Are Dividends an Asset, Liability, or Equity? Explained

Dividends are an important part of a company's income statement, but what are they considered in accounting? Are they an asset, liability, or equity? What determines their value? 

These are some of the questions we'll be exploring in this article.

What are dividends?

Dividends are distributions of a company's earnings, typically paid out to shareholders in the form of cash payments, shares, or other property. 

Many companies pay dividends on a quarterly or annual schedule. There are also interim dividends which are paid bi-annually, and special dividends in certain companies for certain special occasions.

Dividends can provide an income stream for shareholders, and they can also be used to attract new investors.

The payment of dividends is typically authorized by the company's board of directors and is usually announced in a press release.

Are dividends an asset on a balance sheet?

No, from a company’s perspective, dividends are not considered an asset of the company, since they represent a distribution of retained earnings to shareholders. However, dividends affect the equity portion of the balance sheet. Since the company is distributing part of its equity value to shareholders.

When dividends are paid to shareholders, the equity value of the company is lower. Since these retained earnings are no longer held by the business.

It should also be mentioned that before dividends are paid to shareholders they are accounted for on the balance sheet, not as an asset but as a liability to shareholders. They can be found on the dividend payable account, which is used to hold the dividends that will be paid to shareholders between the time they are announced, and the payment date.

Is dividend an asset or expense?

From a company’s perspective, dividends are neither an asset nor an expense. They are a portion of the equity of the company, that is distributed to shareholders usually in the form of cash.

Since companies need to pay dividends, they are considered a liability. Between the time of the announcement of the dividend payment, and the date scheduled for the payment, the dividends will be accounted for as a current liability, under the dividends payable to the shareholders' account.

For shareholders dividends are an asset because they are part of the equity they own in the business. The only difference between dividends is that the management chooses to distribute this part of the company’s equity.

Is a dividend an expense?

No, a dividend is not an expense of the business, therefore they do not show up on the company’s income statement. 

Dividends represent a company distributing part of its equity value to its shareholders. Therefore, it does affect the equity portion of the balance sheet, and it also shows up on the cash flow statement.

Why are dividends not an expense?

Dividends are not an expense because they are part of the company’s earnings. Therefore they are added to the equity value of the business. An expense represents a cost for the business, while dividends are just part of the company’s profits that are distributed among investors.

However, if the company has preferred shares, the preferred dividends are considered an expense. This is because preferred shareholders have priority over common stockholders, and before the business can use its earnings it needs to pay the dividend on its preferred shares.

Therefore they are considered an expense and are shown on the company’s income statement.

Where do dividends show up on financial statements?

Dividends will show up on the cash flow statement, on the financing cash flow segment. This represents the outflow of the dividends from the business.

You can also find the dividends on the balance sheet, under current liabilities. When the dividends are announced by the company, the amount to be paid to shareholders will be included in the current liabilities part of the balance sheet. 

Until the payment has been made, they will be considered a current liability of the company towards its shareholders.

However, this is just the case for dividends for common stockholders. 

Where do preferred dividends show up on financial statements?

Dividends paid to preferred stockholders are shown on the income statement. This is because the income statement calculates the earnings of the business for common stockholders. And since preferred shareholders have a priority in regard to the company’s earnings they are shown as an expense. 

Since the company needs to pay preferred dividends before it can use its business earnings.

How do you record dividends in accounting?

In accounting, dividends are recorded as part of the business equity that is used to distribute among shareholders. For a brief period of time, until the dividends are paid, they are considered a current liability and show up on the company’s balance sheet. 

They are also accounted for on the company’s cash flow statement, under the financing segment.

If the company has preferred shares, then the dividends relative to those shares, or preferred dividends are considered an expense of the business. They will show up on the income statement before the earnings for common shareholders are calculated.

For shareholders of the company, dividends are an asset, because they are part of the equity of the business. They are also considered income because the company is distributing part of its equity among its common shareholders.

How are dividends shown on the balance sheet?

A dividend affects the balance sheet in two ways:

• Equity
• Current liabilities

Since the business distributes part of its equity value to its shareholders, the equity value on the balance sheet will change when the dividends are paid. 

On the other hand, between the time the dividend is announced and its payment date, the dividends owed to shareholders will be considered a current liability of the company.

Are dividends part of equity?

Dividends are not exactly part of equity, but they are part of the company’s retained earnings. The retained earnings increase the value of shareholder’s equity, and therefore dividend payments will reduce the equity of the company.

Dividends are just a way for the company to distribute part of its equity to its investors.