To be consistent with the expense recognition principle, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require that bad debt expense must be recorded in the period related to the sales. The allowance for doubtful accounts is __________ a. the reduction in sales revenue that results from the seller's actions, such as disputes and allowances. b. an account that has been established to "store" the estimate of the accounts receivable that are not expected to be collected. c. the same as the bad debt expense account. d. the amount that has been billed to a customer less the "2% cash discount" allowed for prompt payment