From Longman Business Dictionarybad debt reservesˌbad ˈdebt reˌserves American EnglishACCOUNTING amounts shown in a company’s accounts that are owed by customers etc and will probably never be paid. These are taken away when calculating profitsSYNBAD DEBT PROVISIONS BrEThe increase in bad debt reserves results from financial problems at one of the company’s major customers. → reserves
