Question

The accounting equation is assets = liabilities + owner’s equity.

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Why must this equation always balance?

It must balance because all the assets that firm controls have been acquired either by external funding (liabilities), or by internal funding (owner's equity).

This also explains the relationship between economic resources and claims to economic resources. Economic resources (assets) are either the claim of an external agent that has to be paid in the future (liability), or the claim of one of the company's owners who could in theory dissolve the company and take possession of the company's assets (equity).

B. What transactions increase or decrease owner’s equity?

Profits increase owner's equity, as well as capita contributions, whether in the form of stocks, equipment, or other financial instruments.

Costs and expenses are substracted from revenues, and therefore they reduce profits, and owner's equity.

C. How does net income or loss affect owner’s equity?

A net income profit increases owner's equity, while a net income loss decreases owner's equity.

D. Please give an example of a transaction, applied to the accounting equation.

ABC corporation issues 1,000 common stocks with par value of $5, and a price per stock of $7. The journal entry is:

Account                                    Debit                Credit

Cash                                        $7,000

Common Stock                                                 $5,000

Additional Paid-In Capital                                $2,000

In this transaction, cash is an asset and common stock and additional paid-in capital are part of the stockholder's equity. The corporation does not have any liabilities yet.

ABC Corp accounting equation = Assets = Liabilities + Stockholder's equity

                                                     = $7,000 = 0 + $7,000

As can be seen, the accounting equation is true even in the earliest stages of the corporation.