Please answer the given financial question based on the context.
Context: notes to consolidated financial statements ( continued ) note 2 2014financial instruments ( continued ) are not covered by collateral , third-party flooring arrangements , or credit insurance are outstanding with the company 2019s distribution and retail channel partners . no customer accounted for more than 10% ( 10 % ) of trade receivables as of september 24 , 2005 or september 25 , 2004 . the following table summarizes the activity in the allowance for doubtful accounts ( in millions ) : september 24 , september 25 , september 27 .
||september 24 2005|september 25 2004|september 27 2003|
|beginning allowance balance|$ 47|$ 49|$ 51|
|charged to costs and expenses|8|3|4|
|deductions ( a )|-9 ( 9 )|-5 ( 5 )|-6 ( 6 )|
|ending allowance balance|$ 46|$ 47|$ 49|
( a ) represents amounts written off against the allowance , net of recoveries . vendor non-trade receivables the company has non-trade receivables from certain of its manufacturing vendors resulting from the sale of raw material components to these manufacturing vendors who manufacture sub-assemblies or assemble final products for the company . the company purchases these raw material components directly from suppliers . these non-trade receivables , which are included in the consolidated balance sheets in other current assets , totaled $ 417 million and $ 276 million as of september 24 , 2005 and september 25 , 2004 , respectively . the company does not reflect the sale of these components in net sales and does not recognize any profits on these sales until the products are sold through to the end customer at which time the profit is recognized as a reduction of cost of sales . derivative financial instruments the company uses derivatives to partially offset its business exposure to foreign exchange and interest rate risk . foreign currency forward and option contracts are used to offset the foreign exchange risk on certain existing assets and liabilities and to hedge the foreign exchange risk on expected future cash flows on certain forecasted revenue and cost of sales . from time to time , the company enters into interest rate derivative agreements to modify the interest rate profile of certain investments and debt . the company 2019s accounting policies for these instruments are based on whether the instruments are designated as hedge or non-hedge instruments . the company records all derivatives on the balance sheet at fair value. .
Question: what was the highest ending allowance balance , in millions?


Answer: The answer is:49.0