The advantage of the allowance method of accounting for bad debts is that it identifies the specific customers who will not pay their bills.

The allowance method estimates the amount of uncollectible accounts and sets up an allowance account, which is a contra-asset account to accounts receivable. It does not specifically identify which customers will not pay their bills, but rather creates a reserve for all potential uncollectible accounts. The specific identification method would be necessary to identify individual customers who have defaulted on their debts.