When a company earns profit, it distributes a proportion of its income to its shareholders, and such distribution is called the dividend. The dividend is allocated as a fixed amount per share and shareholders receive dividends proportional to their shareholdings. However, a company can only pay diviRead more
When a company earns profit, it distributes a proportion of its income to its shareholders, and such distribution is called the dividend. The dividend is allocated as a fixed amount per share and shareholders receive dividends proportional to their shareholdings.
However, a company can only pay dividends out of its current year profits or retained earnings (profits of the company that are not distributed as dividend and retained in the business is called retained earnings) of previous years but not out of capital.
Dividends can be paid to shareholders in the form of
- Cash
- dividend re-investing plan of the company
- future shares
- share repurchase.
For companies, payment of regular dividends boosts the morale of the shareholders, investors trust the companies more and it reflects positively on the share price of the company.
For example, Nestle in India paid an interim dividend of 1100.00% to its shareholders in 2021.
The journal entry for dividend paid is
| Particulars | Debit | Credit |
| Retained Earnings A/c Dr. | Amt | |
| To Cash A/c | Amt |
According to the golden rules of accounting-
- Retained earnings is a credit account by nature and since dividends are paid from retained earnings resulting in a deduction of the account, we debit
- Cash is credited because the account is debit in nature and since dividends are paid in cash it’s credited to present the deduction in the account.
According to modern rules of accounting-
- Since cash is decreasing, we credit
- Since retained earnings are decreasing and it is a part of capital it should be
For example-
A company paid a dividend of 25 crores to its shareholders in cash, the journal entry according to golden rules will be-
| Particulars | Debit
(in crores) |
Credit
(in crores) |
| Retained Earnings A/c (Dr.) | 25 | |
| To Cash A/c | 25 |
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Before answering your question directly, let’s first understand the two terms, ‘Rent Outstanding’ and ‘Accounting Equation’. Accounting Equation Accounting Equation depicts the relationship between the following items of a business: Assets, Liabilities and Owner’s Equity ( Capital ) It is a simple fRead more
Before answering your question directly, let’s first understand the two terms, ‘Rent Outstanding’ and ‘Accounting Equation’.
Accounting Equation
Accounting Equation depicts the relationship between the following items of a business:
It is a simple formula that implies that the total assets of a business are always equal to the sum of its liabilities and Owner’s Equity (Capital).
ASSETS = LIABILITIES + CAPITAL OR A = L + E
It is also known as the balance sheet equation.
This equation always holds good due to the double-entry system of accounting i.e. every event has a dual effect on items of the balance sheet.
Outstanding Rent
We know rent is an expense for a business and rent outstanding means that rent is due, not paid which implies it is a liability which the business has to settle.
Hence Rent Outstanding is subtracted from the capital balance and added to liabilities.
Let’s take an example to see how rent outstanding affects the accounting equation. Suppose a business has the following figures:
Assets – Rs: 3,00,000
Capital – Rs: 2,00,000
Liabilities – Rs: 1,00,000
Assets = Liabilities + Capital
3,00,000 = 1,00,000 + 2,00,000
Now if Rent outstanding of Rs: 20,000 arises, this will happen:-
Assets – Rs: 3,00,000
Capital – Rs: 2,00,000 – Rs: 20,000 = Rs: 2,80,000
Liabilities – Rs: 1,00,000 + Rs: 20,000 = Rs: 1,20,000
Assets = Liabilities + Capital
3,00,000 = 1,20,000 + 2,80,000.
Hence, when rent outstanding arises, it increases the liability and decreases the Capital by the same amount. Therefore both the sides tally and the accounting equations holds good.
Rent Outstanding is shown on the liabilities side of the balance sheet. Also, the rent outstanding of the current year is shown in the debit side profit and loss account and we know the balance of the P/L account if profit, is added to Capital and in case of loss it is subtracted from Capital. Hence, the rent outstanding is subtracted from the capital.
I hope my answer was useful to you.
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