Account 641 - Selling expenses
1. Accounting Principles
This account is used to record expenses actually incurred in process of selling products, goods, providing services, including publicity expenses, demonstration expenses, advertising expenses, sale commission, warranty charges of goods and products (excluding construction activity), maintenance charges, cost of packing, transportation.
b) Costs that are not considered as business income tax expense under the provisions of the tax Law but have full invoices and have accounted in accordance with accounting policy shall not be recorded a decrease in accounting costs but only adjusted in final business income tax declaration to increase the business income tax payable.
c) Account 641 is opened in details suitable to contents of expenses, such as pay roll expenses, costs of materials, package, tools, supplies, fixed assets depreciation, characteristic, management demand of every industry, every business that account 641 can have additional items of expenses. At end of period, transferring selling expenses to Dr 911 ―Income Summary‖

2. Structure and contents of account 641 - Selling expenses
Debit side : Costs incurred relating to process of selling products, goods, rendering services incurred in period.
Credit side :
- Items reduced selling expense in the period;
- Transferring selling expenses to Dr 911 ―Income Summary‖ to calculate operating results in the period.
Account 641 does not have ending balances.
Account 641 comprises 7 sub-accounts:
- Account 6411 - payroll expenses: recording accounts payables to sales personnel, package personnel, transportation and maintenance personnel of products, goods, including salaries, intershift meal expenses, wages and appropriation of social insurance, medical insurance and labor union fees, unemployment insurance...
- Account 6412 - Costs of materials, package: recording costs of materials and package delivered for protection, consumption of products, goods, services, such as costs of package materials of products, goods, costs of materials, fuels used for protecting, loading, transporting products, goods used for repairing, maintenance of fixed assets, ... used for sales department
- Account 6413 - Costs of tools, supplies: recording instruments, tools served for consumption process of products, goods, such as measurement tools, computing devices, working facilities...
- Account 6414 - Depreciation cost of Fixed assets: recording depreciation expenses of fixed assets in maintenance department, sales department, such as warehouse, stores, quays, loading and transportation facilities, computing and measurement tools, quality verification,...
- Account 6415 - Costs of warranty: used to record cost of product and goods warranty. Especially, repairing and warranty expenses of construction work are recorded at account 627 ―Factory Overhead Expenses‖, and not recorded at this account.
- Account 6417 - Costs of outsourcing services: recording costs of outsourcing services for selling products, such as outsourcing costs for repairing fixed assets used directly for selling department, warehouse rent, quay rent, loading and transportation expenses for sales, commission for sales agency, for exporting consignee...
- Account 6418 - Other cash expenses: recording other cash expenses incurred is sales operation in addition to above mentioned expenses, such as expenses of entertainment in sales department, demonstration expenses of products and goods, offering expenses, expenses of customer conference.

