at issuance, the bond pays a higher rate of interest from the investor’s perspective. ABC must then reduce the $100,000 premium on its bonds payable during each accounting period that the bonds are outstanding, until the balance in the Premium on Bonds Payable account is zero when the company has to pay back the investors. The bonds have a term of five years, so that is the period over which ABC must amortize the premium.

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To find interest and the amortization of discounts or premiums, the effective interest rate is applied to the carrying value of the bonds (face value minus the discount or plus the premium) at the beginning of the interest period. The amount of the discount or premium to be amortized is the difference between the interest figured by using the effective rate and that obtained by using the face rate. The effective interest rate calculation reflects actual interest earned or paid over a specified timeframe. Under this method, the amount of bond premium is equally amortized each year or accounting period. The amortization amount is calculated by dividing the value of the amortization premium by its life.

The second way to amortize the premium is with the effective interest method. The effective interest method is a more accurate method of amortization, but also calls for a more complicated calculation, since it changes in each accounting period. This method is required for the amortization of larger premiums, since using the straight-line method would materially skew the company’s results. When a company issues bonds, investors may pay more than the face value of the bonds when the stated interest rate on the bonds exceeds the market interest rate.

The Rationale Behind the Effective Interest Rate

On 1 January 2022, Robots, Inc. issued 4-year bonds with a total par value of USD 100 million and an annual coupon that amounts to 8% of the par value. On December 31, year 1, the company will have to pay the bondholders $5,000 (0.05 × $100,000). The cash interest payment is the amount of interest the company must pay the bondholder. The company promised 5% when the market rate was 4% so it received more money.

Here’s how to account for bonds under the straight line and effective interest methods. You want to borrow $100,000 for five years when the interest rate is 5%. Assume that the loan was created on January 1, 2018 and totally repaid by December 31, 2022, after five equal, annual payments. Cash is debited for the law firm bookkeeping entire proceeds, and the bonds payable account is credited for the face amount of the bonds. The difference, in this case, is a credit to the premium bonds account of $7,722. Although some bonds pay no interest and generate income only at maturity, most offer a set annual rate of return, called the coupon rate.

Effective Interest Rate Method

As the yield to call represents the lower yield or “yield to worst”, this is the yield which is reported to investors and therefore what you would see in your offering document. DebtBook programmatically calculates the Yield to Maturity in application to generate the correct Effective Interest Value. For non-callable bonds and discount bonds, the stated yield will always equal the Yield to Maturity. The effective interest rate calculation is commonly used in relation to the bond market.

If so, the issuing company must amortize the amount of this excess payment over the term of the bonds, which reduces the amount that it charges to interest expense. For a zero-coupon bond, the amortization is exactly like the discount bond. The only difference is that the bond is issued at a deep discount and there are no coupon payments. So, the total interest expense for the year comprises the discount amortization for the year. Effective interest amortization of discountsMore frequently, businesses account for bond premiums or discounts under the effective interest method.

For discount bonds, in the consecutive years, we will adjust the historical cost up until we reach the bond’s par value and for premium bonds we will adjust the historical cost down until we reach the par value. However, the straight-line method assumes that in each period throughout the bond’s life the value of the adjustment is the same. According to the effective interest rate method, the adjustment reflects the reality better. In other words, it reflects what the change in the bond price would be if we assumed that the market discount rate doesn’t change. The cash interest payment is still the stated rate times the principal.

• Under § 1.1016–5(b), A’s basis in the bond is reduced by $1,118.17 on February 1, 2000.
• The technique through which such write-off is done is known as amortization.
• The term bonds issued at a premium is a newly issued debt that is sold at a price above par.
• We will illustrate the problem by the following example related to a premium bond.

This method is more mathematically complex, but can be done fairly quickly with the help of a finance calculator or Excel. Thus, the company would record $8,000 in cash interest annually (coupon rate of 8% X $100,000 in face value). In addition, it would record premium amortization of $1,000 per year ($10,000 in premium divided by the 10-year life of the bond). Interest expense is $7,000 each year (cash interest of $8,000 minus $1,000 of premium amortization). The coupon rate a company pays on a bond is the most obvious cost of debt financing, but it isn’t the only cost of financing. The price at which a company sells its bonds — and the resulting premium or discount — is an important factor, and it must be accounted for.

The bondholders are reimbursed for this accrued interest when they receive their first six months’ interest check. As we amortize the premium/discount over the life of the bond, the book value is reduced back to its original par amount at the maturity date of the bond. However, if interest rates change, the market value/fair value of bonds will also change. Under both IFRS and US GAAP, the firms have the revocable option to report debt at fair value.