Journal Entries for Dividends Declaration and Payment

However, stock dividends have no immediate impact on the financial condition of either the company or its stockholders. There is no change in total assets, total liabilities, or total stockholders’ equity when a small stock dividend, a large stock dividend, or a stock split occurs. A stock split causes no change in any of the accounts within stockholders’ equity.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Stock Dividends

For the investor, stock dividends offer no immediate payoff but may increase in value over time. The earnings are now divided over a larger number of shares, which can reduce the EPS if the company’s net income does not increase proportionately. The ownership stake of each shareholder is diluted as the total number of shares increases, although they receive additional shares. For this reason, shareholders typically believe that a stock dividend is superior to a cash dividend – a cash dividend is treated as income in the year received and is, therefore, taxed. It is useful to note that the record date is the date the company determines the ownership of the shares for the dividend payment.

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That is, the current holders of stock receive additional shares of stock in proportion to their current holdings. Dividends, whether in cash or in stock, are the shareholders’ cut of the company’s profit. A company may issue a stock dividend rather than cash if it doesn’t want to deplete its cash reserves. The common stock dividend distributable is $50,000 — calculated by multiplying 500,000 x 10% x $1 — since the common stock has a par value of $1 per share. When a stock dividend is issued, the total value of equity remains the same from the investor’s and the company’s perspectives. Like any stock shares, stock dividends are not taxed until the investor sells the shares.

Stock Dividend – Definition

From the moment dividends are declared to the point where they impact a company’s balance sheet, every entry must be carefully documented. By issuing a large quantity of new shares (sometimes two to five times as many shares as were outstanding), the price falls, often precipitously. The stockholder’s investment remains unchanged but, hopefully, the stock is now more attractive to investors at the lower price so that the level of active trading increases. Janis Samples receives forty of these newly issued shares (4 percent of one thousand) so that her holdings have grown to 1,040 shares. After this stock dividend, she still owns 10 percent (1,040/10,400) of the outstanding stock of Red Company and it still reports net assets of $5 million. The investor’s financial position has not improved; she has gained nothing as a result of this stock dividend.

How a Stock Dividend Works

For example, consider an investor with $1,000 looking to invest in Stock A or Stock B. Stock A is priced at $2,000 while Stock B is priced at $500. Stock A would be deemed “unaffordable” for the investor since he only has $1,000 to invest. As this excerpt indicates, the management at General Electric Company has given considerable thought to the amount and timing of dividends. A financial professional will offer guidance based on the information provided and offer a no-obligation call to better understand your situation.

Its common stock has a par value of $1 per share and a market price of $5 per share. Similarly, shareholders who invest in companies are typically driven by two factors—a desire to earn income in the form of dividends and a desire to benefit from the growth in the value of their investment. The board of directors of companies understand the need to provide shareholders with a periodic return, and as a result, often declare dividends usually two times a year.

This type of dividend does not result in a cash outflow but does affect the components of shareholders’ equity. When a stock dividend is declared, the retained earnings account is debited for the fair value of the additional shares to be issued. Upon distribution, the common stock dividend distributable account is debited, and the common stock account is credited, reflecting the issuance of new shares. Stock dividends dilute the ownership percentage but do not change the total value of equity held by each shareholder. They are often used when companies wish to reward shareholders without reducing cash reserves.

Interestingly, stock splits have no reportable impact on financial statements but stock dividends do. GAAP, if a stock dividend is especially large (in excess of 20–25 percent of the outstanding shares), the change in retained earnings and contributed capital is recorded at par value rather than fair value2. All shareholders who own the stock on that day qualify for receipt of the dividend. The ex-dividend date is the first day on which an investor is not entitled to the dividend. The day on which the Hurley board of directors formally decides on the payment of this dividend is known as the date of declaration. Legally, this action creates a liability for the company that must be reported in the financial statements.

This ensures that the company’s financial records accurately track the progression from declaring the intent to pay dividends to fulfilling that promise to shareholders. Credit The credit entry to dividends payable represents a balance sheet liability. At the date of declaration, the business now has a liability to the shareholders to pay them the dividend at a later date. Declaration date is the date that the board of directors declares the dividend to be paid to shareholders.

A company that lacks sufficient cash for a cash dividend may declare a stock dividend to satisfy its shareholders. Note that in the long run it may be more beneficial to the company and the shareholders to reinvest the capital in the business rather than paying a cash dividend. If so, the company would be more profitable and the shareholders would be rewarded with a higher stock price in the future.

The date of payment is the date that payment is issued to the investor for the amount of the dividend declared. A stock dividend is when a company issues additional shares of its own stock to its shareholders, usually in proportion to the number of shares they already hold. The value of the dividend is determined by the current market price of the stock.

1. For example, a 1-for-3 stock split is called a reverse split since it reduces the number of shares of stock outstanding by two-thirds and triples the par or stated value per share.
2. Upgrading to a paid membership gives you access to our extensive collection of plug-and-play Templates designed to power your performance—as well as CFI’s full course catalog and accredited Certification Programs.
3. The board of directors then declares and distributes a 4 percent stock dividend.
4. The board of directors prefers that all profits remain in the business to stimulate future growth.
5. When you look at a stock listing online, check the “dividend yield” line to determine what the company is paying out.

Stock investors are typically driven by two factors—a desire to earn income in the form of dividends and a desire to benefit from the growth in the value of their investment. Members of a corporation’s board of directors understand the need to provide investors with a periodic return, and as a result, often declare dividends up to four times per year. However, companies can declare dividends whenever they want and are not limited in the number of annual declarations. They are not considered expenses, and they are not reported on the income statement. They are a distribution of the net income of a company and are not a cost of business operations. The adjustment to retained earnings is a reduction by the total amount of the dividend declared.

A small stock dividend occurs when a stock dividend distribution is less than 25% of the total outstanding shares based on the shares outstanding prior to the dividend distribution. Figure 14.9 shows the stockholders’ equity section https://www.simple-accounting.org/ of Duratech’s balance sheet just prior to the stock declaration. Upon the declaration of dividends by the board of directors, the company must make an entry in its journal to reflect the creation of a dividend payable liability.

Although, the duration between dividend declared and paid is usually not long, it is still important to make the two separate journal entries. This is especially so when the two dates are in the different account period. While a few companies may use a temporary account, Dividends Declared, rather than Retained Earnings, most what is a lifo reserve companies debit Retained Earnings directly. As soon as the Board of Directors approves and announces a dividend (on the declaration date) , the company must record a payable in the liability section of the balance sheet. When they declare a cash dividend, some companies debit a Dividends account instead of Retained Earnings.

Dividends Payable is classified as a current liability on the balance sheet, since the expense represents declared payments to shareholders that are generally fulfilled within one year. To illustrate, assume that the Red Company reports net assets of $5 million. Janis Samples owns one thousand of the outstanding ten thousand shares of this company’s common stock. She holds a 10 percent ownership interest (1,000/10,000) in a business that holds net assets of $5 million. With this journal entry, the statement of retained earnings for the 2019 accounting period will show a $250,000 reduction to retained earnings.