Thursday, November 27, 2014

Retained Earnings

In accounting, retained earnings refers to the portion of net income of a corporation that is retained by the corporation rather than distributed to shareholders as dividends. Similarly, if the corporation incurs a loss, then that loss reduces the corporation's retained earnings balance.

If your balance of the retained earnings account is negative it may be called retained losses, accumulated losses or accumulated deficit. Retained earnings and losses are cumulative from year to year.


Retained earnings represent how the company has managed its profits (i.e. whether it has distributed them as dividends or reinvested them in the business). And, therefore, reflect your company’s dividend- and capital structure policy that I will cover in the Cash Flows Statement section.  

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