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3.5: Statement of Changes in Equity and Statement of RE

  • Page ID
    100396
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    Recall that net income or loss is closed to retained earnings. For ASPE companies, there is no comprehensive income (OCI) and therefore no AOCI account in equity. With this simpler reporting requirement, ASPE companies report retained earnings in the balance sheet and detail any changes in retained earnings that took place during the reporting period in the statement of retained earnings. An example of a statement of retained earnings is that of Arctic Services Ltd., for the year ended December 31, 2020.

    Arctic Services Ltd.
    Statement of Retained Earnings
    For the Year Ended December 31, 2020

    Balance, January 1, as reported                                                                                             $   $250,000

    Cumulative effect on prior years of retrospective application of changing inventory costing method from FIFO to moving weighted average (net of taxes for $5,400)

     

    12,600

    Correction for an overstatement of net income from a prior period due to an ending inventory error (net of $3,000 tax recovery)

     

    (7,000)

    Balance, January 1, as adjusted

     

    255,600

          Net income

     

    80,500
    336,100

        Cash dividends declared

    $(75,000)

     

        Stock dividends declared

    (60,000)

    (135,000)

    Balance, December 31

     

    $ 201,100

     

    As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, any error corrections from prior periods or allowable changes in accounting policies will result in a reporting requirement to restate the opening retained earnings balance for the current period. Each error and change in accounting policy item is separately reported, net of tax, with the tax amount disclosed. The retained earnings opening balance is restated and a detailed description is included in the notes to the financial statements. The journal entry for the two restatement items for Arctic Services would be:

    General Journal

    Date

    Account/Explanation

    PR

    Debit

    Credit

     

    Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     

    18,000

     

    Income tax payable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     

    5,400

    Retained earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     

    12,600

     
     
     

    Date

    Account/Explanation

    PR

    Debit

    Credit

     

    Retained earnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     

    7,000

     

    Income tax payable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    3,000

     

    Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     

    10,000

     

    The statement of retained earnings also includes any current period net income or loss followed by any cash or stock dividends declared by the board of directors. This detail provides important information to investors and creditors regarding the proportion of net income that is distributed to the shareholders through a dividend compared to the net income retained for future business purposes such as investment or expansion.

    ASPE companies may choose to combine the statement of income and the statement of retained earnings. In this case, the statement of retained earnings is incorporated at the bottom of the statement of income, starting with net income as shown in a simple example below:

    Net income     $$$
    Retained earnings, January 1     $$$
    Dividends declared     $$$
    Retained earnings, December 31     $$$

    For IFRS companies, net income is closed out to retained earnings, and other comprehensive income (OCI), if any, is closed out to accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI). An example of how that works is illustrated in the Wellbourn financial statements included in section 3.3 of this chapter. Both retained earnings and AOCI are reported in the equity section of the statement of financial position (SFP) and the statement of changes in equity (IFRS).

    For IFRS companies, each account from the equity section of the SFP is to be reported in the statement of changes in equity. The following is an example of the statement of changes in equity for an IFRS company, Velton Ltd., for the year ended December 31, 2020. Note how this statement is worksheet style, which discloses each retrospective adjustment net of tax, followed by a restatement of the equity account opening balances. Each equity account opening balance is then reconciled to its respective closing balance by reporting the changes that occurred during the year, such as the issuance/retirement of shares, net income, and dividends. The statement also must report total comprehensive income. Any non-controlling interest would also be reported (as a separate column), the same as was required and illustrated for Toulon Ltd.'s statement of income presented earlier.

    Velton Ltd.
    Statement of Changes in Equity
    for the year ended December 31, 2020

      Preferred Shares Common Shares Contributed Surplus Retained Earnings Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income Total

    Balance, January 1

    $100,000

    $500,000

    $15,000

    $ 450,000

    $ 22,000

    $1,087,000

    Cumulative effect on prior years of retrospective application of changing inventory costing method from FIFO to moving weighted average (net of taxes for $15,000)

     

     

     

    35,000

     

    35,000

    Correction for an overstatement of net income from a prior period due to an ending inventory error (net of $6,000 tax recovery)

     

     

     

    (20,000)

     

    (20,000)

    Balance, January 1, as restated

    100,000

    500,000

    15,000

    465,000

    22,000

    1,102,000

    Total comprehensive income:
            Net income

     

     

     

    125,000

     

    125,000

    Other Comprehensive Income – unrealized gain — FVOCI investments**

     

     

     

     

    3,500

    3,500

    Total comprehensive income

     

     

     

    125,000

    3,500

    128,500

    Issuance of common shares

     

    100,000

     

     

     

    100,000

    Dividends declared

     

     

     

    (50,000)

     

    (50,000)

    Balance, December 31

    $100,000

    $600,000

    $15,000

    $ 540,000

    $ 25,500

    $1,280,500

    ** net of related tax of $800. May be reclassified subsequently to net income or loss

     

    The equity portion of the SFP is shown below.

    Velton Ltd.
    Statement of Changes in Financial Position
    Shareholders’ Equity Section
    December 31, 2020

    Shareholder's equity
    Paid-in capital:
       
    Preferred shares, non-cumulative, 2,000 authorized;
           1,000 issued and outstanding
      $100,000
    Common shares, unlimited authorized;
          20,000 issued and outstanding
      600,000
    Contributed surplus   15,000
        715,000
    Retained earnings   540,000
    Accumulated other comprehensive income   25,500
    Total shareholders' equity   $1,280,500

    If the company sustained net losses over several years and retained earnings were insufficient to absorb these losses, retained earnings would have a debit balance and would be reported on the SFP as a deficit.

     


    3.5: Statement of Changes in Equity and Statement of RE is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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