In accounting, the concept of a freight expense account can be generalized as a payment for sending out a product to a customer. It falls under the umbrella category of "Expenses" and is treated like other expense accounts in relation to the accounting equation. Freight expense has a normal debit balance. Increases are recorded as debits while decreases are recorded as credits. In relation to other accounts, the Freight Expense account is similar to the "Cost of Sales-Freight" account, but are two totally different entities. While the Freight Expense account is increased for payments towards outgoing goods, the Cost of Sales-Freight account is increased for payments towards incoming goods.

For example, suppose you have a business that imports and exports a type of product. When you deliver goods to customers and you pay for the deliver costs, you increase the Freight Expense account with a debit and the Cost of Sales-Freight is unaffected. However, when you purchase goods from a supplier and you pay for the delivery costs, you increase the Cost of Sales-Freight account and the Frieght Expense account is unaffected.