A loan balance is pretty self-explanatory: a loan balance is simply the remaining amount you have left to pay on your loan. It can often be different than the payoff amount, which is the amount you’d need to pay today to completely pay off your loan. Every loan you take out will have a loan balance until the loan is entirely paid off. Journal for Partial Payment and Trade-In of Vehicle incl. Depreciation. by Anonymous Q: Paid $12,500 for a car which cost $20,000 with the garage accepting $7,500 in part exchange. The old car cost $22,000 and had depreciated by $5,000. Example of Recording an Asset that was Partially Financed Assume that your company purchased a car for $10,000 by paying cash of $4,000 and signing a promissory note for $6,000. The accounting entry is: Debit the asset account Automobiles for the cost of $10,000 Credit the asset account Cash for