The financial accounting terms registered and bearer bonds refer to the indication and method of ownership associated with the security. With registered bonds, the owner's name and contact information is kept on file with the issuing company. Bearer bonds do not have registered owners on file with the issuing company, and are considered owned by whoever is in possession of the certificate.
Since both registered and bearer bonds are usually issued for a term of five years or more, they represent a long term obligation of the company, and are shown in the long term liabilities section of the balance sheet.
Issuing long-term bonds represents an important source of financing for many large companies. Both registered and bearer bonds typically carry maturities of five years or longer, and are classified as long-term debt obligations.
The terms "registered" and "bearer" refer to the record of ownership as explained below:
liabilities, long-term liabilities, interest expense, commodity-backed bonds, deep discount bonds, adjustment bond