Do you use a debit or credit dividends declared by the corporation?

Answer 1

Dividend Transactions

A. Dividend DatesDeclaration DateThe date on which the board of directors officially approves the dividend. The dividend becomes a liability of the the corporation at this time.Date of RecordThis date is used to establish who will receive the dividend. In other words, whoever owns the stock on this date will received the dividend. Stock sells ex-dividend after this date.Date of PaymentThe date on which the dividend is disbursed to the date or record shareholders. Dividends are always based on the number of shares outstanding. Dividends are not paid on Treasury Stock. B. Cash Dividends With Only Common StockExample:

On December 1, 2005 ABC Inc. declares a dividend of $2 per

share. The dividend is payable on December 21 to

stockholders of record on December 10. There are 10,000

shares of stock outstanding.

12/1 Dr / Retained Earnings 20,000

Cr/ Dividends Payable 20,000

1. Review dividend terminology. The "declaration date" is the date the board approves the dividend payout. The "date of record" is the date which establishes the stockholders to receive the dividend; that is, if you sell the stock one day before the day of record, you will not receive the dividend. The "effective date" is the day the dividend is disbursed to shareholders.

2. Walk through an example. XYZ Corporation has 10,000 shares of common stock outstanding. On Nov. 10, the board of directors declared a $1 per share cash dividend, to be paid to stockholders of record on Nov. 30. The dividend was distributed on Dec. 10.

3. Record the dividend journal entry on the day of record, which is Nov. 30. Make a debit to retained earnings for $10,000 ($1 x 10,000 shares) and a credit to dividends payable for $10,000. This is what the company issuing the dividend enters on the date of distribution.

4. Use a contra account to hold funds until the distribution date. In some cases, the company will want to create a contra (side) account to hold the dividends until they are actually paid. If this is this the case, then make a debit to dividends declared and then close the balance to retained earnings on the effective (distribution) date.