Generally, when the prospect of payment of a receivable or other debt owed to a business begins to look doubtful, the business faces a decision. If it carries doubtful receivables on its balance sheet as if they were good assets, it violates generally accepted accounting principles. On the other hand, until it becomes virtually certain that a debt will not be paid, most businesses would not be willing to write off the debt. The compromise is to adjust the book value of the receivables downward. This is usually done at one time for a large group of receivables, and is based on the average probability of eventual payment.