Given:
Face value = $101,000
Carrying value = $97,900
Bonds call price = $95,500
Find:
Gain or loss on retirement = ?
So, the formula to find the gain or loss on retirement is:
Carrying value – bonds call price
Substituting their values, we get:
$97,900 - $95,500
= $2,400
The journal entries are:
Dr Bonds payable $101,000
Dr Gain on retirement of bonds $1,200
Cr Cash $95,500
Therefore, you gained $2,400 on retirement.
To add, when a bond is retired at any time before its maturity date, it is said to be retired early.
Based on this model, we can say that accounting for bonds retired at maturity is pretty straight forward: the company pays out cash and removes the bond payable from its balance sheet.