Are Dividends Considered As An Expense? An Analysis
Do you own stocks in any companies and receive dividend payments? Have you ever wondered whether those dividend checks you deposit are considered a business expense for the companies paying them out? Excellent questions. Dividends can seem mysterious, especially how companies account for them financially.
This article will explore whether dividends qualify as expenses and explain their accounting treatment. You’ll also learn about the potential benefits and drawbacks of companies paying dividends. By the end, you’ll be a dividends expert!
Definition and Characteristics of Dividends
Before diving into the world of dividend accounting, let’s level-set on what dividends are in the first place.
Cash dividends refer to actual cash payments sent to shareholders, usually on a quarterly basis. For example, a company may pay a $1 per share cash dividend every three months.
Stock dividends are when additional company shares are awarded to existing shareholders instead of cash. If an investor owned 100 shares, and the company issued a 5% stock dividend, the investor would receive 5 additional shares.
The key feature making dividends distinct is that they represent distributions of a company’s net profits or retained earnings to shareholders as returns on their investments. In other words, management shares a slice of the financial success with stock owners through dividends.
Accounting Treatment of Dividends
Now for the big question – from an accounting perspective, do companies record dividend payments as operating expenses like employee salaries or electricity bills? Well…
Not Recorded as Expenses
Dividends differ significantly from typical business operating expenses. First, companies pay dividends from accumulated net profits or retained earnings rather than directly expensing them. These represent earnings that the business has already made after covering all expenses and taxes.
Also, dividends exist separately from the normal costs of generating revenue through a company’s operations. Instead, management distributes dividends long after conducting business activities that affect the income statement.
Given these differences, dividend payments bypass the income statement altogether. You won’t find them lumped into or reducing the reported net profit figure. Their accounting treatment becomes visible in other financial statements.
Cash dividend payments reduce the company’s cash balances and retained earnings accounts. Paid stock dividends allocate a portion of retained earnings to common stock and contributed capital accounts. In both cases, the dividends show up on the balance sheet and statement of shareholders’ equity.
Recording Dividends
While dividends don’t qualify as expenses, companies still record issued dividend payments through journal entries. This updates the changed account balances mentioned above across financial statements.
Let’s examine some example journal entries for different dividend types:
- Cash Dividends – Debit the Retained Earnings and Cash accounts. Credit Dividends Payable liability account.
- Stock Dividends – Debit Retained Earnings and credit Common Stock and Paid-in Capital accounts.
- Property Dividends – Debit Retained Earnings, Investment Property Asset account for distributed amount. Credit Gains on Property Dividend Issued account.
- Scrip Dividends – Debit Retained Earnings, credit Dividends Payable. Record interest expense on outstanding scrip dividends payable over time.
- Liquidating Dividends – Debit Retained Earnings, Various Asset accounts reduced. Credit Gain on Asset Distribution to Shareholders account.
As you can see, recording dividends correctly requires careful journal entries targeting the right financial statement accounts. Accuracy matters! Mistakes throw off your reported equity and asset balances.
Impacts of Paying Dividends
Beyond their unique accounting treatment, distributing dividends can significantly impact shareholders and the business itself:
Benefits to Shareholders and Company
Announcing regular dividend payments signals financial stability and profitability to shareholders and broader markets. It demonstrates retained earnings exist to distribute, showing earnings quality.
Obviously, shareholders enjoy receiving consistent dividend income on top of potential stock price appreciation. It keeps investors happy and buys management goodwill.
High dividend payouts also improve external perceptions of the company compared to stingier peers. This fact attracts investors focused on yield.
Drawbacks and Limitations
However, maintaining steady or rising dividends often becomes an expectation. Failing to meet previous payout levels due to cash flow issues sparks concerns. Management then faces pressure to either cut expenses or borrow to sustain distributions.
High dividend payout ratios also retain less profits for funding growth initiatives. This risks competitiveness, limiting investment in new products or technologies. Companies must balance attracting yield focused shareholders with prudent long term growth policies.
On the accounting side, tracking unpaid dividend accounts and fulfillment of all compliance requirements adds administrative workload. It requires close attention to detail.
Is Portfolio Income the Same as Dividend Income?
Yes, portfolio income and dividend income are different. While dividend income is generated from owning stocks, portfolio income encompasses a broader range of income sources, such as interest, dividends, and capital gains from various investments. Understanding the portfolio income basics is essential for diversifying income streams.
Financial Analysis Considerations
Given these widespread impacts, how should financial analysts evaluate dividends when researching potential investments?
Experts examine dividend sustainability by comparing payout ratios to earnings growth trends and cash flow generation ability. This determines whether distributions divert too much capital from the business. Industry dividend averages provide useful benchmarks.
Analysts also model projected impacts to liquidity, credit capacity, and growth spending plans based on maintaining certain dividend levels. This aids investment decision making. Testing different payout and plowback assumptions produces helpful sensitivity analysis.
Understanding current shareholder yield expectations also helps estimate achievable valuation premiums or penalties tied to dividend policy changes.
Conclusion
In summary, while dividends distribute company profits to shareholders, important differences exist versus typical operating expenses. The unique journal entries tie dividend payments to equity and balance sheet accounts rather than the income statement.
Careful financial analysis should examine dividend sustainability, measure potential effects on growth and liquidity, and incorporate investor expectations. Balancing these factors and accounting treatment implications allows informed evaluation of corporate dividend policies and shareholder returns.
So while you enjoy your next dividend check, remember the intricate accounting machinations helping make it possible! You now possess deeper mastery of dividends’ economic and financial reporting intricacies.