sales discounts. A contra revenue account that reports the discounts allowed by the seller if the customer pays the amount owed within a specified time period. For example, terms of 1/10, n/30 indicates that the buyer can deduct 1% of the amount owed if the customer pays the amount owed within 10 days. As a contra revenue account, sales discount will have a debit balance and is subtracted from sales (along with sales returns and allowances) to arrive at net sales.