3. Method of accounting for several major transactions
Computing salary, salary supplement, inter-shift meal expenses, computing and appropriating social insurance, medical insurance, labor union fees, unemployment insurance, other support ( life insurance, voluntary pension insurance) for employees directly served for process of selling products, goods, and rendering services, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Cr 334,338,...
b) Value of materials, tools served for process of selling goods, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Cr 152, 153, 242.
c) Deducting depreciation of fixed assets of sale department, record :
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Cr 214 – Depreciation of fixed assets
d) Outsource water and electricity expenses, information expenses (telephone, fax,...), outsourced expenses for repairing fixed assets with inconsiderable values will be charged directly to selling expenses, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Dr 133 – Deductible VAT ( if any)
Cr 111, 112, 141, 331,...
dd) For cost of repairing fixed assets serving for sale
- In case method of anticipated expenses for great repair of fixed assets is used:
When anticipating expenses for great repair of fixed assets in selling expense, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Cr 335 - Accrued expenses (if repairs are carried out in the period but have not yet accepted or had invoice).
Cr 352 – Provision payable (If units advance repair costs for fixed assets as required for technical maintenance, periodic maintenance)
When great repair expenses of fixed assets are actually incurred, record:
Dr 335, 352
Dr 133 - Deductible VAT
Cr 331, 241, 111, 112, 152,...
- In case expenses for great repairs of fixed assets are incurred just one time with great value and related to selling products, goods, services in many periods, periodically accountants include each part of great repairing costs incurred in selling expense, record :
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Cr 242 - Prepaid expenses
a) Accounting of warranty expenses of products, goods (not including warranty of construction works):
- In case business sell goods for customers attached with warranty certificate for breakages from production errors, detected during warranty period of products, goods, business must determine every repair expenses level in warranty obligation. When determining payables provision for repair and warranty expenses of products, goods, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Cr 352 - Provision for payables
- At end of the next accounting period, business has to compute and transfer payables provision for repairs and maintenances of products, goods:
In case, provision for payables in this account period is bigger than unspent provision for payables in warranty of products, goods in last account period, then the difference between them is appropriated additionally to record in expenses, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses (6415)
Cr 352 - Provision for payables
In case, provision for payables in this account period is smaller than unspent provision for payables in warranty of products, goods in last account period, then the difference between them is returned to decrease expenses, record:
Dr 352 - Provision for payables
Cr 641 - Selling expenses (6415)
g) For products and goods used for promotions, advertising
- For goods purchased by businesses or products produced for promotional, advertising:
In case of delivering products, goods for promotion, advertising without charge or other conditions, such as buying products, goods, record :
Dr 641- selling expenses (cost of production, cost price of goods)
Cr 155,156.
In case of dispatching goods for promotion, advertising, but customers only receive promotional, advertising goods together with other conditions, such as buying products, goods (eg, buy 2 get 1 free....), accountants must record the value of goods for promotion, advertising, the cost price of goods sold (in this case the nature of the transaction is discount of goods sold ).
- If the enterprise trading received goods (without payment) from manufacturers, distributors for advertising, promotion for customers buying from manufacturers, distributors:
When receiving goods by the manufacturer (without payment) used for promotion, advertising for customers, distributors must monitor in detail the number of goods in their internal administrative system and explain in the note of financial statements for goods received and the number of goods used for promotion for buyers (such as goods kept).
At the end of the promotion program, if the number of unused promotional goods is not returned to the manufacturer, accountants record a value of unreturned promotional goods in other income, record:
Dr 156 - Goods (fair value)
Cr 711 - Other income.
h) For products, goods consumed internally for sales activities, based on relevant documents, accounts record :
Dr 641 - Selling expenses (6412, 6413, 6417, 6418)
Cr 155, 156 (cost of production, cost price of goods)
If declaring VAT for products, goods for internal consumption (the value of declaration shall comply with regulations of law on taxation), record :
Dr 133 - Deductible VAT
Cr 3331 - payable VAT
i) In case the products, goods are used as gifts
- In case products, goods used as gifts for customers outside the enterprise are included in the cost of production and trading:
Dr 641- selling expenses (cost of production, cost price of goods)
Cr 152, 153, 155, 156.
In case of declaring output VAT, record :
Dr 133 - Deductible VAT
Cr 3331 - payable VAT
- In case of products, goods used as gifts for staff and employees are covered by bonus and welfare fund :
Dr 353 - bonus and welfare fund (total settlement price)
Cr 511 – Turnover from sale and service provision
Cr 3331 - VAT payable (33311).
At the same time, recording the cost price of goods sold for the value of the products, goods, raw material used as gifts for staff and employees:
Dr 632 - Cost of goods sold
Cr 152, 153, 155, 156.
k) Payables for export consignee‘s disbursement relating to export consignment products and export consignment charges, accountants will base on relating documents, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Dr 133 – Deductible VAT ( if any)
Cr 338 - Other payables (3388).
l) Sales commission which consignor must pay for consignee, record:
Dr 641 - Selling expenses
Dr 133 - Deductible VAT
Cr 131 – receivable from customers
m) When decreases in selling expenses incurred, record:
Dr 111, 112,...
Cr 641 - Selling expenses.
n) At end of period, closing out selling expenses incurred to period account 911 ―Income Summary‖, record:
Dr 911 - ―Income Summary‖.
Cr 641 - Selling expenses.

Source: Circular 200, Article 91