Accounts Receivable

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

We had accounts receivable of $2.9 billion and $2.7 billion, net of an allowance for bad debt of $35.5 million and $39.4 million, as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The following table sets forth activities in our allowance for bad debt (in millions):



	2019			2018			2017
Balance as of beginning of period	$	39.4		$	27.8		$	24.9
Charges to provision for bad debt	25.9			25.1			9.3
Write-off of uncollectible accounts receivable	(32.2		)	(16.2		)	(8.7		)
Recoveries of bad debt	2.4			2.9			2.0
Translation Adjustments	—			(0.1		)	0.3
Balance as of end of period	$	35.5		$	39.4		$	27.8

Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Programs

We have accounts receivable financing programs under Receivables Purchase Agreements (“RPAs”) with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Citibank, N.A. that allow for the sale of our accounts receivable in an amount up to 100% of our outstanding qualifying accounts receivable balances and receive cash consideration equal to the total balance, less a discount margin equal to LIBOR plus 1% to 3%. Receivables sold under the RPAs are accounted for as sales, in accordance with ASC Topic 860, Transfers and Servicing, and excluded from accounts receivable, net on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Fees and interest paid under the RPAs are recorded within "Interest expense and other financing costs, net" in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Under the RPAs, sold accounts receivable which remained outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018, were $405.9 million and $508.2 million, respectively. The fees and interest paid under the RPA were $25.9 million, $19.9 million, and $12.4 million, for 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, cash payments to the owners of account receivables were $8.2 billion, $7.9 billion and $6.1 billion respectively and cash proceeds from the sale of account receivables were $8.2 billion, $7.9 billion and $5.9 billion respectively.